AEW Star Adam Copeland Addresses Death Riders Hate and Percy Jackson Changes -

With decades of experience inside the squared circle interrupted by nine years on the shelf, few wrestlers have gone through hardships as brutal as Adam Copeland. The Rated R Superstar has seen the highest of highs and lowest of lows, all while achieving career accolades most people can only dream about. After changing the definition of “extreme” wrestling, the man known as Cope has since joined All Elite Wrestling where he’s been a fixture in the most divisive storylines.

After challenging for the AEW Championship and falling short to Jon Moxley and the Death Riders, all due to a technicality caused by his longtime friend/foe Christian Cage, Copeland had a chance to make up for his loss in a Street Fight ten days later. And though Cope was able to suplex Moxley on a stick of wood filled with nails (what he affectionately refers to as “Spike”), he still could not bring home the gold.

But now he has a chance at the upcoming Dynasty event, teaming up with his friends and tag-team legends FTR to take on the AEW Trios Champions of PAC, Claudio Castignoli, and Wheeler Yuta. Ahead of the Pay-Per-View event, we had the opportunity to speak with Copeland about his career, his role on Percy Jackson and the Olympians, and his future in AEW.

Jon Moxley’s Brutal Street Fight

Adam Copeland as Ares wielding a sword in Percy Jackson and the Olympians TV series — Image via Disney+

COLLIDER: Your Street Fight with Jon Moxley was much different than your match at AEW Revolution. How did you differentiate these two?

ADAM COPELAND: I wanted to let [the fans] understand, “Oh, this is different. This is a straight up wrestling match.” But I also knew with with where we were going and what we had in store that it would make for a pretty, pretty crazy finish. Contrary popular belief, you were supposed to hate the finish. That was the goal. [laughs] That is the idea. Generally, when you see three good guys blow off their their stories in the three matches before, chances are in that last match, you’re going to get something you don’t like. And that match will actually set the course for a lot of different branches of stories off of that one finish — which people, if they have patience, will eventually see, but generally speaking, there’s’s not a lot of patience nowadays.

I asked Tony [Khan] about that too, because I thought the internet reaction to anything Death Riders-related is pretty — it’s vocal in how frustrated fans are, but then I go to the shows and they come up, and I hear the heat that they draw.

COPELAND: Here’s the thing now: Twitter is heat because, when the Death Riders show up, I hear the chants, I hear the anger. That’s the goal, guys. You’re being worked. Great.

And then you have this like built in thing with Christian Cage, who reared his ugly head once again. And obviously your history with him and getting back into that. He’s your friend, you go back to your early days as kids and coming up in this game. What is it about working with him that you guys are always able to make it fresh?

COPELAND: You know, I just think what we both try and do is bring in a lot of utility players to to add to stories, hence The Patriarchy, hence FTR, hence Willow [Nightingale], Jay White, just trying to get a bunch of different talent that maybe aren’t necessarily doing things, that should be doing things. “Well, let’s get them involved in this. Let’s figure out a way that we can get all of these different spinoffs happening.” And I think him and I both try to do that with our stories generally.

So that’s what what can keep it fresh. If you see the same two guys and it’s just the same two guys, well, okay, but you can bring in different incarnations and add different layers to the story by bringing in other characters that hopefully get something from being involved in the storyline and have more legs going forward.

The Future of All Elite Wrestling

percy-jackson-and-the-olympians-adam-copeland — Image via Disney

You mentioned Jay White specifically and he was one of my New Japan [Pro Wrestling] favorites and seeing him come over, he’s always managed to worm his way into the main event scene and it’s always such a treat. Were you fan of his before from his New Japan stint before you came in? And what made working with him so special?

COPELAND: I’d seen a little bit, but not enough to really have a gauge. You know what I mean? It wasn’t until he hit AEW and I really started got to be able to be there and and watch and see. And I really enjoy his style because it’s based on counters and a lot of my style is based on counters too. So I see a lot of similarities in in the way we structure things. And on top of that, just a guy who shows up, always ready to do whatever, and has a really good attitude. It’s fun to be in there with a guy like that who really appreciates being there. I think we’ve all just scratched the surface on what Jay White will be for the company going forward.

You and him remind me, you’re two of my favorite sellers where you guys just sell everything. You look miserable as you guys are getting your ass kicked, spittle coming out and just like, “God, when is this going to be over?” You guys as a team, I really enjoyed that because you know, you guys sell it very well.

COPELAND: Yeah, we we’re fighting to see who’s going to sell more.

