AEW's Adam Copeland Looks Back On Neck Injury That Led To His First Retirement

After defending the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania XXVII, Adam 'Edge' Copeland was forced to retire, announcing to the news to the world during an episode of "RAW." Copeland was then inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2012, eventually making a miraculous return to wrestling at the 2020 Royal Rumble.

In an appearance on "The Mick and Kenny Show," Copeland looked back at the injury that took nine years away from his career. 

"I didn't realize I'd broken [my neck]. I knew I was in pain," he recalled, explaining that his left arm started to atrophy, which set off alarms in his brain. "A few of our guys had been through neck injuries before, so I kind of sat down and talked to them, and they were like: 'You need neck surgery.'" Copeland then explained that after getting checked out, they discovered he had two ruptured spinal discs, and needed neck surgery. 

"It wasn't just a one-time thing, I think it was just a lot of big risks that I took that eventually just caught up to me," he explained, recalling that the surgery took place all the way back in 2001 or 2002, when he got a double fusion to his spine, which added a decade to his career, but that decade was full of pain. "Within that time frame, I was wrestling Kane, and the Big Show, and the Undertaker, and John Cena, and Batista – point being: I got thrown around a lot with a double fusion in my neck."

Copeland recalls that he was told that the plates were banging against his spinal discs with each bump, worsening his condition over time. 

"Eventually I got to the point where they said I had to retire," he said.

Unlike many other wrestler retirements, Adam Copeland's was genuinely considered permanent, but even though he was told that he would never wrestle again, the veteran didn't just take the news, and slowly tried to recover. Copeland and Mick Foley shared some solidarity around being forced to retire, after which Copeland was asked how exactly he made his comeback. 

"I wish there were some method or mode I could tell people, but more than anything I think I'm just very stubborn, and stupidly so at times," he admitted,

He then recalled going mountain biking with Sheamus during his retirement, claiming that he wiped out during their ride, and was surprised that he somehow didn't aggravate his neck afterward. Copeland also recalled that he started doing all of his own fight scenes on the TV shows he acted in, which also never aggravated his neck. 

"I thought, 'Well, hold on a second? I think I might be able to pull this off,'" he recalled, "'because also, I have full range of movement.'"

The veteran then visited two doctors, who both cleared him, before approaching the doctor who initially advised him to retire. 

"Beth and I were both thinking, 'Okay, this is the final boss, this is where it gets shut down,'" Copeland recalled. "And he said to me, he goes, 'I can't fully explain it, except that your diet, the way you live, and the way you're training has caused me to be able to tell you I can clear you.'"

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "The Mick and Kenny Show," and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.