Before the championships, Hall of Fame inductions, television appearances and world tours, Adam and Beth Copeland were two kids captivated by the world of professional wrestling.

Adam, (known to WWE fans as Edge), grew up in Orangeville, Ontario, just outside Toronto, where, from a very young age, he could be found painting on KISS makeup and quoting television promos from his favorite wrestler, Hulk Hogan.

Beth, (known as The Glamazon, Beth Phoenix), grew up in Elmira, New York, watching professional wrestling with her grandparents, who didn’t speak much English but quickly attached to this theatrical Shakespeare of good guys and bad guys. She quickly fell in love with the pageantry, emotional storytelling and athletic technique of the sport.

Neither had an obvious pathway to turn that fascination into a career. But both had the fortitude and willingness to create one.

 

Adam graduated from Humber College in Canada and Beth from Canisius University in Buffalo, New York. Each separately decided to pound the pavement as starving artists, embracing hard work, sacrifice, high-pressure moments and thousands of miles on the road. Eventually, their paths led them to World Wrestling Entertainment or WWE, where their parallel journeys would continue for a decade.

Adam is the most decorated pro wrestler in history. After 30 years performing for the WWE, AEW and Main Eventing WrestleMania twice, holding 34 championships and a Hall of Fame induction in 2012, he is one of the most familiar faces in wrestling. His career was temporarily cut short by a neck injury which opened up an unexpected door to acting. Quickly acting would become his highly successful second act.

Adam remains an active Hall of Fame professional wrestler with All Elite Wrestling, while also building a successful career as an actor, author and fitness entrepreneur. He has appeared in Haven, Vikings and Percy Jackson, and his major motion picture debut alongside Jason Statham in The Beekeeper 2 is set for January 2027. To get a glimpse into his journey, pick up his New York Times bestseller, Adam Copeland on Edge.

When asked about his greatest role, Adam doesn’t point to a championship, an award or acting credits. He says being Dad to daughters Lyric and Ruby is his greatest role.

Beth has built an equally remarkable legacy. A trailblazer in a traditionally male-dominated industry, she became the first female amateur wrestler in her district in New York. In professional wrestling, she was determined to help change the perception of women, not simply as aesthetic accents to men, but as credible athletes.

Her contributions became part of a broader shift toward greater equality for women in wrestling and media.

Beth was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2017 and went on to become WWE’s first full-time female broadcaster. In 2022, she stepped away from the intense travel schedule to be more present for her children and embrace a new chapter as a wellness and fitness coach.

Today, Beth teaches yoga and breathwork, works as a fitness and resilience coach and hosts continuing education retreats with her business partner, Casey Kersten, through Mountain-to-Sea Retreats.

The Copelands have called Biltmore Park their home for 15 years, choosing Asheville as the place to intentionally raise their daughters after spending so much of their lives on the road.

They love their home on Coopers Hawk Drive, the neighborhood and especially the pool during the summer. They appreciate the accessibility to everything that makes the Asheville area special and the neighbors turned friends that they adore.

Their life at home is full with a love of family, creativity and dogs!

Twelve-year-old Lyric is an artist in every sense of the word. Lyric taught herself to crochet like a pro in 10 days. Not just scarves. Entire stuffed animals. She got so good at it, that she now makes custom patterns for her creations! She also can be found: writing stories, making oven-baked clay, upcycling cardboard, painting and digital creation are just some of the ways she expresses herself. She is a voracious reader, a wonderful babysitter and friend, and has a particularly special bond with Haven, one of the family’s rescue dogs.

Ten-year-old Ruby lets imagination lead the way. She has found her own creative outlet in writing, humor and performance. A member of Center Stage Dance Team, Ruby loves making people laugh and smile through dance. Her abundant empathy means she’s often the first one to run to help someone, while her joy is the first thing you will notice when she walks in a room.

Lyric has two demanding, spoiled guinea pigs, Bubbles and Bagel. The family also includes five dogs: Agatha, a bulldog mix who is 9-plus and a rescue from a puppy mill breeder; Haven, a 5-plus-year-old Frenchie and another rescue from a puppy mill breeder and abuse survivor; Pumpkin, a four-year-old toy Aussie; Odin, a four-year-old wooly coat husky; and Pickles, a four-year-old Frenchie.

The dogs are very much part of the family. So are the simple Copeland traditions.

You’ll find the Copelands snuggling with the dogs, visiting apple orchards and embracing all things fall. And when everyone is home, there’s a good chance a spirited game of SkyJo is underway (a popular, fast-paced card game where players try to get the lowest possible score.)

