Adam Copeland spoke about his career longevity and what’s left.
It’s rare that a wrestler at 50 years old with numerous injury setbacks and decades of experience can still say they are competing at a high level. But for Copeland, that’s the situation he’s living out in AEW currently.
In an appearance this week on the Mostly Sports show, Copeland was asked what keeps him going as a wrestler. He described how previous issues in his career, including his 2011 retirement and surgeries, are part of what makes him want to continue.
“I think more than anything, it’s staying hungry.” he said. “Having it pulled away from me in 2011 for nine years, once I was able to get this thing back – and I put the work in to get it back, so if I’m going to put that work in – I’m going to make sure I sink my teeth into every aspect of this. I think more than anything it was the challenge of doing this with a triple fusion in my neck, cause nobody’s ever done that before. That’s a big challenge, I want to see if I can. The other night I was in there with Penta, who is this insanely talented luchador. Trying to hang with him and even breaking into stuff that I haven’t done since the early 90s, that’s really fun. I think that’s the key.”
Copeland was honest about the fact that he is near the end of his career but said that he feels sharper mentally than ever before. He also described only wanting to stick around if he can be a fun opponent to work with, and predicted that his time as an in-ring performer will likely last around another year and a half.
“I think that is why a guy like Tom Brady keeps going ‘Yeah, well, mentally I’m better than I’ve ever been and I see the game better than I’ve ever seen it,'” Copeland said, describing how he feels. “I think that’s the struggle. And 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 ‘Ugh, I gotta wrestle him tonight.’ I don’t want to be that guy. I want young guys to still be excited if they hop in there with me. So I think I’ve got a year-and-a-half, give or take.”
Copeland is the current TNT Champion in AEW. He is expected to appear on Wednesday’s episode of Dynamite, tagging alongside Willow Nightingale for a match against Julia Hart and Brody King.
