“Well nobody remembers,” Adam Copeland says WWE shot down return of popular Attitude Era character at WrestleMania 39

Adam 'Edge' Copeland had pitched the idea of bringing back a member of The Brood faction.

“Well nobody remembers,” Adam Copeland says WWE shot down return of popular Attitude Era character at WrestleMania 39

Adam Copeland (via WWE)

Adam Copeland debuted in the WWE during the Attitude Era as part of The Brood, a faction of vampires. During his WrestleMania 39 match against Finn Balor, the wrestling veteran wanted to pay homage to his roots and bring back his stablemate, Gangrel, for the night. Unfortunately, that never came to fruition.

Speaking on the Chris Van Vliet podcast, the formerly known Edge mentioned that WWE had shut down any idea of Gangrel returning to the company. While he did not want to take a dig at the company, he was told that nobody would remember the popular character. The 50-year-old disagreed with the sentiment, thinking that professional wrestling fans do remember the past. 

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Additionally, he said that fans wanted to be rewarded for remembering, and bringing back Gangrel would’ve been a great way to reward them. As an example, Matt Cardona challenged the former WWE Champion in the Cope Open on AEW Collision nearly a year after his WrestleMania match. When the Indy God’s music played and he came out, fans recalled their history dating back to 2007. 

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I tried and I just got shut down. Every person shut it down. So this isn’t a knock on WWE, but I’d always get the well nobody remembers.

Edge on Insight with Chris Van Vliet

Thus, Adam Copeland has always been a fan of bringing things back from the past and integrating them into current aspects. After his idea repeatedly got shut down, Copeland thought it wasn’t worth it to die on that hill. He simply had to make do with what was given to him. 

Adam Copeland reveals the reason for leaving WWE and joining AEW

Many considered the AEW TNT Champion to be a WWE lifer. Thus, fans were blown away when the Rated-R Superstar made his debut at AEW WrestleDream in 2023 for the Jacksonville-based company. In the same interview, he mentioned his reasons for shockingly leaving WWE.

Adam Copeland at WrestleDream
Adam Copeland at WrestleDream (via AEW)

The Ultimate Opportunist felt that he had done everything he could at WWE. According to him, he had worked with almost 95% of the people he wanted to work with. Furthermore, the company seemed to be headed in a different direction than he wanted to go in.

The Master Manipulator wanted to appear on weekly TV and tell stories. However, it was tough to do that if he only popped in and out every three months. He did understand the idea of a limited appearance keeping him special, but he recalled that it simply wouldn’t work for him.

The Stamford-based company had seemingly run out of ideas for him. Thus, the wrestling legend eventually decided that it was time for him to move on. This meant that he could continue doing what he loved. His daughters also helped him decide to jump ship to work with his lifelong best friend, Christian Cage.

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