Adam Copeland on AEW Double or Nothing injury: You ‘live and learn’
Adam Copeland doesn’t expect to reinvent his character much during his time away from the ring.
At AEW Double or Nothing, Copeland suffered a fractured tibia while facing off against Malakai Black in a barbed wire steel cage match. He’s now starting his road to recovery after having successful surgery done earlier this week.
Copeland was a guest on Friday’s episode of Busted Open Radio. During the interview, he was asked about the mindset for his character going forward and if he’ll be starting a new chapter when he returns. The 50-year-old Copeland said that, at this point in his career, he thinks each injury adds something to his “grizzled vet” persona.
“Part of me goes, ‘Well, you recreate yourself.’ But each injury kind of adds itself to the character that I was already portraying, which — to be honest — is not that far removed from me at this point,” Copeland said.
“I don’t know how much I change, honestly. I think it’s just one more instance of, like, grizzled vet fighting back from another one.”
Copeland pointed to Chris Jericho’s new “Learning Tree” character as an example of successful recreation, but he doesn’t expect to follow a similar path right now.
“There’s something to recreation,” he said. “I just don’t know if this is the instance for that with me.”
Copeland’s fractured tibia happened when he jumped off the steel cage and landed feet-first while putting Black through a table. On Busted Open Radio, Copeland joked that it was “less a leap and more a fall.” Your brain tells you that you can do it, but — when you land — your body remembers it’s 50. He was hopeful the injury wasn’t too bad. It didn’t hurt too much, but the emergency room told him his leg was broken and he needed to get off of it.
Copeland admits that the risk he took jumping off the cage was not a necessary one. But he’s happy that he was able to finish the match and hopes it was a reminder of what Malakai Black and the rest of House of Black bring to the table.
“I think I could have got the same mileage if I did it off the top rope. So, live and learn. But at the same time, I finished the match,” Copeland said.
“Hopefully also throughout this story, it’s a reminder of what [Malakai] Black brings to the table. And kind of just let people understand, ‘Oh yeah, by the way, there’s this group of badasses that have an insane presentation.’ So, a few missions accomplished and a setback.”
A timetable for when Copeland will be able to return to the ring has not been disclosed. The injury forced him to vacate the TNT Championship. At Forbidden Door later this month, there will be a ladder match to determine the new champion. Konosuke Takeshita and Mark Briscoe have already qualified.
