To promote AEW Revolution, Adam Copeland sat down with Jon Alba of Sports Illustrated to discuss the event, his feud with Jon Moxley, and the ongoing Death Riders storyline.
The Death Riders angle, which began last year, has been widely criticized by fans for its lackluster execution and unclear direction. Many hope that Copeland will put an end to the storyline by defeating Moxley for the AEW World Heavyweight Championship at the event.
Reflecting on the storyline, Copeland admitted that it initially left him confused:
“Well, for me, it was just confusing at first. Like, I didn’t fully understand what was happening. So I wanted to try and figure that out along with the audience, I think, and then go, ‘Alright, what can be the story here? The story can be you take them out, because it’s always the numbers that they have the advantage with. Okay, let’s do something about that. Let’s tell a story there.’ And more than anything, the beginning of the thing is, ‘Okay, you attacked all of my friends on television, right? Okay. So, yeah, I’m coming back. Time to step in and give this a shot.’”
Copeland also emphasized the importance of storytelling in wrestling and how he approaches building narratives within his feuds:
“Anything I’m involved in, I try to at least add some layers to it. And when putting the things together, going, ‘Okay, here’s the package for the match.’ You got to build in beats for that package to sum everything up, so if you watch that two minutes right before the match, you’re caught up. You got it, and know, ‘Alright, and now I’m looking forward to this thing.’ I think more than anything, that’s my mentality, is just trying to craft something or be a part of helping craft something where you get those beats, those tentpoles throughout that you can just insert in a package and get everybody caught up before, you know, they watch the actual match. But still, that to me is what hooks me.”
AEW Revolution will take place this Sunday at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California.
