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Adam Copeland: AEW Fight for the Fallen Offers Escape For Devastated Hurricane Victims [Exclusive]

The city of Asheville, North Carolina still has a long road to recovery following Hurricane Helene, but Adam Copeland and All Elite Wrestling are lending a helping hand.

Rick Ucchino

Adam Copeland on 1/6/24 episode of Collision
Adam Copeland on 1/6/24 episode of Collision / Lee South - All Elite Wrestling

It's been a little over three months since Hurricane Helene made landfall over the Big Bend region of Florida. The powerful Category 4 storm crashed into the U.S. mainland with a maximum wind speed of 137MPH and sustained a torrid pace as it made its way north into Georgia and the Carolinas.

Over a 72-hour span, the remnants of Helene dumped a catastrophic amount of rain on the Blue Ridge Mountain region of North Carolina. 14 inches fell on the city of Asheville, according to the National Weather Service. The most on record since the flood of 1916 that killed an estimated 80 people.

Helene claimed the lives of more than 230 people from across Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas, while many more had lost their homes and businesses once the hundred-year storm had finally stalled and dissipated over the state of Tennessee.

It's not a competition, but perhaps no city in the country was impacted by the hurricane more than Asheville. Residents of the adopted hometown of WWE Hall of Famer and All Elite Wrestling's Rated-R Superstar, Adam Copeland, were woefully unprepared to handle one of the worst natural disasters on record since 2005's Hurricane Katrina.

“We don't get hurricanes up here. We're far from the coast, we're inland," Copeland told The Takedown on SI. "You get that much rain in that short amount of time, and it rolls down the mountains, guess where it goes. It was really, really bad. And still is, but the community is starting to try and dig itself out.”

It wasn't long at all before the devastation in Asheville, and other communities toward the south, had almost completely filtered out of the country's ever evolving news cycle. Maybe a week after Hurricane Helene left behind its 500 mile trail of destruction, the focus of many had shifted to the next major story. And then the next.

While the unaffected regions of the U.S. were able to move on quickly, it was the exact opposite for the folks in Asheville that were left without internet, power and water for months. It was only just days before the holidays that a boil water advisory was lifted. A Christmas miracle for those who no longer had to dump a gallon of water down the toilet just to flush it.

“It's definitely eye opening when you're at ground zero of something like that and how long it affects [your life] and how long everything takes to get back to some semblance of normalcy," Copeland said. “To brush my teeth for the first time without bottled water, I was like, ‘Whoa! I can use the taps? This is awesome!’ You know, you take it for granted."

Recovering from a life-altering disaster such as Hurricane Helene is as much about repairing the mental damage that was inflicted as it is the physical, but where do you even start? How can you even begin to take that first step? Especially when there are reminders of what's no longer there, all around.

“There's still trees piled up to the streetlights. There's still roofs missing. There's still people that don't have homes.”

The effects of the storm will be felt for some time, with Helene also dealing a significant blow to Asheville's financial infrastructure.

Tourism had become a crucial part of the city's economy and local businesses across Buncombe County, North Carolina are expected to see a loss of nearly $600 million in visitor spending during the first quarter of 2025, according the president of Explore Asheville.

Safe to say it's going to take some time for residents to find some sense of regularity once again, but however long it takes for that day to arrive, it's not going to change the fact that the city of roughly 95,000 people will never be the same as it was prior to Helene's arrival. A realization that didn't fully sink in for Copeland until very recently.

“I was talking to my youngest and she said, ‘Dad, I just really wish things would go back to the way they were before the hurricane,’” a heartbroken Copeland recalled. “You forget the emotional toll that it takes on kids because they're used to patterns and trying to keep structure.” 

Having to be that steady and calming presence, that degree of normalcy for others during an unpresented time has certainly been a unique challenge.

Adam Copeland is no stranger to challenges. He's built his Hall of Fame career by overcoming adversity, but whether its been rehabbing from a torn tricep or ultimately prevailing over a neck injury that kept him out of the ring for 9 years, he has always enjoyed the advantage of having a certain level of control over any given situation.

The last couple of months have been an entirely new learning experience with so much outside of his control. The only thing Copeland, or anyone in Asheville, could do was to get to work and help out in any way that was possible.

"My brother-in-law and I found a highway to get outta town. We'd fill up on supplies, fill up the pickup truck, come back and get out and just start getting supplies out to people. And that's what a lot of people did. If their homes weren't affected, if they didn't lose anyone, they got out and they got working. So many of the churches here were great organizational depots, to be able to take things or [say we need] deliverers. Okay, right. I got a pickup truck, let's go."

Now, Copeland is trying to assist the folks of Asheville in a completely different way.

After missing most of 2024 with a broken leg, the Rated R Superstar made his return to AEW this past Saturday night at Worlds End. The timing is no coincidence as the first Dynamite of the new year will be held at the Harrah’s Cherokee Center in Asheville. It's a significant event for both the community and All Elite Wrestling as the company will simulcast on the Max streaming app for the first time as part of its new media rights deal with Warner Bros. Discovery.

Copeland is set to headline the special 'Fight for the Fallen' edition of Dynamite alongside his good friends, and Asheville natives, Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler. It's the first time that Rated-FTR will ever get the chance to team together, making an already special evening even more significant.

“Historically Asheville's not necessarily a wrestling town. For a while NWA ran here weekly, back in the eighties, but at some point it just became a non-wrestling town. I don't know if that's changed, but it felt like coming here was the right thing to do to try and help this community.”

Two hours of professional wrestling may not do much to assist along Asheville's long road to recovery, but the proceeds raised from the event will certainly help someone in need.

If nothing else, providing a few thousand people the opportunity to let their hair down and just have some fun on Wednesday night is more than enough reason to book the show.

“Entertainment is one of the things that gets people through," Copeland said. “A TV show, a game, pro wrestling, a concert, whatever it is, take your pick. That's what it's for. And it's really important for people. And I think the pandemic really highlighted that for folks.”

There are a number of organizations that are still collecting donations to help the victims of Hurricane Helene. You can assist, if you'd like, by visiting any of these following websites:

The rest of our conversation with Adam Copeland will be available tomorrow ahead of Fight for the Fallen. Make sure to subscribe to The Takedown on SI YouTube Channel and don't miss out on all of our future exclusive content!

How To Watch AEW Dynamite: Fight for the Fallen on 1/1/25

Time: 8 p.m. EST (7 p.m. CST)

TV Channel: TBS and simulcast on Max

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Rick Ucchino
RICK UCCHINO

Rick Ucchino has been covering professional wrestling since 2019, but his broadcast career has spanned over 15 years. He can be heard every weekday morning on 700WLW radio in Cincinnati, OH. You can also read his work over on SI's Cincinnati Reds Talk. Follow Rick on X and Instagram: @RickUcchino

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