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Adam Copeland reveals what he wants his legacy to be in professional wrestling

Originally posted on ClutchPoints | By Matty Breisch | Last updated 5/18/24

Adam Copeland has accomplished a ton in his professional wrestling career. He’s appeared in 1,710 matches, won 37 championships, and even had one of the greatest comebacks in professional wrestling history when he came back at Royal Rumble after a decade-long retirement.

And yet, when Renee Paquette asked the “Rated-R Superstar” about the prospects of his legacy on AEW Close Up, Copeland had a very interesting response, noting that while he’s proud of everything he did as Edge and otherwise, he can’t control the legend promoters decide to tell. What he can do, however, is try his best to be a good person, a good worker, and above all else, a good father to his daughters.

“You know, it’s interesting. Some people will say, ‘What do you want your legacy to be?’ I’ve always said, ‘I don’t really buy into the whole ‘Legacy’ thing,’ you know?’ Because we’re jumping around in tights,” Adam Copeland explained via Fightful. “The people who make the videos and put the packages together and the bookers are who decide your legacy, so I don’t really buy into it. My legacy is, ‘Am I raising good kids?’ So for me, more than anything, it’s just, ‘Did I work hard?’ That’s it. I think my surgeries let me know that I have. More than anything, ‘Did I help?’ and ‘Did I work hard?'”

Spoken like a man who is already a WWE Hall of Famer.

On paper, Copeland’s legacy is more or less set, as his time in AEW is nothing more than adding some sweet, sweet, whipped cream to his career sundae. However, considering he took a decade away from the business, he also had plenty of time to think about how he wants to be remembered, and his response is probably the result of that soul-searching.

JR explains what made Adam Copeland versus Jeff Hardy compelling.

Speaking of Adam Copeland’s legacy in professional wrestling, Jim Ross discussed his feud with Jeff Hardy back in 2009 on his Grillin’ JR podcast and how it helped to get both men over in a massive way.

“These two guys had paid their dues, as we say — probably too much. But they looked at this as a great opportunity. Two guys who are primarily known as tag team wrestlers as a result of the TLC matches. So now you split them up a little bit, and you got Edge and Jeff Hardy who already had a relationship, so to speak, a rivalry. They knew how to work with each other. So I thought it was good, I had no issue whatsoever with that match closing the show. There might have been some talent who did, because of the entitlement thing. But I thought he was a good man,” Jim Ross explained via 411 Mania.

“All those guys like that were looking for opportunities. And we saw that Jeff Hardy was going to be a big star. The audience just gravitated to him for whatever other reason — and I’m not saying that in a negative way, they loved the guy. He excited them. He gave them something new and fresh. And during that time, I didn’t know that we had a better heel than Edge. He might have been the best we had. I don’t know who [else] would be. But he was great because he worked at it, he perfected it. And I just really had a lot of love for both those guys.”

In 2009, Copeland and Hardy were in very similar spots in their careers, with their tag teams on hold and their singles popularity skyrocketing for their broody, bad-boy personas. Factor in some solid booking decisions and Edge’s ability to turn in some incredible heel work, and fans were treated to one of the best WWE angles of the era, a true highlight for two men who have a career jam-packed with incredible, wrestling-defining moments.