AEW WrestleDream Post-Show Media Scrum: Adam Copeland Plans, Brie Bella, WrestleDream Future, Katsuhiko Nakajima, Jade Cargill

AEW held a post-show media scrum following Sunday’s WrestleDream event at the Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, Washington.

Some of the notable highlights included:

• On the topic of Adam Copeland’s official debut in AEW and his status in the company, AEW CEO Tony Khan stated “This is full-time. Adam is going to be with us every week. He’s going to wrestle, he’s a full-time part of the AEW roster. It’s been a long time since anybody has seen Adsm wrestle as much and at the level he’s been in AEW. He’s wrestling at the highest level in recent years. He’s going to be here on a weekly basis.“
• During his portion of the media scrum, Copeland gave his thoughts about him recently joining AEW. Copeland stated “Part of coming here is that I want to contribute. I wanted to help. I just felt like here, I’d really be able to do that an have the opportunity to be able to do that. I look at an entire fresh roster of faces and so many talent that I’ve never laid hands on before and that, to me, as a person who is driven by challenges, that for me was the biggest thing. I’ve never been in a ring with Samoa Joe or stood in a ring with Sting before tonight. I see Nick Wayne, Swerve, there are so many possibilities for me. At this stage of my career, that is so enticing and exciting. I felt free. It felt fun. I felt the same feeling I had when I would come out for my indie shows when I was Adam Impact or Sexton Hardcastle. It was this brand new thing I always wanted to do. That feeling, I felt it out there. At this stage in my career, to feel that, that’s special. 31 years in, to feel that way, that’s a gift. This is all I ever wanted to do and this feels like an opportunity to come in, and not just come in every three months. I’m going to be there every week. I’m a full-time guy. I want to do that for as long as that is possible. I feel that’s how I can help the most. More than anything, that’s what I’m here to do.“
• Copeland also stated that he tried to keep his AEW debut a secret from everyone by booking himself a hotel room in the lead up and would only sneak out to get some food. Copeland stated that he ended up getting seen by a fan at a burger place one time but told this person to keep it a secret and stated that this person ended ip doing so.
• On the topic of getting to use “Metalingus” in AEW, Copeland stated that he is close friends with the band Alterbridge and that song will go with him wherever he goes.
• During their portion of the media scrum, Kenny Omega and Chris Jericho gave their thoughts about teaming up with Kota Ibushi on the show and Ibushi’s future in AEW. Omega stated “I believe it’s definitely a safe bet to say he’ll be back. Ibushi and I, we’ve really gone through the ringer. We’ve been tossed into the meat grinder. Part of the reason I was motivated to go to DDT in the first place was because of Kota Ibushi. I really felt attracted to his style and outlook on professional wrestling. We’ve done everything we could to leave it all out there. We’ve broken ourselves over and over again, just to build ourselves back up to break each other down again. I really feel like when there is no else around us and our pursuit of our own personal best, we are each other’s shoulders to cry on. It really means a lot, now, after all this time apart, in our current old man broken states, to be there and support each other. Still train together for these matches and still go in front of a packed house and with people like Chris and make magic.” Jericho responded stating “He had a great time tonight. He kept saying ‘thank you’ during the match. ‘Thank you. Like like? You okay?’ Yeah man, we’re only ten minutes in. [laughs]” Omega responded back stating “We’re making up for a lot of lost time. The friendship and personal relationship will never die. To be in a professional environment with him again is just great. I love being able to travel and train with him again. It’s wonderful. I think it’s safe to say he’ll be back.” Tony Khan responded to Omega stating “Yes.“
• During his portion of the media scrum, Darby Allin revealed that he helped produce Copeland’s teaser vignette for his official AEW debut on the show. Allin also stated that the fireworks that went off during the vignette was not planned and instead that came from when the Seattle Mariners had won a home game at the T-Mobile Park on the night of their filming.
• On the topic of Copeland joining AEW, Allin stated that he is very happy since he wants to “pick his brain” in regards to learning valuable advice and knowledge from Copeland. Allin also stated that Copeland had told him that he was not one of those “back in my day” type veterans who tries to force information and their way of wrestling onto younger talents.
• During his portion of the media scrum, Christian Cage stated in character that he was surprised but does not care that Copeland is in AEW now.
• During his portion of the media scrum, Swerve Strickland stated that he feels that Tony Khan has laid out the red carpet for him in AEW since he arrived at their Revolution 2022 event.
