Cope finally addresses controversial moment with Jon Moxley in AEW

Cope was involved in a controversial moment with Jon Moxley a few weeks ago on Dynamite. The WWE Hall of Famer had now finally addressed this moment.

The Rated-R Superstar battled Jon Moxley for the AEW World Championship on the March 19, 2025, episode of Dynamite. During the bout, Cope dropped Mox onto a board of nails, which ended up getting stuck to the latter’s back. The fans widely criticized the gruesome incident for being too dangerous.

During a recent interview with Kenny McIntosh for Inside The Ropes magazine, the former WWE star stated that he understands the negative reaction the spot received, but he is more concerned about the live reaction.

“I don’t really care about the reaction, besides the live reaction. That to me is the reaction that matters and they were into it live. Hey, I get it, I do. Because I understand that it can be diminishing returns and all of those things. You also have to know your audience and you also have to understand that times have changed, for good, bad, however you want to look at it.”

He further explained how times have changed in the professional wrestling industry and the importance of understanding these changes.

“I like to think I’ve always been a proponent of understanding that things do change; it’s going to be more athletic now, it’s going to be more violent now, and things just naturally tend to get ‘more’ as time goes on. I mean, you look at the internet. I remember dial up and now there’s AI, things change, that’s just the nature of life. That’s the nature of the world. So I don’t really factor in how people react after the fact. I just know they’re into it live, that’s my job, and that’s how I gauge things.” [H/T: Inside The Ropes]

Aleister Black reveals the details of the aftermath of his match with Cope

At AEW Double or Nothing 2024, Aleister Black competed against Cope in a Barbed Wire Steel Cage match for the TNT Championship. During the bout, The Rated R Superstar suffered a fractured tibia after he dived off the top of the cage. Despite this, he completed the contest and retained his title.

During a recent interview with Wrestling the Rap Game, Aleister Black recalled his steel cage match against Cope. He called it one of his favorite AEW matches and recalled losing a pint and a half of blood during the brutal contest.

“When we finally got to work together, it was everything I wanted it to be. The cage match was definitely one of my favorite matches I’ve done in AEW, and… man. He [Adam Copeland] was very giving, and we had such a blast in there. I just remember. […] I lost so much blood in that match… But it added so much, you know? And also, because you don’t see me bleed that often, right? That cage match had to be violent. I think we absolutely added a level of violence in there that was like slow, methodical, but then also very precise and quick at times,” Black said. [From 1:17:08 to 1:18:21]

The former WWE Champion has failed to dethrone Jon Moxley multiple times now. It will be interesting to see if Cope can win the AEW World Championship in the future.