AEW star Adam Copeland recently spoke with Sports Illustrated on a number of topics including what makes TNT Champion Christian Cage a great heel.
Copeland said, “He does this so well because he wants to be one.” “Somewhere along the way, that’s got lost. Heels became cooler than the babyface. That’s not how it should be. That’s not how he sees it, either. I mean, the man wears a cut-off turtleneck. There’s nothing cool about what he’s doing. He’s fully committed to it. He’s a Bond villain and loving it. It’s fun to be involved with.”
The goal of his Cope Open Challenge:
“The goal is to bring everyone up. I always enjoy seeing new characters and seeing lightbulbs go off. That’s what I’ve loved about coming in so far. What I’m doing, it’s involved so many different people. Now there can be even more with the ‘Cope Open’.”
The importance of having more than one promotion in wrestling:
“Any time there is more than one place to ply your trade, that’s good for everyone who is part of that trade. A monopoly is never a good idea. That goes for me as a consumer, too. As a consumer, I want more choices. That doesn’t mean you have to choose one over the other. You can choose them all. I remember growing up and dying to be able to get my hands on NWA tapes. It didn’t air where I lived, where there was WWF. I found International Wrestling from Montreal. I found All Star Wrestling from Vancouver. I found all these other shows, and I loved that. I’d get little snippets of guys I’d only seen in magazines. Then the show Pro Wrestling Plus with Ed Whalen, who was the announcer for Stampede, started, and I finally got to see wrestlers from the NWA and Continental. I just thought, give it all to me. That’s why AEW is great. It’s so cool to see different wrestling. This is really special, and I’m having a blast being here.”
