AEW Renaissance: The Inspiring Journeys of Adam Copeland, Bryan Danielson, and Saraya

A feeling mixing irony, joy and hope: this is what wrestling fans around the world felt when they saw the photo ofAdam Copeland, Bryan Danielson et to the palace shared by Adam Copeland on his Twitter account on October 11. An image that could convince a good number of agnostics and atheists of the existence of miracles, we might think. Indeed, who would have believed, just a few years ago, that the three former WWE superstars would end up together in AEW as full-time wrestlers? to the palace, Bryan Danielson et Adam Copeland share an almost common history, observing their respective obligation to leave the wrestling rings for several years due to injury, before finally returning to the highest level and being allowed to perform again. The sadness of an injury that we thought was fatal, which turns into a rebirth and their returns become unexpected: this is how the destinies of the three protagonists are similar and, since the arrival of Adam Copeland at AEW, intersect .

Lookit us! Moral of the story, fight for it. pic.twitter.com/1ilTsMgXWF

— Adam Copeland (@EdgeRatedR) October 11, 2023

Adam Copeland: from tears of sadness to tears of joy

In April 2011, Edge (Adam Copeland) is world heavyweight champion in WWE, and embodies one of the driving and major figures of the Stamford federation roster, both in terms of his popularity and his seniority. Indeed, we have to go back to the early 1990s to see Edge start his career and in 1998 to see him for the first time in the WWF. Between 2006 and 2011, he became world champion 11 times, making him one of the most successful wrestlers in the promotion’s history. His dedication in the ring, especially on a physical level, during his career is to be praised, considering the tag team ladder matches in the early 2000s, his fight against Mick Foley at WrestleMania 22 or even against to John Cena at Unforgiven 2006 for example. Simply put: the body takes it but doesn’t forget. WhenEdge spoke on Raw on April 11, 2011, he had just retained the world heavyweight championship against Alberto Del Rio at WrestleMania 27. He then announced, with tears in his eyes, not forgetting to move all the fans present in the arena and behind their television screen, that he has suffered a serious neck injury since 2003, and that doctors recently informed him that he should be forced to retire and not get back into a wrestling ring so as not to risk his life. The story ofEdge therefore stops like this; At least that’s what we could think at that moment. A year after his retirement, Edge is inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame by his best friend Christian Cage. The Canadian wrestler remained close to the world of professional wrestling and sports entertainment in the years that followed.

But in January 2020 during the annual edition of the Royal Rumble, Edge made a miraculous return to WWE. New moving moment: tears of sadness turned into tears of joy. The fans can’t believe their eyes, but Edge is indeed back, almost 9 years after his forced departure. The new chapter of the wrestler’s career then begins; he is marked by rivalries against Randy Orton, Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, AJ Styles, and by his victory during the Royal Rumble Match 2021 allowing him to be part of the main event of WrestleMania 37. One thing is clear to everyone : Edge has lost none of his technical and physical abilities in the ring, despite his break of several years. His return is then the opportunity to see him in action in “dream” matches. In September 2023, we learned that his WWE contract was not renewed and rumors sent him to AEW to begin a new major challenge. These rumors were then confirmed on 1^is October 2023, when AEW presents the first edition of its WrestleDream PPV, a show during which Edgenow called Adam Copeland (his real name), made his first appearance on Tony Khan’s promotional side. It was then that the former WWE Champion found Bryan Danielson et to the palacealongside whom he was photographed a few days after WrestleDream in an AEW ring.

Bryan Danielson: story of an emotional elevator

It seems that there is Adam Copeland chez Bryan Danielson. Indeed, in the same way as the “Rated-R Superstar”, “The American Dragon” had to stay away from WWE rings for several years due to a neck injury which, at first glance, seemed to end. his career forever; moreover, Bryan Danielson was also world champion when he was first forced to retire. Adam Copeland in 2011, Bryan Danielson in 2014. While he calls himself Daniel Bryan and he is WWE world heavyweight champion at this time, the American wrestler must make his titles vacant without immediately announcing that he is retiring. He returned at the start of 2015, offering all of his fans a huge glimmer of hope to see him back at the top of WWE. From the 2015 Royal Rumbe Match, it was a great disappointment for a large part of the WWE universe who wanted to see him win his ticket to WrestleMania. And the disappointment would only be greater afterwards. Unfortunately, a few months after his return, after winning the WWE Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania 31, Daniel Bryan must stop wrestling again to avoid aggravating his injury. In March 2016, he went to WWE Raw to speak. A feeling of déjà vu begins to weigh on the arena, when Daniel Bryan takes the microphone and confirms that the common fear of everyone present that evening is indeed well founded. The former heavyweight world champion sadly announces that he is forced, as Edge 5 years earlier, to retire. A period followed which saw Daniel Bryan serve as general manager of SmackDown.

At the beginning of 2018, almost 2 years after the announcement of his retirement, rumors of a possible return to the ring of the American wrestler emerged timidly, before being confirmed and seeing him wrestle again in WWE in from WrestleMania 34. Daniel Bryan alone symbolizes the miracle: after the miracle of WrestleMania 30 and his victory to become WWE world heavyweight champion, the miracle of WrestleMania 34 and his unexpected return to action. Later this year, “The American Dragon” will have one final run as world champion in WWE, before beginning a new chapter in his career in 2021, signing with AEW. More than 5 years after his return, Bryan Danielson is still active and seems to have managed to stop the spiral of an unbearable emotional elevator, both for him and for the fans.

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Saraya: never say never

Having won the WWE Divas Championship in her first match on WWE Raw following WrestleMania 30 in 2014, Paige (Saraya) experienced a journey relatively similar to those ofAdam Copeland et Bryan Danielson. Regular in WWE until the end of 2017, the British wrestler put an end to her activity in the ring from 2018 due to an injury… to the neck. It was the day after WrestleMania 34 that Paige announces to the WWE Universe that she is forced to retire to preserve her physical health, while the day before, Daniel Bryan made his comeback to competition alongside Shane McMahon to face Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens. First involved in roles that did not require her directly in the ring, Paige remains under contract with WWE until 2022. In July 2022, she was released from her contract by the Stamford federation.

A few months later, in September, she appeared for the first time on an AEW show, under the name to the palace. She officially announced at the beginning of October that she had been cleared to wrestle again by several doctors. The story of the unexpected return to action of to the palace is magnified by his victory at AEW All In at Wembley Stadium in London on August 27, 2023; That day, she defeated Hikaru Shida, Dr. Britt Baker DMD and Toni Storm in a fatal 4-way match to become AEW World Champion in front of over 80,000 people in her native country. Assured of never being able to return to the ring for several years by numerous doctors, to the palace finally managed to write a new chapter in her wrestling career. His arrival at AEW 1 year after that of Bryan Danielson and 1 year before that ofAdam Copeland almost seems, too, to be a miracle.

The three athletes are therefore experiencing a common rebirth in the wrestling rings, after several years of stopping which was originally supposed to be irremediable. Their reunion in AEW since the arrival ofAdam Copeland within the promotion give birth to the photo shared last Tuesday, October 10 after AEW Dynamite Title Tuesday. The symbol carried by this recent photo is symptomatic of the message that professional wrestling as a whole conveys, when the unreal becomes real and the impossible is no longer. Adam Copeland et Bryan Danielson both announced that the end, this time definitive, of their careers in the ring was fast approaching, but their respective return and the new moments that they have offered to all wrestling fans in recent years arouse admiration and seem to legitimately place them at the rank of wrestling legends, if tempted that they have not already reached this status.