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On whether he had advance knowledge that his in-ring career would end so suddenly: "None of us did,†Copeland said. “I knew there were issues, but we didn’t the extent of what the issues were. It kind of caught all of us — me probably least of all just because I was like ‘whoa, something weird is happening here...’ I knew something (was wrong). No one else really knew because I didn’t tell anybody else. I think Christian was the only who knew because he rode with me. And he knows me. Him, I’ll confide in. And Tommy, there were nights where he carried my bags up for me because I had no strength in my arms. He knew, too. But generally, it was like you just go out, you do your thing and you don’t say anything and then you get back and you do it again.â€
House of Hardcore: "I think it can be a place that I know Tommy kind of wants it to be — where guys can have a little bit more freedom to maybe not have quite as many restraints,†he said. “That doesn’t mean light bulbs or any of that crap. I think it just (means) if guys want to go out and try some different things, they’ll have the freedom to do it. And I’m sure they’ll be told ‘hey, that didn’t work,’ but you don’t know unless you try. I think you’ll probably have the Young Bucks and (Brian) Kendrick and (Paul) London go out and try a million things,†he said of some of the stars on tap at the debut show. “Half of them might work, half of them might not, but it will be cool to watch the process of what does and doesn’t. Or where things should be tweaked."
Taking on a Backstage Role for HOH: "I told Tommy … ‘man I don’t mind helping out, helping guys put their ideas together in a way that makes sense, or helping guys after the fact if they want,’ and just kind of being hands-on with (Dreamer) in the back and help him out in that respect. That’s something that is a little foreign to the wrestling veteran, believe it or not. I’ve had a lot of young guys come up and ask me throughout the years, and it’s always nice to see them implemented and then when it works, it’s even nicer. It’s like ‘OK, good, I didn’t give bad advice.’ But I’ve never been in a backstage role where I wasn’t also wrestling, too. That could be kind of neat, just to, I guess for lack of a better term, kind of give back in that respect."
In the piece, Copeland noted that he has not been offered a new deal by WWE and that if there was any resentment from the company regarding him appearing for HOH, "nothing has been said to me." He was referring to some reports that popped up after things reported in the PWInsider Elite section were taken out of context, so if you want to know the actual story, subscribe to Elite.
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