Speaking to TVInsider, Adam ‘Cope’ Copeland upheld his booking under the AEW banner which has come under scrutiny by fans and critics alike.
He was asked if he regretted signing with AEW:
“I’ve not regretted it for a single second. I’ve had fun. I’ve been able to get in with a completely different mixed bag of talent. Running the gamut all over the place. That’s a really fun place to navigate from because it’s entirely different types of matches. I had a street fight with Brody King in Edmonton and two days later had a technical match in Vancouver against Kyle O’Reilly, and I was in heaven. That juxtaposition. It’s like going from the Emmys to suplexing Moxley on a spike. That was five days apart. It’s strange on the surface, but so much fun. To wear a suit and be all dolled up for the Emmys and then be suplexing a man on to nails during a blizzard in Omaha. That’s a fun life,” he said.
Speaking of criticism, AEW, Copeland and Jon Moxley in particular were censured for the graphic ‘spiked bat’ spot on Dynamite last week during the street fight for the AEW World Championship. Copeland addressed those who aren’t hardcore wrestling fans and those who though the spot took things way too far.
“I look at wrestling as a variety show. That means you bring a lot of different things to the table with that. There can be some comedy, straight up wrestling, hardcore matches. That has always been the case. It’s also not really out of the ballpark of what Moxley and I do every once in a while. Think about me and [Mick] Foley. I’m sure there are a lot of people that were disturbed by that too. There are also a lot of people who enjoy horror movies. There are people who enjoy romcoms. I think wrestling can bring that all to the table. I think that is what AEW does. I also feel like AEW is not afraid to take some risks. For a lack of a better analogy, we’re kind of a bit punk rock. It’s not always going to be pretty. It’s an alternative. It’s something different. I think if you look throughout the history of the company, it’s not something new. Darby Allin was falling off ladders and glass and thumbtacks. It has always been there to an extent. Let’s also face it. If you have two wrestlers coming out to wrestle a technical match every match, that can get pretty boring,” he said.
On how AEW can grow, take itself to the next level he said:
“I think what we’ve started to do now is really start to get back into our lane again. The lane that I watched a couple of years ago. I feel that it is coming back around again. The locker room is a great place to be. I think you get that blizzard, and we have the ragtag group here. The Bad News Bears have to put on a show for these people because the people that showed up want to have fun, and we should give that to them. They showed up, so we want to give them an extra special show because they did. I feel like that’s the mentality. We are the little engine that could and keep plugging along. I think eventually you’ll start to see people understand that again and give it a shot because everyone is busting their ass. Everyone is busting their ass in wrestling, don’t get me wrong. I just know the locker room goal is to put on the best show we can.”
