October 14 turned out to be an emotional day for many wrestling fans as they learned of Adam "Edge" Copeland's plan to officially retire from in-ring competition in 2027. No definitive time or place has been attached to Copeland's sendoff yet, but according to AEW CEO Tony Khan, the time leading up to it will surely be memorable."Absolutely I knew Adam was going to say that 2027 is his last year," Khan said on the AEW WrestleDream media call, referencing Copeland's announcement made on "AEW Dynamite." "I'm very close with Adam. I speak to Adam very regularly, and of course, as the producer of the show, I'm going to talk to him about what he wants to say on the microphone.""I think he'll have a great run here throughout the next year," Khan continued. "Into 2027, I don't know how much longer exactly Adam will want to go, but I would say this is what he talked to me about, that 2027 was going to be the last year he would want to wrestle. I've accepted that. I think that Adam is somebody that has accomplished so much in wrestling."Copeland, a former world champion in WWE, initially retired from wrestling in 2011 due to spinal stenosis. Nine years later, he returned to action as a surprise entrant in the 2020 Men's Royal Rumble. He went on to wrestle for WWE for an additional three years before jumping to AEW in the fall of 2023.In 2026, "The Rated R Superstar" reunited with his long-time friend Christian Cage, and even enjoyed a reign as AEW Tag Team Champions. Their reign came to an end at AllOut 2026, however, in a match that saw Cage sustain multiple broken ribs and a collapsed lung.
"Christian Cage is recovering from those injuries," Khan said, addressing Cage's ongoing absence from AEW programming. "He's one of the toughest people, but he fought through and had one of the greatest wrestling matches ever. When you know that he hurt himself and he tried to power through, and frankly, shake off the medical team, saying he wasn't hurt and downplay it and say that he could continue. Really, nobody realized until after. Then to be worried about him, somebody that outside of the ring I think we all love and inside of the ring we all love, Adam said it so well, that was something we weren't expecting. "Copeland delivered the news of Cage's status during his aforementioned "Dynamite" promo. The injuries themselves occurred after Cage was thrown into a ladder about five minutes into their AEW Tag Team Championship Ladder Match at All Out on September 26.On the same media call, Khan confirmed that he originally factored Cage into the subsequent pay-per-view, WrestleDream, on October 17. Cage's injuries render him unable to compete right now, though. The timeline for his recovery is also unclear.In Cage's absence, Copeland entered the Clockwork Carnage match at WrestleDream with the aim of capturing the AEW World Championship. His pursuit came close to success, but ultimately fell short when Will Ospreay, the defending champion, clocked him with a Hidden Blade.If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit AEW with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
