5 Matches We NEED During Adam Copeland’s AEW Retirement Tour in 2027, Including Versus Will Ospreay

0AEWAdam Copeland, known to WWE fans as Edge, has set an end date for his career. After beating Josh Alexander […]Adam Copeland, known to WWE fans as Edge, has set an end date for his career. After beating Josh Alexander on the October 14 episode of AEW Dynamite, Copeland announced that next year will be his last in the ring.

“2027 will be my last year in professional wrestling,” Copeland said.

Copeland pointed to the injuries Christian Cage suffered in their three-way ladder match for the AEW World Tag Team Championship at All Out, including broken ribs and a punctured lung, as part of his decision. Copeland, 52, still has one more goal before he walks away. His win over Alexander put him in the Clockwork Carnage match for the AEW World Championship at WrestleDream on Saturday, Oct. 17.

With one last year to go, here are five matches fans need to see during Copeland’s retirement tour.

Tommaso Ciampa arrived in AEW in January after leaving WWE and won the TNT Championship in his first match with the company. He has since turned heel and has been chasing titles across the roster, including a shot at the AEW World Championship against Darby Allin in April.

Ciampa and Copeland were on opposite sides of a 10-man tag team match on Dynamite in May, but they have never had a singles match. Ciampa’s intense, hard-hitting style would fit well with the version of Copeland who thrives in violent matches. Both men built their names in WWE, Ciampa as a two-time NXT Champion and Copeland as a Hall of Famer, which gives the match a natural hook even though they have never crossed paths one-on-one.

This is the match fans have asked for the longest. Shortly after joining AEW in 2023, Copeland floated Will Ospreay as a possible first-time opponent, and Ospreay has called Copeland a dream opponent of his own. The two shared a handshake on Dynamite in 2024, but they have never wrestled one-on-one.

Ospreay is the current AEW World Champion after beating Kenny Omega at All In, and he puts the title on the line in Clockwork Carnage on Saturday. If Copeland’s last goal is the AEW World Championship, a singles title match with Ospreay would be a fitting way to get there.

Kazuchika Okada is one of the most decorated wrestlers of his generation, with a record 720-day IWGP Heavyweight Championship reign and four G1 Climax wins. He is currently the AEW International Champion and is also in Saturday’s Clockwork Carnage match. Copeland said in 2023 that a match with Okada would be “pretty cool.”

The two have never faced off in a singles match. Okada’s big-match style and Copeland’s experience on the biggest stages would make this a natural pay-per-view main event, and it would give both men a match that fans of WWE and New Japan have never seen.

Copeland’s AEW story started with Allin. He made his debut at WrestleDream 2023 by saving Allin and Sting from Cage’s group, and the three teamed together several times in late 2023, including a win at Full Gear.

Despite all of that, Copeland and Allin have never wrestled each other one-on-one. Allin is the current TNT Champion, briefly held the AEW World Championship earlier this year, and is also in Saturday’s Clockwork Carnage match. A match between two men who are known for taking risks would be a strong way to honor the friendship that started Copeland’s AEW run, and it would let Copeland pass the torch to one of the company’s most established homegrown stars.

MJF is the one name on this list who could make the build as good as the match. The three-time AEW World Champion is one of the best talkers in wrestling, and Copeland included him on a 2023 list of possible first-time opponents.

The two have never wrestled each other one-on-one, which gives AEW a fresh feud to build in Copeland’s final year. MJF has been carrying his own “Triple B” belt and calling himself the one true champion since losing the AEW World Championship in July, and a program with a retiring legend would give him a perfect stage to play the villain.