Going back to some of the Christian stuff, obviously people want to see you guys team up. But a part of it feels like you’re trying to save his soul and he’s just — you know, the infamous “Go F— yourself” line and all that — he’s kind of turned into this asshole patriarch and has been one of the funniest characters. Anytime he starts a feud, I always Google, “Is that person’s dad still alive?” Is there a chance that maybe you meet in the middle or maybe we get this heel Cope and Christian?

COPELAND: Yeah, it’s tough, man. You know, we tried it with WWE out of necessity. It was like, “OK, we need heels.” Right, okay. Then I’ll give it a shot. I think the difficult part with that was with Judgment Day is I tried to flip everything on its head. “What do they love about this character?” OK, long hair, right. The music, right. The entrance, right. Wait, now let’s take all that way. Chop my hair off, become this megalomaniacal character that just is power hungry and all of those things. It was such a switch. It was also really bad timing. I don’t think anyone fully thought through. I didn’t think through.

But you put AJ [Styles] and I against each other, [AJ] who had just turned babyface, and I turned heel on this character that just turned babyface. Chances are people are going to be confused, and I think they were. And it took a while to get past that confusion. It actually felt like — we we had a trios match at Hell in a Cell or something, and that was the first night where it was like, “OK, they’re starting to get. They booed.” But then I also get the message that day, “Hey, Randy [Orton’s]. Cody’s hurt. Edge is babyface.” I’m like, OK, so much for those 30 suits I just had made.

To try and do it now? Maybe it’s possible. I think it becomes hard sometimes when people know the real story behind the character, right? So I came back after nine years retired. I was told I’d never do this. Everybody knows the story, right? You know, I’m sick of it, too, but it’s still there. And I think that can kind of make it hard for a certain segment of the audience to hate that. And they’ve grown up watching you, and their kids are now watching you. It’s more of a — I don’t know, like, I remember watching Cheers with my mom when I was a kid. I didn’t really understand it, but I watched it with my mom because it was the thing to do and she loved it. It made her laugh.

I feel like that’s kind of where I’m navigating from in wrestling and, sure as possible, yeah. But you also go make sure it’s right and not forced. Because I tried to force it before and it just didn’t work.

Speaking along those lines, going forward, you’ve worked with a lot of great talent already in AEW. We got Forbidden Door coming up. Is there anyone on the New Japan side that you’ve thought about that you really want to get in the ring with?

COPELAND: El Phantasmo. Canadian kid. I don’t know what Jeff Cobb’s status is, but I think that’s another fun one. Gabe Kidd, that’s another fun one. I’m wide open to all of that stuff because that’s one of my favorite aspects of coming to AEW, was the variety of opponents that I’ve been able to get in there with. And that’s super cool, especially at this stage of my career, to challenge myself. To go, “OK, can I work this style? Can I work that style?”

Because I’ve always prided myself on being one of those guys, whatever the match type, you put me in it and I’ll figure out a way to to make it work for me. So that that’s been really cool. And you get Forbidden Door, and you can get in with somebody that you’ve never even contemplated getting in there with. That’s fun.

Ares in ‘Percy Jackson and the Olympians’ Season 2

Percy (Walker Scobell) at Camp Half-Blood in Percy Jackson and the Olympians — Image via Disney+

Percy Jackson, Season 2, it’s on everyone’s mind. Unfortunately, you guys are impacted by the passing of the late, great Lance Reddick an amazing actor. But then he’s recast with Courtney B. Vance, another amazing actor. Does the series address it in any way? Is it a straight-up recasting moment?

COPELAND: I honestly don’t know. Lance and I never even got to meet that’s how those productions work sometime, when you get multiple characters and everything. And I’ve learned to just show up and do my job and not get in to, “So where are we going, storyline-wise?” Or anything like that. If I’m more of a character, if I end up being one of the the major characters, then I’ll do that due diligence. But, I just come in, play Aries, have a blast doing it, and then get to hang in Vancouver and see my buddies.

You previously talked about playing a dynamic with the character [Clarisse La Rue, daughter of Ares] and we’re getting to see that. I just want to know, as someone who is a father to daughters, are you incorporating that? Because the gods are pretty cruel.

COPELAND: Well, the gods are pretty cruel and Ares is next level cruel. So, not really pulling any of my normal dad duties into how Ares treats Clarisse. But I can be tough on the girls in terms of making sure they have work ethic, so maybe there’s that similarity, but beyond that, no. [Laughs]

You’re not the same. You’re not the God of War of Parenting.

COPELAND: I’m the God of Cuddles, here.