The rumors came to fruition: Adam “Edge” Copeland is officially All Elite following a debut at the end of last night’s WrestleDream Pay-Per-View that is sure to go down as one of the most surreal in wrestling history.
A WWE lifer for 25 years, Copeland, wrestling under his legal name now, has reminded us that anything can and will happen in the crazy world of professional wrestling. After he and AEW co-owner Tony Khan announced on the WrestleDream media scrum that he is indeed on a full time contract, we as fans can now begin foaming at the mouths at what first-time-ever matchups await Copeland; something Copeland himself expressed a lot of excitement for at this stage in his career.
We here at 4QWI are bringing you a list of 7 opponents that we want to see Adam Copeland face-off against in his AEW run. At the risk of listing too many names, though tempting, it was decided that we would narrow the wrestlers we are about to mention down to just 7. Only one of these names Copeland has indeed grappled with before, and of course, many of these matches seemed impossible just a few months ago. Bear in mind that this is by no means an exhaustive list, but covers some of what we feel are essential opponents for the Rated-R Superstar during this new leg of his career. Aso note lthese are in no particular order. Let’s do it!
1. Christian Cage
The road to this match has already been set in stone with Copeland debuting last night to stop Christian from giving 64 year-old Sting a con-chair-to at the end of WrestleDream. It’s been nearly 15 years since these lifelong best friends have squared off (Monday Night Raw May 17th, 2010), and they simply deserve it at some point; even if to close off a rivalry and move on their separate ways amidst what could be the final stretches of both of their careers.
2. PAC
Spoiler alert: we're probably leaning a little too heavily into Edge’s history as a heel for some of these picks, but we know his track record, and a physical contest against the uber athletic and unadulterated bastard PAC would be an unbelievably fun affair.
3. Kenny Omega
A fellow Canadian native and longstanding candidate for Best Wrestler in the World, Omega is an opponent for Copeland that we never really thought possible until now. Enough said.
4. MJF
One of the greatest heels of all time versus the best heel going possibly in the entire business. Two of the slimiest and cunning wrestlers trying to outdo one another, with a molten-hot crowd guaranteed. Imagine the promos. We can definitely see an AEW World Championship program somewhere down the line for these two, or at least a program of some sort; it's just a matter of when.
5. Samoa Joe
One of the true elder statesmen and locker room leaders of AEW, Samoa Joe is having one of the best runs of his career and undoubtedly deserves a high profile match with Copeland, even with no stakes involved. Copeland himself mentioned Joe by name during last night's media scrum as well. Both are masters of storytelling in the ring and would tear it down together.
6. Jon Moxley
Despite both being involved in WWE at similar-ish times, Copeland and Moxley did not ever face off as Edge and Dean Ambrose. A match between these two where both can show off their sadistic sides is sure to entertain. Two long standing pros of the sport beating the hell out of each other. Sign me up.
7. Swerve Strickland
We here at 4QWI are massive believers in Swerve and what he brings to the table, erm, house. The second youngest wrestler on this list (despite having six years over MJF), Swerve is gaining serious attention in AEW as of late, and is coming hot off of defeating Hangman Page at WrestleDream in a match of the night candidate. Copeland mentioned Strickland as well during the media scrum, and we are here for it.
And there you have it. Narrowing down to 7 was difficult, so let us know what opponents we might've missed in the comments below or on Twitter/X @4QWIHQ!
All images © All Elite Wrestling