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Adam Copeland On ‘Frasier’ Reboot: ‘I’ll Give It A Shot’

Adam Copeland discusses the ‘Frasier’ reboot; Sting begins the final stretch of his career in AEW; and a look at the weekend in wrestling, which included the return of TNA.

Justin Barrasso

Adam Copeland On ‘Frasier’ Reboot: ‘I’ll Give It A Shot’
Adam Copeland On ‘Frasier’ Reboot: ‘I’ll Give It A Shot’ /

Dr. Frasier Crane is back on the air.

And that means Adam Copeland will be watching.

The Frasier sequel, which premiered on October 12 for Paramount+, stars Kelsey Grammer, who is reprising his role as Frasier. Beginning with Cheers in the 1980s and continuing with the popular Frasier sitcom in the 90s, this is Grammer’s third series as Frasier.

Yet this particular series has its work cut out for it. It is missing the equally brilliant David Hyde Pierce as Niles and Jane Leeves as Daphne, who are both reportedly not returning. The absence of John Mahoney, who passed away in 2018, will also be felt, as his role of Martin Crane added a different comedic conscience to the show.

“How do you do the show without his brother and his father?” asked Copeland. “That’s a good question. But I’ll give it a shot because it’s Kelsey Grammer. I love the man. He’s so talented.”

Courtesy Money Plane
Courtesy Money Plane

Frasier still stands as a particularly meaningful show for Copeland, who would watch with his mother.

“Kelsey Grammer was my mom’s favorite actor,” Copeland told SI in 2020. “Bar none.”

Copeland starred alongside Grammer in the 2020 film Money Plane, showcasing his versatility and range as an actor. But the real connection took place long before, when Copeland and his mother–who passed away five years ago–would relish the antics of Frasier, Niles, Daphne, Roz, Martin, and even Bulldog on Frasier.

“The first show I was really old enough to watch with my mom was Cheers,” said Copeland. “My mom passed away about a year-and-a-half before we filmed [Money Plane], but her favorite actor was Kelsey Grammer. Even when she was going through her chemo, all she wanted to do was go home and watch Frasier. So that’s what we’d do.”

Grammer found longevity with the Frasier character, playing the role for two decades after, ironically, initial designs were for him to have only a small role on Cheers.

“People forget that this is the longest-tenured character in the history of television,” said Copeland. “He won an Emmy for that character on three different shows–Cheers, Frasier, and guest-starring on Wings. That’s ridiculous.”

Last week on Dynamite, Sting announced that his retirement match will take place in March of 2024.

Sting returned to the ring in AEW at Revolution in 2021. Three years later, he intends to finish his in-ring career at the same pay-per-view.

Now 64, Sting has been tempting the hands of fate in his final run. While he has wrestled exclusively in multi-man tags, he has remained aggressive in the ring, featuring some very risky spots. To his credit, he has pieced together a very compelling final act, continually highlighting the work of rising star Darby Allin.

AEW CEO and GM Tony Khan is presenting Sting with a gift at Dynamite on Wednesday. That brings back memories of Sting spoiling the party for Seth Rollins on Raw, where a gift to Rollins–supposedly his own statue–instead turned out to be Sting, who was patiently awaiting a chance to give Rollins a thorough beatdown. The sight of Sting holding the WWE title after wiping out Rollins still stands out as such a unique moment in WWE history.

With the exception of Sting’s WrestleMania 31 loss to Triple H, his brief WWE run was superb (and one bright side to Sting losing that match was a story from the late, great Scott Hall, who–during an interview at DDP’s yoga studio in Atlanta–shared his memories of the WM 31 rehearsal: “So we’re all in there again, and I’m next to Hulk on the ring apron and Triple H is going over the match and then he goes, ‘OK, he’ll break the sledgehammer, then I’ll hit him with the sledgehammer, and cover him, 1-2-3.’ I looked at Hulk, and Hulk looked at me, and I was thinking, ‘Sting, what kind of lawyer do you have, bro? You’re coming in the door doing a job? You weren’t even guaranteed to go over?’ That’s Vince just reminding you who won, even if he’s going to make money the other way.”). But there was plenty to like about the run, where the reaction to Sting always exceeded whatever Vince McMahon had in mind.

