Wrestling at Saturday’s MLP Northern Rising was a major goal for Adam Copeland, and he said nights like that one were part of the reason he left WWE and signed with AEW.
Copeland defeated Steve Maclin in the main event at Toronto’s Mattamy Athletic Centre, the former Maple Leaf Gardens. The match was Copeland’s first outside WWE and AEW since 2001 and his first singles match since August 2025.
At the post-show press conference, Fightful’s Joel Pearl asked Copeland about getting the chance to wrestle at Maple Leaf Gardens. Here is what Copeland said.
“This was part of the reason I made the move I did. Nights like this. Like Maple Leaf Gardens, Wembley Stadium, Arena Mexico. That doesn’t happen if I stay where I’m at. These are all the things I wanted to still accomplish. As a student of this industry, I know what those buildings mean.”
Copeland had considered Maple Leaf Gardens one of the last big goals of his career. Over the past two months, he has also wrestled at Arena Mexico and at Wembley Stadium, where he and Christian Cage retained the AEW World Tag Team Championship against the Young Bucks at All In.
In the same answer, Copeland praised Tony Khan, singling out the freedom he has been given to wrestle outside AEW.
“Tony Khan is a guy that wants the entire wrestling industry to flourish, not just his bottom line. And I think that’s what I appreciate the most about where I work now.”
Copeland wrestled his last WWE match against Sheamus in August 2023 and made his AEW debut at WrestleDream that October.