There was quite a bit of discussion surrounding AEW this week thanks to a revealing interview from CM Punk on the MMA Hour. During that conversation Punk went into substantial details about his tenure in AEW, his return to AEW, and what ultimately led to the falling out. One of the bigger subjects discussed was the leadership of Tony Khan and the focus of AEW as a business and wrestling company, and without addressing Punk’s interview directly, tonight’s passionate and fiery opening promo from Adam Copeland on AEW Dynamite seemed very much like a response to what Punk had to say.
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Copeland cut to the point immediately. “Well listen, there’s been a lot of negative BS that has been spewed this week, right? There has. Screw that! I want to talk about positives, and if you’re a fan of pro wrestling, man, it is a great time to be a fan of pro wrestling. There’s a whole lot of positives right now.”
“If you’re sitting here. If you’re watching at home. Hell, if you can feel compelled to go on social media even if it’s just to complain about pro wrestling, you’re a fan of pro wrestling. I am a fan of pro wrestling. You know I grew up, I watched WWF,” Copeland said, but then someone started booing. “No that’s not a reason to boo man you’re missing the point of all this. This is to celebrate all of it. I watched NWA. I watched Stampede Wrestling out of Calgary. I watched Owen Hart start his career, pretty damn cool. I watched BC All-Star wrestling out of Vancouver. I watched International Wrestling out of Montreal, and I devoured it all because I love professional wrestling.”
“And I know you’ve heard this before so please bear with me because it’s close to my heart. For 9 years I had this business torn away from me. Torn away from me, and when I finally got it back, I worked to get it back because I love it so damn much,” Copeland said. “But when I sat down I started thinking about the end of my career, because let’s face it, I’m closer to the end than the start. I realized that AEW is where I need to end my career. And a lot of people didn’t seem to understand that, but I looked at the roster, and I saw a murderer’s row of talent.”
“I have been in some of the most phenomenal locker rooms of all time, and I will put that locker room up against anybody. I came here because I can face Will Ospreay. I can face Kenny Omega. Hope you’re doing good bud. I can face Hangman. I can face Swerve, Joe, Claudio, Moxley. I can face Darby. I can face FTR. I can face the Young Bucks. I can face Buddy Matthews, Brody King, and Malakai Black. By the way, those are all first-time-ever matches, how crazy is that? That happens in AEW,” Copeland said.
“Now I got a lot of friends in the industry right, and they call me and go man Adam it looks like you’re having a blast out there. Guess what, I am. This isn’t hyperbole. This isn’t me knocking anywhere else. I have had a phenomenal career. I have fun everywhere I’ve been. Everything I’ve done. But this is the most fun that I have had in my entire 32-year professional wrestling career,” Copeland said.
“So I celebrate AEW. I celebrate the men who started AEW. So that means the Bucks. That means Kenny. That means Cody, and that means Tony Khan. And that should be celebrated. Those guys are all fans of this, just like me, just like all of you. That ain’t a negative. That’s not something to make fun of because we love this. AEW has pushed this industry into a better place. AEW has pushed everyone into a better place. It has given more people the chance to do what they love for a living, and that should be celebrated. AEW makes pro wrestling better. AEW makes pro wrestling more fun. And AEW is where the best wrestle,” Copeland said.
What did you think of Copeland’s promo? Let us know in the comments and you can talk wrestling with me on Threads as well @mattaguilarcb!
