Adam Copeland Beats Malakai Black With Gangrel's Help to Retain AEW TNT Title

Adam Copeland defeated Malakai Black in a barbed wire steel cage match at AEW Double or Nothing on Sunday to retain the TNT Championship.

Copeland got some help from an old friend, Gangrel, to earn the victory.

Gangrel, Copeland (then known as Edge) and Christian formed the Brood stable in WWE in 1998 to 1999. Gangrel has made a few appearances in AEW over the past few years, but this evening marked a reunion with Copeland.

Prior to that, Copeland launched himself off the top of the cage onto Black (who was covered with barbed wire) and through a table.

That wasn't enough to stop Black, though. Thanks to Gangrel's help, Copeland eventually got the opportunity to use the barbed wire on Black to get a crossface locked in. Black passed out, and Copeland was victorious.

Copeland, 50, made his surprise AEW debut last year at WrestleDream, and it took him just over five months to enjoy his first true title reign.

While the WWE Hall of Famer formerly known as Edge beat longtime best friend Christian Cage for the TNT title at Worlds End in December, Christian immediately won it back by cashing in a championship opportunity on the spot.

About three months later, The Rated-R Superstar challenged Cage for the title again on an episode of Dynamite in his hometown of Toronto, and he was victorious.

In the weeks that followed, Copeland instituted the Cope Open, which was a series of open challenges that saw Copeland beat the likes of Matt Cardona and Penta El Zero Miedo.

Starting in late April, Copeland entered into a rivalry with the House of Black due to Malakai Black's desire to take him down and win the TNT title.

Black, Buddy Matthews and Brody King struck a major blow to Copeland's psyche by defeating Copeland, Eddie Kingston and Mark Briscoe in a six-man tag team match at Dynasty last month.

Matthews and King then challenged Copeland for the TNT title on back-to-back editions of Dynamite, but Copeland retained each time.

Copeland's last order of business in his feud with the House of Black was to beat the leader, so he challenged Black to a barbed wire steel cage match at Double or Nothing.

In conjunction with accepting the challenge, Black had Matthews and King attack Copeland and steal his wedding ring, adding even more fuel to their conflict.

While Black tried to play mind games, Copeland was victorious Sunday, conquering his biggest challenge since winning the title in March.

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