All Elite Wrestling (AEW) stars Adam Copeland and Christian Cage have been among the veterans to join the promotion and bolster the roster with their vast experience in the business.

AEW got off to a hot start in 2019 when Tony Khan founded the company, promising an alternative variety of wrestling that most fans at the time hadn’t seen in a while — or at all. 

Fast-forward to 2024, and AEW has remained one of the top wrestling promotions in the U.S.

With that has come increased scrutiny over ratings, attendance and even the performances inside and outside the ring.

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Cage, who made his AEW debut at Revolution in 2021, told Fox News Digital in a recent interview most people tend to forget how young the company still is compared to others.

"I think people also forget the fact that we’re a company that’s still in its infancy," Cage said. "The company has only been around for five years. So, yes, there’s still going to be growing pains. The company has grown tremendously in that time — probably faster than any wrestling promotion in history. 

"We’re putting how many thousands of people at Wembley Stadium two years in a row. It’s unheard of how fast this company has grown. But people should take into account that there’s still things to iron out when you’re that young of a company, and we have a very young roster also."

AEW STARS ADAM COPELAND, CHRISTIAN CAGE TALK PURE PLANK, HOW PLANKING REVITALIZED THEIR LIVES

Copeland also acknowledged going through some tough years when he was with WWE.

"It just seems like people forget a little bit of history," said Copeland, who spoke on behalf of Pure Plank. "Like, I was with WWE through some pretty lean years. It happens. It’s a cyclical business, and every business has the growing pains. 

"I think if you look at any company in their fifth year of existence, I think we’re doing pretty damn good. There’s different tastes. It’s different flavors. I’ve never understood the anger toward another company, and that goes both ways. I don’t really get that, personally. If you don’t like it, you don’t like it. OK.

"It just seems like it’s become a pastime to try and dog the opposite company, but only from the fan base. People within the industry, I think we all understand it’s a good thing if there’s multiple companies and there’s multiple places to apply your trade and get in front of people. 

"And, for me, I’ve loved coming over to AEW because it allowed me an opportunity to really try and dip back into things I haven’t done in 30 years, 25 years, and to try new things too — not just do kind of the greatest hits and actually get in and try some new things and rediscover things that I haven’t done in a while. That, to me, is really a fun place to navigate from."

Khan isn’t the most conventional wrestling promoter. His father is billionaire Shad Khan, and Tony serves as senior president of football and analytics for the Jacksonville Jaguars. He also joined the Fulham FC front office in 2017.

Khan’s love of wrestling blossomed into a fully fledged company in late 2018, and AEW was officially launched with Double or Nothing in May 2019.

"No wrestling promoter’s conventional. I’ve yet to meet one that is conventional. The chances are if you’re promoting wrestling, you think differently. And you’re probably wired differently too," Copeland told Fox News Digital. "When I think about the people I’ve worked for, they all have their different processes. Tony has so much going for him and so many different companies and businesses, but his bandwidth just seems to be never-ending. 

"I always tell him it’s Tony time because there’s no way I could keep those hours. He just seems to be like the Eveready bunny. He just keeps going, and it’s infectious, too. I remember when I brought my girls to the first show, and he came running up, and he knew their names. And he said, ‘I’m so excited to have you here,’ and then he took off. 

"And they were like, ‘Dad, who’s that?’ I was like, ‘That’s my boss.’ And they were like, ‘Whoa, he’s so nice and really exciting and cool.’ And I was like, ‘OK, right, he is.’"

Cage added that Khan is not one to be pushed over.

"On the flip side, I mean, I think there’s been, for whatever reason, some sort of reputation that he could be a pushover, and that can be the furthest thing from the truth," he said.

AEW will finish up the year with World’s End Dec. 28. The pay-per-view event will feature the Continental Classic Championship final.

The company also announced that next year’s All-In pay-per-view will take place at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. It had taken place at Wembley Stadium in London the last two years.

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All Elite Wrestling stars Adam Copeland and Christian Cage are far from the spry athletes they once were when they were world and tag team champions at the height of their careers.

Copeland, 51, has dealt with neck and leg injuries in recent years, while Cage, also 51 and whose real name is Jay Reso, has battled his own share of injuries. To be able to do normal day-to-day activities and prolong their own careers, something had to change.

Copeland and Reso, longtime friends, developed and launched Pure Plank, creating a way "to revolutionize the planking experience, making it comfortable, functional and engaging for everyone."

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Copeland said he came to a realization when he was having a perfectly normal interaction with his children.

"I have two kids, and it wasn’t until one day I was carrying them up the stairs, and we’re probably talking 60 pounds. And I got to the top, and I was exhausted," Copeland told Fox News Digital in a recent interview. "’Oh, that’s no good.’ I hadn’t really been watching my diet. I hadn’t really been working out the way I used to. I slacked, I got lazy. But then I realized I need to get in better shape for these girls because they need me around. They need dad for as long as possible.

"I decided to start with exercises that I thought were a good starting off point, not to get demoralized by going, ‘Man, I used to be able to do way better than this.’ That kind of thing. So, I started planking. I’d done it before, and I realize how effective it is for your core. And if your core’s strong, then chances are everything else will follow suit." 

Reso told Fox News Digital he was working on getting in shape for his wrestling comeback during the coronavirus pandemic and was building a small gym in his garage trying to find small pieces of equipment to work out with.

He said he talked to Copeland about planking, previously dismissing the workout. He said once he tried it, he couldn’t hold a plank for even 30 seconds.

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"I was by myself in the garage, and I was still embarrassed that I was supposed to be this high-level athlete, and I couldn’t even hold a plank for 30 seconds," Reso said. "So, the way my mind works is if I’m not good at something, I become obsessed with it until I am good at it. From that moment on, I became obsessed with planking. 

"I started to do it every day, and I saw, as my core started to strengthen, I was able to hold a plank longer. And that, along with changing my eating habits, I saw my body transform like it never had in the past. At 47 years old, I had a six-pack which I never had before."

Reso said planking became something he does daily, and it turned into a business idea.

"Living in Florida in the summertime, working out, you sweat like crazy," he said. "So, I found myself losing the position of the exercise. So, I started to think to myself there had to be a better way to hold the position that when you get sweating and your elbows start to slide out from underneath you, and to me not having to stop resting, that takes away some of the effectiveness of the exercise. That’s where the idea for the handles came in to hold you in the position at all times and to pretty much put you in the proper position right away.

"That was the goal of Pure Plank, to make it just put people in the proper position to be able to hold right away."

Since Copeland and Reso had been friends for so long, there was no hesitation about getting into business together.

The other bright side was being able to have a pro wrestling career again.

"What I think it did is it got our careers back," Copeland told Fox News Digital. "And that, to me, is the biggest thing. I was retired for nine years. Jay was retired for seven years. And we found ourselves both back in the ring. It was the gateway I like to think. Starting the planking was the gateway to getting the diet back in check, to feeling better, to having more energy, to just waking up and feeling like you want to conquer the day instead of letting the day conquer you."

Reso added that with all the punishment the body can take in pro wrestling, the comfort of the board itself "doesn’t make it impossible to plank" if the user has shoulder or back problems.

"I do believe planking helps and will prolong our careers, especially at our ages," he said. "It’s good for everybody for everyday life and to get that core as tight as you possibly can. Everything else kinda follows suit, and that’s what’s so kind of great about planking. It’s a whole body exercise."

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