Cope & Cage Lose AEW Tag Team Title Match to FTR at 2026 Dynasty in Canada

FTR defeated Adam Copeland and Christian Cage at Dynasty on Sunday to retain the AEW World Tag Team Championships.

FTR hit Cope with the Shatter Machine for the victory.

When Copeland joined AEW in late 2023 after a lengthy and successful run in WWE as Edge, he initially announced his desire to team with Christian and essentially end his career the same way he started it.

Cope and Cage are longtime best friends dating back to childhood, and they both got to live out their dreams by joining forces in WWE and becoming one of the greatest tag teams of all time with seven WWE tag team title reigns to their credit.

While both had to retire due to injuries, Copeland shockingly returned to in-ring competition in WWE in 2020, and Cage made his return one year later.

Christian left WWE for AEW shortly thereafter, and Copeland eventually joined him, but when Cope arrived in AEW, Cage was firmly established as a heel.

Because of that, Christian resisted Copeland's proposal to reunite, which led to a heated rivalry between them.

Despite that, Cope and Cage found their way back to each other last summer when Copeland saved Christian from an attack at the hands of The Patriarchy, and Christian returned the favor by helping Copeland when he was assaulted by FTR and The Patriarchy.

Copeland and Christian beat FTR in a tag team match at All Out in September, but FTR got the last laugh by attacking Cope and Cage afterward, as well as Cope's wife, Beth Copeland.

Six months later, Cope and Cage made their return at Revolution by taking the fight to FTR after their successful title defense against The Young Bucks, leading to Cope and Cage vs. FTR being made official for Dynasty.

Copeland and Christian wanted to add to their legacy as one of the greatest tag teams in history at Dynasty, but FTR prevailed and did so in Cope and Cage's home country of Canada.