Adam Copeland has defended his recent match on AEW TV.
As was seen on the January 6th episode of Collision, The Rated R Superstar issued an open challenge to the roster, which was answered by Griff Garrison.
The match went just over 6 minutes and drew criticism from fans, who felt that Garrison had too much offence in the match despite not being one of the more established stars in the promotion.
Discussing the match on Busted Open Radio, Copeland explained that it is crucial for wrestlers like Garrison to get ring time with the veterans so they can improve:
“I’ve had a blast, I’ve had so much fun. Even this past weekend, getting in there with a guy like Griff Garrison. Just to get in there so that he can feel what it’s like, the difference that comes with that experience, because I look at it, and I look when I broke in and I had Rick Martel and Bad News Brown and all of these guys mentor me along the way. There’s not a lot of that anymore. All of these guys were doing the indies, and if you were lucky enough to get in there with them, man, I learned. I just soaked it all up.
Now, it almost feels like these guys are gonna have to soak it up on national television, and that’s a different challenge until itself, along with social media. So that to me is really fun, though, to get these guys in there, get hands on them and feel what they’re all about so they can also feel what 30 years of experience feels like,”
This is not the first time that Adam Copeland has addressed AEW criticism as fans have previously taken issue with a match during his rivalry with Christian Cage.
Adam Copeland Discusses Eventual Retirement
Debuting for the promotion back in October 2023, the Hall of Famer is looking to end his in-ring career on his own terms. Now approaching 4 years since his monumental return at the Royal Rumble, Copeland is aware that his time left as an active competitor is extremely limited. When discussing the final years of his career, Adam Copeland admitted that he has a limited amount of time left in the ring.
H/t to Fightful.