Articles

As a teenager, Adam Copeland was a make-believe wrestling champion, strutting around the house with toy title belts around his waist.

WRESTLING

In his Orangeville District Secondary School yearbook, Copeland, at the age of 17,was named Most Likely to Win a WWF Championship.

Prophesy fulfilled. Copeland, as Edge, now has the real thing. And he couldn't be happier -- about winning the strap over John Cena at New Year's Revolution and about getting his real life back on track after some rocky revelations.

"When I was a kid,I had the tag-team and heavyweight belts, the cheaper ones made out of styrofoam," said Copeland. "I'd also take weightlifting belts and draw on them and wear them around."

And now he can sit back and look at himself in the shine of the real thing.

"I don't think I've paid for a meal since I won it," he said with a laugh. "(The night I won it), I got back to my room and looked at the belt and said: 'Hey, I did it!' I'm on Cloud 9.

"Mick Foley said it best. It's kind of like being awarded the Oscar for a job well done. A lot of things went through my mind.

"Euphoria.Vindication -- for anybody who's made it to where they want to go after being told they couldn't do it."

Copeland's character has gradually morphed into the Rated R Superstar -- aligned with Lita (Amy Dumas), the diva with whom he was romantically linked in real life.

"My mindset is that if I say anything back, it looks like I'm defending myself," said Copeland, who's currently single. "No one other than the people involved know the real truth. Maybe I took advice from the wrong shoulder for a while.

"I thought at age 24 I knew everything ... now at 32, maybe I don't.There were a lot of mistakes."

The two created a stir two weeks ago on RAW when Edge decided his title party should be a Sex Celebration -- in a bed in the middle of the ring.

"It wasn't awkward. We can look at each other and try and laugh inside," said Copeland. "We've become the consummate evil duo."

"A show like Nip and Tuck can get away with it. Look at Desperate Housewives and Eva Longoria and whoever she's with in that episode.

"All of a sudden, what we're doing is real and offensive? I'm playing a character. It's not like I walk around in my Calvin Kleins and thrust myself at people in the street.

"I'm having fun. I like to push buttons.

"My whole character is based around offending people -- making them ask: 'Is he allowed to do this?' It's D-Generation X and Rick Rude with the volume turned up."

Copeland gives credit to Ric Flair, his opponent for his first title defence on RAW -- a Tables, Ladders and Chairs match.

"You're used to seeing TLC with six guys ... two go down and the next two step up," said Copeland. "Doing it with two is a different animal, especially when one of the participants is 56.

"Ric pulled up his end of the bargain. He's a genetic freak. I'll tell you, at 56 there's no way I'll be in a wrestling ring."

Copeland is in good spirits these days, emerging from a somewhat darker period.

"I'm in a real good place right now," said Copeland. "Two thousand and five was a topsy-turvy rollercoaster ride, a lot of it my own fault. And here's 2006 -- eight days into it I'd won the WWE title."

Credit: Slam! Wrestling
 
 
 

Back