Adam Copeland, known as Edge, shared memories of his first WWE premium live event appearance at SummerSlam 1998. He teamed with Sable against Mark Mero and Jacqueline at Madison Square Garden. Copeland described the unplanned nature of his early WWE role during a 2018 interview.
Adam Copeland made his WWE premium live event debut at SummerSlam 1998, entering as the mystery partner for Sable in a mixed tag team match. The opponents were Mark Mero and Jacqueline, with the bout taking place at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Reflecting on the experience during a 2018 appearance on the Inside the Ropes show, Copeland explained the lack of direction for his character at the time. He stated, “The thing with Edge at the beginning is there was no plan, like ever. They were like, ‘Okay, you’re this mysterious guy.’ That was the answer to we don’t know what to do with you. We don’t think you can cut a promo. We don’t think you have any personality. You can wrestle though, so maybe some character and personality will come out.”
Copeland acknowledged the challenges on both sides, noting his inexperience with the major stage. “That’s not fully a knock on them. It’s also a knock on me because I didn’t know this was like a big leap from wrestling in a barn in Fall Branch, Tennessee, in front of six people sitting on bales of hay, to wrestling in Madison Square Garden at SummerSlam,” he said. He added, “I didn’t know what it was. They didn’t know what it was. Slowly but surely, we found out what it was.”
Despite the uncertainty, Copeland viewed the opportunity positively. “But in the meantime, it was, ‘Okay, well, this is a good slot. We’ll make you Sable’s mystery partner. Even if it doesn’t really make sense, you’ll get seen.’ I took that and went, ‘Okay, I’ll get seen.’ The one thing I know I can do is wrestle, so I’ll do that. I can help put together this mixed tag team match that will hopefully be pretty entertaining with someone who’s not a wrestler at all.”
The match highlighted Copeland's wrestling skills alongside Sable, who was not a trained wrestler, marking an early step in his WWE journey.
