Adam Copeland returned to wrestling after nine year away at the 2020 Royal Rumble. He joined AEW in October 2023 to work with new talent.
Speaking to Brandon Walker on Mostly Sports, Copeland talked about the differences in his two stints in wrestling. He said (per Fightful),
“I’ve lived a lot more life. As strange as that sounds, it actually does add to your utility belt out there. As a performer, any kind of performer, they have to dip into a place to pull the character off. It’s the same with wrestling. That, more than anything, is what I’ve noticed coming back. Some of the skillset I got in the acting I did during those nine years off, I did over 100 episodes of television when I was retired. You kind of pull those things back with you. I feel that’s the biggest difference. I might not be as fast as I used to be, but I feel mentally I’m better than I’ve ever been. That is why a guy like Tom Brady goes, ‘Yeah, well, mentally, I’m better than I’ve ever been. I see the game better than I’ve ever seen it.’ I think that’s the struggle. That’s kind of how I feel, but I’m also a realist. I don’t want to be that guy who sticks around to the point where a young guy looks at the sheet and goes, ‘Ah, okay, I have to wrestle him tonight.’ I don’t want to be that guy. I want young guys to still be excited if they’re going to hop in there with me. I figure maybe I have a year and a half left, give or take. Hopefully, I’ve gotten all the ‘yeah, yeahs’ out by that point.”
