Adam Copeland, known for years in the WWE as Edge, is now part of the All Elite Wrestling (AEW). He showed up at the end of Sunday’s AEW Pay-Per-View Wrestledream, after Christian Cage, his longtime friend, and former tag team partner, retained his TBS Championship in a brutal two out of three falls match against Darby Allin. Copeland is now going by his real name, but using the same entrance music he had in WWE.

The 49-year-old Copeland defeated Seamus on the August 17th episode of Smackdown, in what would be his final WWE appearance. He let the crowd in his hometown of Toronto know, after Smackdown went off the air, that he wouldn’t be making it back there, the part he left out was “with WWE”.

This led to speculation that he was AEW-bound. Speculation that Copeland himself tried to put to rest at the time with a video released on social media. With knowledge that Copeland’s WWE contract had expired, and placement of the Cage/Allin match in the Main Event spot, something not usually done for TBS Title defenses, Adam Copeland was trending, and fans in attendance weren’t disappointed.

Copeland started in the WWE (then WWF) in 1996, and stayed until 2011, when a neck injury forced an early retirement. During those years, he won 31 championships, including World Heavyweight Title reigns. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2012. He returned at the 2020 Royal Rumble to a massive reaction from the stunned crowd. He would take part in various feuds and appear on TV and at Premium Live Events, for the next thee years.

Given his debut, it’s likely Copeland will enter a program with Cage, who is currently a heel character, while Copeland is definitely a babyface. No word yet on the length of his AEW contract.