In Sting’s final singles match to date, he wrestled Rollins in 2015 at Night of Champions. The crowd at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas erupted on every occasion where it appeared that the unthinkable may occur–and Sting would crown himself WWE champion.

That match took a dark turn when Rollins hit Sting with a turnbuckle powerbomb, causing trauma to his spinal cord. It caused Sting to collapse, and the remainder of the match–not to mention his health–were both in jeopardy.

During an interview that took place in the spring of 2021, Sting recalled the what was running through his mind at that particular moment:

“I knew something was really, really wrong when my legs would not work,” said Sting. “They just wouldn’t function. They felt like rubber bands, which is when I went on all fours.

“It made me think of when I first started in the business. Eddie Gilbert, who managed Rick Steiner and me and Jim Hellwig, he’d always talk to us about the finish. ‘The finish, the finish, you’ve got to get to the finish.’ That’s stuck with me all these years. So that night I was thinking, ‘I can’t not finish the match.’ I had to finish. I remember thinking, ‘Please God, let me get back on my feet. Don’t let me end my career in a catastrophe.’ I remember my legs coming back to me, and I wanted to finish the match.”

Sting did finish the match, which had to be partially due to the thunderous ovation from the crowd in Houston. Sting twice locked in his Scorpion Deathlock on Rollins, and the crowd did their absolute best to will a genuine moment into existence. But the powers-that-be in WWE did not listen to their audience that night. Had an audible been called and Sting won the title, it would have been unforgettable.

“I will never, ever forget that night,” said Sting. “The way the fans reacted, it was so organic. It meant the world to me.

“People still say to me, ‘You should have the belt. They shot themselves in the foot by not doing it.’ We had a really good match up until the point of my injury, one I’m proud of wrestling. And I was so happy to finish the match.”

Wrestling will cherish its final moments with Sting in the ring. In addition to the moment with Sting on Dynamite this Wednesday, the show also features NJPW star Kazuchika Okada returning to the AEW ring, where he will share the ring in a tag match with Orange Cassidy against Bryan Danielson and Claudio Castagnoli. Hikaru Shida defends the women’s title against Ruby Soho, and Rob Van Dam returns, teaming with Hook (Taz’s son), and MJF defends the world title against Juice Robinson.

Impact Wrestling put together a fantastic Bound for Glory pay-per-view on Saturday night.

There were plenty of highlights, yet none greater than the epic encounter between Will Ospreay and “Speedball” Mike Bailey. The match further cemented both as two of the most brilliant pro wrestlers in the world, and added to Ospreay’s impressive win total.

Trinity continued her winning ways as she successfully defended the Knockouts title against Mickie James, and Alex Shelley–in a bit of a surprise finish–defeated former champ Josh Alexander to retain the world title.

As the show reached its end, it was revealed that Impact Wrestling is going back to its roots–and will now be known again as TNA.

The change from TNA to Impact to TNA is fairly confusing. It does allow the company a better chance to reconnect with its history, especially during its best years, which took place under the TNA moniker. But there is no benefit to changing names, as that only serves to confuse viewers. There is one potential saving grace for TNA/Impact: it can be called whatever it wants if the promotion is known for having excellent matches.

TNA will launch in 2024 at the Hard To Kill pay-per-view in January. Every effort should be secured to bring Ospreay back, and right from the start, ensure that TNA is synonymous with exceptional wrestling. In terms of rebranding, nothing can be any better than that.

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Justin Barrasso
JUSTIN BARRASSO

Justin Barrasso has been writing for Sports Illustrated since 2014. While his primary focus is pro wrestling and MMA, he has also covered MLB, NBA, and the NFL. He can be reached at JBarrasso@gmail.com and followed on Twitter @JustinBarrasso.

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