• During his portion of the media scrum, Katsuyori Shibata stated that he would stay in AEW for as long as Tony Khan wanted. Shibata stated via his phone audio translation in English “If Tony wished, I am ready to make a commitment.” Khan responded stating “I want you to stay forever, you’re my favorite” and gave Shibata a small embrace.
• In a bit of a funny moment, MJF accidentally called Adam Copeland by his former WWE ring name of Edge which led to Tony Khan giving a shocked reaction and telling MJF “woah woah woah” over it.
• During his portion of the media scrum, Bryan Danielson stated that just because he got the win over Zack Sabre Jr. that does not leave him convinced that he is the best technical wrestler in the world. Danielson also praised Sabre Jr. for his work in the ring.
• On the topic of his wife Brie Garcia (former Brie Bella in WWE) working in AEW in the future, Danielson stated “I will never say never, but she puts stuff on Instagram that I don’t even know. Sometimes, people will say ‘Oh my gosh, that picture of your kids is adorable.’ I’m saying, ‘what picture are you talking about?’ They’ll show them to me and I haven’t even seen the picture. She hasn’t sent me the picture. I will say this, Brie is the boss in our family. If she wants to come do it, it’ll get done.“
• During his portion of the media scrum, Tony Khan stated that WrestleDream generated over 100,000 pay-per-view buys based on early data and estimates. Khan stated that the current numbers for WrestleDream were higher than what AEW’s All Out 2023 event generated for buys.
• On the topic of if WrestleDream will be an annual event, Khan stated that WrestleDream will be an annual event for AEW going forward but would not commit to next year’s event taking place in Seattle. Khan stated that the reason is due to potential schedule-related issues with the venue since they got very lucky to be able to host this year’s event at the Climate Pledge Arena due to the Seattle Kraken not having the venue booked for October 1st. Khan also stated that he would not commit to an exact date for next year’s event due to similar reasons.
• On the topic of AEW potentially signing Pro Wrestling NOAH talent Katsuhiko Nakajima to a deal, Khan stated that he is interested in potentially having Nakajima in the company and has heard that Najamika currently shares similar interest.
• On the topic of Jade Cargill’s departure from AEW for WWE, Khan stated “I knew Jade’s contract had been ticking down and we were talking about a new contract and I was very interested in Jade coming back and we were having a negotiation. I made a very big offer and I thought it was a very fair offer. I think she was considering it, and then she asked for a bigger offer and then I went up again, and I kind of thought that was going to do it. Then, it didn’t, which I was surprised because to be honest, I came up to a number that was higher than her original ask. I don’t know what I would have had to do at that point. I was a little surprised. I did really hope that Jade would be back. I think I tried to handle it, when we were down to the nitty gritty and we were down to the final couple of weeks and we still hadn’t agreed to something, then it was at the point where I said, ‘if you aren’t going to stay, I’m going to give you the best possible exit.’ I have only good things to say about Jade. I really enjoyed working with her. She was a great part of AEW, she is always welcome here, I tried to give her the best possible send off I could. The classiest send off I’ve ever seen in wrestling was, at the time, was when Ric Flair left the WWF. He did a match with Mr. Perfect, who was a natural person for him to wrestle, and that was it, he was gone. They didn’t do anything to embarrass him or mess him up, they let him leave, and he was still Ric Flair. He wrestled the match against the person he should have, finished up and left with not only his dignity and probably a better position than he came in. That’s what I tried to do. I wanted to give her the best possible send off.“
• Khan continued and also stated that Cargill is always welcome back to AEW if she were to decide to return in the future. Khan stated “The natural thing was, there was no rematch against Kris Statlander, so I had her do a run in knowing it would set up the match where she would likely finish up unless we came to an agreement at the last minute, which I was really still hoping would happen, down to the last minute. I only have positive things to say. I thought I had a good plan where, ‘if this is it, that’s where we’ll finish up.’ When she did the segment where she returned and did the run in, Tony Schiavone came to the monitor as my desk and said, ‘you’re a classy guy, boss.’ I think he meant it, it was a classy way to send her off. I try to make this a great home for wrestlers and I want people to see whether you’re coming in or coming out, we’re going to treat you well and I respect and value Jade, so I wanted to give her a big send off. I wish her the best and she would always be welcome back if she wanted to comeback.“

AEW WrestleDream post-show media scrum full video:

Source: PWInsider.com, PostWrestling.com, Fightful.com 1, 2, 3, 4, & 5