Two lifelong friends battled it out in the main event of tonight’s AEW Dynamite with the TNT Championship on the line. Ever since Adam Copeland made his debut with the promotion in October, a fight has been brewing between himself and Christian Cage, and this chapter of their career-long friendship/rivalry came to a close in a surprising way: with Shayna Wayne showing up to assist Cage. After Wayne attacked Copeland with the TNT title, Cage brutalized Copeland’s neck and pinned his old friend to retain the championship.
There’s no doubt it was a personal battle between the two competitors, with Cage using every trick at his disposal to try and win. That included an attempt at a spear, Copeland’s finisher, though Copeland was able to counter the maneuver. The veterans busted out some rare hits tonight, including a big sit-out Liger Bomb from Copeland. After having it countered several times, Cage was eventually able to land a Killswitch, though Copeland successfully kicked out. After referee Bryce Remsburg was knocked out of action, the two men attempted to spear each other, only for Nick Wayne’s mother to appear. Wayne assisted Cage despite the things he’s said in recent months about her late husband, Buddy Wayne, who was also the father of Cage’s protege Nick.
The last time Cage and Copeland locked up was in 2010, during an episode of WWE Raw in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Copeland defeated Cage there, and the two would later go on to have another brief run together as a tag team. Just a few years later, both men were (temporarily) retired due to injury, and they reunited for a podcast, E&C’s Pod of Awesomeness, as well as a WWE Network series in the same vein. Their match tonight was a far cry from that era, but there is still hope.
Going forward, it seems inevitable that Copeland and Cage will team once again, this time in AEW. However, based on the way things ended tonight, it seems likely that the two have more to work out in the ring before partnering up and finishing out their careers as allies down the line.