Adam Copeland on Tony Khan: “He’s a guy that wants the entire wrestling industry to flourish, not just his bottom line”

So these are all things that I wanted to still accomplish. And within this last calendar month, I think I’ve worked Arena Mexico, Wembley, and now Maple Leaf Gardens. I mean, that, for me, as someone who’s a student of this industry, I know what those buildings mean. But this, for me, was absolutely the most special.

This was the touchstone for my childhood. You know, I’m sure everybody’s sick of hearing it, but it’s—man, my first show was here.

Watching TV, it was watching the Leafs. It was, you know, everything that touched my childhood seemed to emanate from here. So to be able to get out there and perform, this was long gone for me. Yeah, I’m retired for nine years, so wrestling’s long gone.

It’s not even on the horizon. It’s on the other side of the world. Yet here we are, however many years later, six years into coming back and somehow being able to get to Maple Leaf Gardens.

You know, when Scott and I had the discussion, he knew this was one of the dreams for me. Honestly, the main dream I had left. Truly.

And so we talked. He goes, ‘We might be able to make this happen.’ I was like, ‘Well, I’m in. I am absolutely in.’

And thankfully, [AEW President] Tony Khan is the way he is, and he was in. And, you know, he’s a guy that wants the entire wrestling industry to flourish, not just his bottom line. And I think that’s what I appreciate most about where I work now.

This was truly a dream for me.”