This past Friday night on WWE Smackdown, Edge wrestled the final match on his WWE contract, which officially concludes at the end of September. His final WWE opponent, at least for now, was his long-time friend Sheamus, and it went down in his hometown of Toronto, Canada. With his wife, fellow WWE Hall of Famer Beth Phoenix, and two daughters looking on, the proud Canadian put away the Irishman, sending the crowd home happy.
Speculation has run amuck since the match about what Edge, real name Adam Copeland, may do with his future. As he has noted, he is about to turn fifty years old and isn’t sure how much longer his body will be able to deliver on the level he expects. With that said, he does have good friends in AEW, and Tony Khan reportedly had an interest in signing him when the promotion launched five years ago. Some within the industry have reportedly felt the idea of The Rated R Superstar jumping ship to be with his long-time tag team partner TNT Christian Cage in AEW isn’t out of the question.
Pro Wrestling Torch reports that WWE declined to re-sign Copeland to a new contract once they found out what it would take to retain his services. The implication seems to be that he was asking for too much money, possibly knowing how much Tony Khan is willing to pay top talent to sign with AEW. Copeland making the steep request has apparently led some to believe that he is already AEW bound, knowing what a deal looks like on the other side. It is possible that he has already spoken to top talent in AEW about how much they are making.
Copeland’s friendship with FTR is also something that has come to the forefront in recent years. The AEW World Tag Team Champions helped Copeland train for his big WWE comeback, and it is possible he will find himself working with them in some capacity as well if he signs with AEW. Of course, Cash Wheeler, one-half of FTR, was arrested this past week in Orlando on one count of aggravated assault with a firearm. He has pled not guilty, and FTR’s match against The Young Bucks this weekend at AEW All In looks to be moving forward as planned.