Adam Copeland recounts the purpose of his WWE title defense against 43-year-old
Adam 'Edge' Copeland is currently signed to AEW, where the ex-WWE star is likely to end his wrestling career. Currently taking time off to nurse a leg injury, the WWE Hall of Famer recounted his World Heavyweight Championship defense against Dolph Ziggler (now Nic Nemeth in TNA) at the 2011 Royal Rumble.
Nic Nemeth praised Adam for the latter's ability to tell a good wrestling story between the ropes. He even expressed his gratitude for the legend putting him over massively by selling for him with near-falls.
Speaking on Busted Open, the two former World Wrestling Entertainment stars reminisced about the bout, which may have gone under the radar but nevertheless was one of Edge's final storylines before his first retirement later that year. The Rated-R Superstar revealed that his responsibility was that Nemeth needed to be portrayed as a man who "belongs" in the eyes of WWE fans:
"To me, the goal of that match was to show them that you do belong in that spotlight, because I knew you did, and they just needed to see it," Adam said. "So that for me was the goal. I was like, 'We need to show them what he can do, because he deserves to be here.'" [From 8:46 to 9:04]
Edge retained the World Heavyweight Championship after wrestling Dolph Ziggler for 20 minutes and 45 seconds. He subsequently moved on to a WrestleMania program with Alberto Del Rio. Following his title defense on the grand stage, he caught everyone off-guard in April 2011 by announcing his retirement.
Adam Copeland and Nic Nemeth have moved on from WWE in 2023
On August 18, 2023, Adam Copeland wrestled his final WWE match against Sheamus in Canada. He went on to make his AEW debut in October. WWE Chief Content Officer Triple H later opened up about his former colleague's sudden departure from the company, wishing him the best.
As for Nic Nemeth, he was released in September after a 19-year career in the Stamford-based promotion. Nemeth joined TNA in early 2024. During a recent interview on the Eyes Up Here podcast, he disclosed that it was a personal choice and that he made a request to Vince McMahon to do what was needed:
"I go, 'Vince, thanks for everything,' 20-page email. This is the greatest job in the world, and then I aired out some dirty laundry about how I was mad just in the last couple of paragraphs, but the rest was very, very positive," Nemeth revealed.
It was about spending the remaining years of his in-ring career testing his abilities and potential as a star player rather than running out his WWE contract and transitioning to a behind-the-scenes role. Wrestling legend Tommy Dreamer believes Nic Nemeth could pull off a Drew McIntyre or Cody Rhodes and wind up back in the sports entertainment giant down the line.
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