AEW superstar Adam Copeland — who WWE fans know as the Hall of Fame “Rated R Supertar” Edge — spoke with amNewYork Metro regarding his new fitness product, injury rehabilitation, sorrow of missing wrestling in Wembley, and his plans for the future.
Copeland was famously forced to retire from professional wrestling in 2011 after he revealed to fans that a nagging neck injury could have caused him to suffer serious, debilitating harm if he did not hang up the boots. However, he returned triumphantly to the grappling world in 2020 after nearly a decade on the sidelines.
According to the multi-time champion, he was able to get into the best shape of his life and return to the ring by doing a simple exercise known as planking. This technique involves stretching outright and balancing in a fixed position for a period of time. However, with injuries mounted due to years of abuse on his body, even exercise is painful for him.
“I got floating chips in my elbows, I’ve had a torn tricep. I got a fused wrist, I dislocated the shoulder, tore this labrum — never got it fixed. I got half a pec attached here. I’ve torn this one completely. It’s a lot of stuff that I’ve done that when I plank, that would hurt too, and I’m like, there must be a way to alleviate this,” Copeland said.
Even now, the 50-year-old wrestling legend is recuperating from a fractured tibia he suffered when jumping from a steel cage back in May at AEW Double or Nothing. The injury has put Copeland back on the shelf but even that he says is not keeping him down and he is already well on the road to recovery.
“It feels good, you know, it still doesn’t have the full strength back yet. The explosion isn’t there, the full mobility isn’t back yet,” Copeland said, pointing out that he has been able to test in his ring. “I was able to get in the ring and kind of roll around a little bit just to see where it’s at. I felt some of the deficiency, it still isn’t up to it but it is in the right direction.”
With both the mounting injuries and unbridled passion to continue training and performing, Copeland says he and his longtime friend and fellow wrestler Christian Cage brainstormed for a way to train without the constant pain.
They came up with their own product called the Pure Plank, a high tech board complete with handles to both aid in training and to make it more comfortable. Laughing to himself, Copeland admitted that he would never see himself as an entrepreneur but wanted to share a form of training he credits to helping him continue to do what he loves.
“I’m not one of those guys who’s going to start pushing my stuff in people’s faces. But I had a lot of talent coming up to me asking what’s deal with this planking thing,” Copeland explained. “The handles, to me, were the big thing because it added such stability, so you’re not going to float anywhere. And it’s good, it’s going to force your form to be better.”
Although he says the recovery process is heading in the right direction and that he is even still able to maintain his workout routine thanks to the Pure Plank, he does feel as though he is missing out on recent action. He praised the ongoing feud between Hangman Adam Page and Swerve Strickland, and AEW’s renowned focus on storytelling.
“It feels like we’re getting more storyline emphasis because dream matches can only happen so often, and how sustainable is it? Story is always sustainable. Good story can last and last and last, and then you can always revisit it. And I look at the Hangman/Swerve story and I’ve just loved watching the slow progression,” Copeland said.
He also laments missing out on wrestling in England’s Wembley Arena and the upcoming AEW Grand Slam event, which will take place at Arthur Ashe Stadium in Queens on Sept. 25.
“I was pretty pumped about Wembley, I’ve never performed there. I grew up watching Queen and the Foo Fighters, just like all of these massive concerts, and then just the feel — I was pretty pumped about that. That is one that I loved watching, but it was also difficult at times to watch. Arthur Ashe I have never performed there either so I am missing out on that one too,” Copeland said. “But more than anything, I just want to get back and contribute.”
When asked if fans could see him team with his wife — known in WWE as Beth Phoenix — in AEW, Copeland said that while he would love that he would also like to team with her in another endeavor. Copeland revealed that he is mulling over starting a wrestling school with his wife in the future.
“One thing we have talked about is maybe starting a type of finishing school, where, if there are people within the industry that feel like they’re just missing a little something, we’ll come on down to Asheville because you got FTR, you got me, and you got Beth Phoenix,” Copeland said. “We’re debating that and then just seeing if that’s a time commitment that we even have at this stage.”
Those interested in more information on the Pure Plank can see Copeland and Cage’s website.
