Adam Copeland Wins TNT Championship, Then Immediately Loses It At AEW Worlds End

Challenging for his first gold in AEW, Adam Copeland wasted no time in attacking the champion, Christian Cage, who, flanked by Nick and Shayna Wayne, could barely get his title belt off of his waist in time to defend himself from "The Rated R Superstar." Ultimately, that up-front aggression, and Copeland's efforts in the match, which resulted in securing the TNT Championship, mattered not, as the former Luchasaurus, now Killswitch, who earned a TNT title shot in a "Zero Hour" battle royal, came to the ring after the bout to cash in, only to surrender the contract to Cage, who speared Copeland and got his title right back.

The longtime friends-turned-enemies-then-friends-again-now-enemies-again took this fight throughout the Nassau Coliseum crowd, with Copeland hitting a splash spot from atop the balcony of Section 104, firing punches down the ramp, walking the ringside barricade to hit a clothesline and much more. Though they did once again make it back into the ring, that didn't last long, with Cage ultimately busting Copeland open on the stairs with a stomp to the neck. Cage then choked a bloodied Copeland with a kendo stick on the ropes and then spiked him in the throat before a pin attempt to no avail.

With the crowd consistently chanting "TLC," and the combatants doing their best to satiate and then some with tables, ladders, chairs, kendo sticks, a metal pipe, fire, and on, and on, the match delivered in terms of intensity. Copeland's first AEW gold seemed to give the people what they wanted as well but in the end, Cage walked out with the same belt he had coming in, and with much more to tell in what is surely a very long-term story with many moving parts.