Adam Copeland to retire in 2027 after Christian Cage sustains collapsed lung at AEW All Out

Pro-wrestling legend Adam Copeland, formerly known as Edge in WWE, sees the finish line of his Hall of Fame career.

On Wednesday's "AEW Dynamite," Copeland defeated Josh Alexander in a Clockwork Carnage qualifier match to advance to Saturday's AEW World title match at AEW WrestleDream 2026. The match saw Copeland return to singles action following his recent tag-team championship run alongside longtime friend and rival Christian Cage.

The biggest surprise of the night came after the match, when the 52-year-old Copeland revealed that 2027 will be his last year as a professional wrestler.

Said Copeland:

"My face isn't on the posters on teenagers' walls anymore. I'm aging out, and that's OK. It happens to everybody. But because of that, I just want to let y'all know that 2027 will be my last year in professional wrestling.

"I get it. It's time, but all of that being said, that is why I have to go for the AEW Championship."

Copeland has been wrestling on borrowed time since he initially retired from WWE in 2011 due to serious neck injuries. In 2020, he miraculously returned for that year's WWE Royal Rumble match in what many consider the greatest pro-wrestling comeback of all time. His final stint with WWE ended in 2023 before he joined AEW.

His longtime best friend and teammate Cage also previously had to his career put on hold because of injuries — and unfortunately, it's happened again. Before his announcement, Copeland shared that Cage suffered serious injuries in their three-way ladder match at All Out 2026, which will sideline Cage indefinitely, if not permanently.

Said Copeland:

"What a lot of people don't know is that at the tables, ladders, and chair match at All Out in Chicago two weeks ago, Christian Cage was thrown into a ladder five minutes into the match. What we didn't know is that he ended up breaking three ribs. One rib broken in three places, and suffered a collapsed lung — five minutes into the match. Yet, at the end, he was standing on top of those ladders reaching for our tag-team championships. He did that because of his work ethic, and he did it for all of you.

"He's watching. Let him hear it."

The duo of Cage & Cope are wrestling royalty with nothing more to prove after their great final stretch teaming together. For Copeland, though, he'll try to add one more world title to his mantle this Saturday in the promotion's first-ever Clockwork Carnage match.

However, after defeating Alexander — a member of the Don Callis Family — the rest of the stable won't make it easy for Copeland, as they attacked him afterward on Wednesday's show.

"I hate to tell ya, buddy, but I'm usually right on these little predictions of mine," said Callis. "I don't like your chances of seeing 2027. In fact, I don't like your chances of seeing Clockwork Carnage this Saturday."