Christian Beats Adam Copeland to Retain AEW TNT Title in Their 1st Match Since 2010

Christian Cage defeated longtime best friend turned bitter enemy Adam Copeland at AEW Dynamite in Montreal on Wednesday to retain the TNT Championship.

Cage got a big assist from Shayna Wayne, who entered the ring and picked up the TNT title belt while both men were down and the referee was knocked out. She gestured back-and-forth between both wrestlers before smacking Copeland with the belt.

Cage then picked Copeland up for the Killswitch to earn the pin and the win.

Copeland, who carved out a Hall of Fame career in WWE under the name Edge, made his AEW debut at the Oct. 1 WrestleDream pay-per-view after his WWE contract expired.

The 50-year-old veteran showed up following the main event between Cage and Darby Allin in order to save Allin and Sting from an attack at the hands of Christian, Killswitch and Nick Wayne.

On the following episode of Dynamite, Copeland explained why he left WWE for AEW, and he noted that the biggest reason was his desire to have one last run alongside Christian before retiring.

Copeland called Christian to the ring to gauge his interest in teaming up, but Cage made it clear that it didn't appeal to him in the least.

That set the stage for a huge six-man tag team match last month at Full Gear with Copeland, Allin and Sting beating Christian's group, which was christened The Patriarchy.

Copeland and Cage did not get physical with each other in the match, as Christian walked out on his partners, which built further anticipation for an eventual one-on-one match between The Rated-R Superstar and The Patriarch.

Given that Copeland and Cage are both from Canada, Copeland challenged Christian to a title match in Montreal. Cage answered the challenge last week, and while he tried to lull Copeland into a false sense of security before going for a low blow, Copeland avoided it and hit Christian with a low blow instead.

As Edge and Christian, they are recognized as one of the greatest tag teams in pro wrestling history, having held the WWE Tag Team Championships together on seven occasions.

They also had many memorable matches against each other in WWE, but before Wednesday, they had not gone one-on-one since an episode of Raw in 2010.

For several years, it looked as though both Copeland and Cage were done wrestling for good, as they retired with neck and concussion issues, respectively.

Both returned to pro wrestling against all odds, however, and on Wednesday's Dynamite, they competed in one of the most highly anticipated pro wrestling matches in recent memory.

Cage retained the TNT title, but there is little doubt that his program with Copeland is far from over.

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