A member of the AEW roster is now competing under a new name.
The main event of the January 1st Fight For The Fallen Dynamite special saw Rated FTR take on The Deathriders in a 6 man tag team match. As Rated FTR made their entrance, ring announcer Justin Roberts referred to Adam Copeland as just “Cope”, which was also seen on his entrance graphic and brought up on commentary throughout the match. The Hall of Famer has also used the name on social media in the past year.
Cope, Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler were victorious in the match as Wheeler Yuta was hit with the Shatter Machine and the spear to allow the Hall of Famer to pick up the victory.
Following a confrontation with The Learning Tree backstage, Rated FTR will be in action once again on the January 4th episode of Collision against The Faction.
Cope made his return at Worlds End alongside FTR to fight off The Deathriders following Jon Moxley’s successful retention of the World Championship in the main event. Cope attacked Moxley to stand tall with FTR to close out the final show of 2024.
Also on the show, Kenny Omega’s Dynamite return was confirmed.
Cope Back In AEW
The former TNT Champion was side-lined with injury for most of 2024 after suffering a fractured tibia at Double or Nothing. Cope suffered the injury as a result of a bad landing by diving off the top of a steel cage. The Rated R Superstar was able to finish the match but announced his injury a few days later, resulting in the TNT Title being vacated.
In a new interview, Adam Copeland revealed when he was originally cleared to compete.