Happy for the Copelands means being together. Even cooking dinner has become a family affair. The Copelands discovered Home Chef a few years ago and love the variety and simplicity of preparing home-cooked meals. It’s also given Ruby an opportunity to learn her way around the kitchen. She often prepares and serves dinner for the entire family.

As a family they love to walk the dogs, read, craft, cook, laugh, play games and enjoy Asheville fall!

Traveling all over the world, their favorite kind of travel is often nearby. The Copelands are notoriously fond of a good staycation and enjoying all that Asheville has to offer.

Their Canadian roots remain strong, too. The Toronto Maple Leafs have a special place in the household, and Adam’s man cave “bleeds blue.”

Both Adam and Beth are avid readers and artists. Adam is studying Spanish and enjoys practicing through conversation. Beth is a classically trained pianist who worked her way through college playing piano at church on weekends. In 2022, she released her first musical album, Stone Rose + Bone, available on streaming services.

While filming BeeKeeper 2, Adam had to perform a stunt with Jason Statham’s stunt double. Adam was supposed to toss him, and he was supposed to bounce off of the wall. Adam, being the overachiever that he is, threw the stunt double and instead the stunt double actually smashed through the wall. Jason, who was watching this scene off camera calmly said, “I’ll do the rest of the scene by myself, mate."

Beth has an “unhealthy, unhinged” obsession with the Golden Girls. She wishes to thank all of her Biltmore Park neighbors for being a friend.

Lyric is deeply proud of her uncanny ability to ride the same rollercoaster an exorbitant amount of times. Her current record is 5 back-to-back time on Space Mountain. She also is a Harry Potter scholar and enjoys showing off her knowledge of her wizarding world.

In 2025, Adam was nominated for an Emmy so the entire family was invited to attend. After Percy Jackson won the Emmy for Outstanding Young Teen Series, the producers invited them to all take a photo together. The Copelands were in awe of this Emmy statue glittering before us. Dan, the head creator, asked Ruby, "Do you want to touch the Emmy?" Ruby replied, “I got it!!”, grabbed the statue, turned toward the camera and posed confidently with the cast!

Their public lives have given them a platform, and they take seriously the opportunity to use it for others. Adam and Beth support local schools, first responders and Special Olympics, and they have been vocal advocates for child literacy. Their philosophy is people first.

If there’s an opportunity to share a smile, they are all about it. Their love extends to animals, too. The family deeply supports local animal rescues and encourages their community to “adopt, not shop.”

Around Biltmore Park, you may find them at Barnes & Noble, one of their favorite haunts and a place they visit at least twice a week or browsing Altar’d State and Rowan. They enjoy going out to 131 Main and recommend Big Air Trampoline Park for family fun.

After decades spent chasing dreams, performing under bright lights and traveling the world, Adam and Beth Copeland have created something even more meaningful: a home where their children can grow, creativity can flourish, rescue dogs are cherished and the biggest moments aren’t happening in front of an audience. For this famous duo, the greatest story isn’t the one happening in the ring. It’s the family life they’ve built beyond it. Long after the final bell rings, family remains their ultimate championship.

****SIDEBAR***

By Beth Copeland

My time in WWE was everything I could’ve ever dreamed of as a kid. We lived the circus life. I never slept. My fitness routine was ripped out of the pages of Muscle and Fitness. Before the days of personal trainer apps, Door Dash and meal prep companies, we fueled our workouts on McDonald’s grilled chicken sandwiches and protein bars. I bench pressed 6 days a week (yes, SIX!), because I thought that’s what you do.

In the women’s division, we fought hard behind the scenes to be given TV time and to have our characters presented with dignity and athleticism. I was home a day and a half in between tours, enough time to pull the dirty clothes out of my bags, run it through the washer/dryer and go straight back into the bags.

The grind was real because the show must go on. We worked tired and sick. We missed funerals, birthdays, holidays, and milestones. We spent many, many hours in airports, battling travel woes to make the towns. Our troupe on the road became more like family than coworkers because we relied on each other to hold it together. It was hard, but I wouldn’t have traded a single moment for anything in the world.

I got to make so many kids smile. I got to create and share in moments where the audience laughed, jeered and hopefully left the show feeling not only entertained, but connected to us and each other. That’s how I felt as a young wrestling fan. When I saw someone wearing a Macho Man Randy Savage shirt, I knew we would be friends.

Just like my grandparents who didn’t speak English, it didn’t matter where we went…Mexico, Japan, Australia, Africa, Central America or Europe … places where we couldn’t speak to each other with words, I got to connect with others through this silly, beautiful branch on the performance tree called pro wrestling. It really showed me how we all may seem so different, but deep down our humanity makes us so alike.

And, it's really fun to see the bad guy get what’s coming to him!