Adam Copeland says his I Quit match vs. Christian Cage in Toronto on Wednesday will be the culmination of a 40-year story.
Copeland and Cage both got their start training with Ron Hutchinson at Sully's Gym in Toronto. They grew up in nearby Orangeville and became friends in the sixth grade. On AEW Dynamite this week, they'll meet in an I Quit match for the TNT Championship.
It will be Copeland's first time wrestling in Toronto since his final WWE match on the August 18, 2023 SmackDown. Copeland told The Toronto Sun that he thought his match against Sheamus that night could have been the last of his career.
Copeland said
When I was having that match with Sheamus, I was like ‘This could be it, this could very well be it, because I’m really loving all of this right now. But I told myself I wasn’t going to make a final decision until I got home, got past it, got past the emotion of it, and really just sat down with the family and talked to the girls to see where their heads were with it, see where my head was at with it.
Copeland also spoke of the significance of having the match with Cage in Toronto and not wanting it to take place on AEW Revolution, since that was "Sting's night."
Copeland continued:
To me, the place is always the most important thing, and the opponent. It was a no-brainer. It was like ‘Is this match going to happen at Revolution and my way of thinking was ‘That’s Sting’s night’ and they deserve all the bells and whistles for his last match. With this being an ‘I Quit’ match, we were going to need some bells and whistles.
In looking at the schedule, Toronto popped up and it was ‘It feels like we should do this in Toronto and not in Greensborough. It was already a loaded show, it didn’t need us. But we can get to Toronto and we can do this right. For me, that’s kind of what this has been. It’s the culmination of a 40-year story.
So if you have an opportunity to culminate a story that long, why not do it where you both grew up?
Copeland also spoke with TSN's Jay Onrait about his return to Canada and how he feels like a hometown favorite in every city in the country.
One thing I've always said about Canada that I absolutely just love about Canada, I can be in St. John's, I can be in Victoria and I'm going to be treated like a hometown boy. Nobody else can say that. The guys from the states will have like their home state, or their home city, I've got a home country.
Finally, Copeland said that what his match vs. Cage tomorrow night really boils down to is having fun.
I just want to have fun. That’s really what it boils down to. And to get in there with him, in our third match in this company, and to be able to have a story that has involved eight or nine different characters and lasted six months, I’m really proud of that. I think that it will be a lot of fun.
More must-reads: