Edge then feuded with Dolph Ziggler and Vickie Guerrero until the Royal Rumble. Afterwards, Rumble winner Alberto Del Rio challenged for the World Heavyweight Championship, held by Edge at that time. On the 600th episode of SmackDown on February 18, acting General Manager Guerrero fired Edge in storyline, and awarded the World Championship to her on-screen boyfriend Ziggler. SmackDown General Manager Teddy Long returned later that night, and rehired Edge. Edge then defeated Ziggler to become the World Heavyweight Champion for the seventh time, his 11th World Championship overall. After the match, Teddy Long fired Ziggler, and Guerrero followed the next week after losing a tag team match with Drew McIntyre against Edge and Kelly Kelly.
The following month, Edge participated in the Raw Money in the Bank ladder match at the Money in the Bank pay-per-view, but failed to win the briefcase. Edge then went on to participate in the main event of SummerSlam in which he and six teammates were victorious in a seven-on-seven elimination tag team match against The Nexus. On the 900th episode of Raw, he disqualified himself, in the main event in a five-on-five elimination match against The Nexus. This saw him enter into a feud with the anonymous Raw General Manager, during which the general manager cost him several matches. At Night of Champions, Edge participated in a six-pack elimination challenge for Sheamus' WWE Championship, but once again failed to win the title.
The duo of Hardcastle and Cage were known as Hard Impact before changing their name to The Suicide Blondes. They also worked in Japan under the name The Canadian Rockers. Copeland also wrestled briefly as Damon Striker against Kevin Sullivan and Meng on separate episodes of WCW Pro. In the summer of 1995, he worked a show in Ajax, Ontario, where Bret Hart's Business manager, Carl De Marco, was watching. Impressed, he suggested Copeland send an audition tape to the WWF. Copeland did not hear back from WWF, but some time later, De Marco was appointed President of WWF Canada and told Copeland that he'd put in a good word.
In 1996, Copeland initially made $210 per week while working for WWF without an official contract. The company also paid for his outstanding college debt, which was around $40,000. After a Grand Prix Wrestling tour in the summer of 1997, De Marco urged Copeland to go to Calgary, where Hart was informally training Wrestlers while recovering from knee surgery. He spent his tour earnings on a plane ticket and landed with no money or place to stay. He called Johnny Smith, whom he would met twice, and Smith agreed to give him food and shelter. Smith also drove Copeland to and from the gym and Hart's house, where he trained alongside Ken Shamrock, Test, Mark Henry and Kurrgan. Copeland returned to the Maritimes for another Grand Prix tour before going back to Hart's house, bringing Christian with him. After this camp, Hart was impressed enough to put in a good word for both men at the WWF.
Edge's first televised match was against Jose Estrada, Jr. of Los Boricuas, which ended prematurely by countout when Edge performed a somersault senton from the ring to the outside, legitimately injuring Estrada's neck. In his first pay-per-view match at SummerSlam in August, he served as Sable's mystery tag team partner against Jacqueline and Marc Mero, and body-slammed Sable onto Mero in a pinning position to pick up the win. At Breakdown: In Your House, Edge faced Owen Hart in a losing effort. On October 11, 1998's edition of Sunday Night Heat, Edge defeated Vader in singles competition and at WWF Capital Carnage, Edge faced Tiger Ali Singh in a losing effort.
Edge captured his first singles championship, the WWF Intercontinental Championship, on July 24, 1999, defeating Jeff Jarrett at a house show in Toronto, Ontario. He lost the title the next night to Jarrett at Fully Loaded. At SummerSlam, Edge and Christian competed in a Tag team turmoil match where they eliminated 3 teams: The New Brood (Matt and Jeff), Mideon and Viscera and Droz and Prince Albert before getting eliminated from the match by The Acolytes. At Unforgiven, Edge and Christian faced The New Age Outlaws for the WWF Tag Team Championship but failed to win the titles.
Later in the year, he was placed in a storyline angle with The Hardy Boyz (Matt and Jeff). Gangrel soon betrayed both Edge and Christian and formed The New Brood with their enemies, The Hardy Boyz. They feuded with the Hardy Boyz, as they went on to compete in a ladder match at No Mercy in October for the "managerial services" of Terri Runnels and $100,000, which the Hardy Boyz won. At Survivor Series, Edge and Christian and The Hardy Boyz faced Too Cool and The Hollys in a four-on-four Survivor Series elimination match where they lost. At Armageddon, Edge and Christian competed in an 8-team battle royal which was won by The Acolytes. At Royal Rumble, Edge competed in the Royal Rumble match where he was eliminated by Al Snow and Val Venis. At No Way Out, Edge and Christian defeated The Hardy Boyz in a tag team match to determine the number one contenders to the WWF Tag Team Championship. At WrestleMania 2000 on April 2, Edge and Christian defeated the Hardy Boyz and the Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray and D-Von) to win the WWF Tag Team Championship in a Triangle Ladder match, which ultimately led to the creation of the Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match (TLC).
In 1998, Copeland began a relationship with Alannah Morley, the sister of Sean Morley (aka Val Venis), and they married on November 8, 2001. They divorced a few years later on March 10, 2004. His second marriage was to Lisa Ortiz on October 21, 2004. Soon after his second marriage, Copeland started an affair with Amy Dumas (aka Lita), and their relationship became public knowledge in February 2005, resulting in Copeland's divorce from Ortiz on November 17, 2005. On December 12, 2013, Copeland and former WWE Wrestler Beth Phoenix had a daughter, and named her Lyric Rose Copeland. On May 31, 2016, their second daughter was born; they named her Ruby Ever Copeland. Copeland and Phoenix married on October 30, 2016, which was Copeland's 43rd birthday.
Upon arriving there, he began a feud with Kurt Angle. At Backlash, Edge defeated Angle and later culminated in Edge shaving Angle's head following a hair vs. hair match at Judgment Day in May. On the May 30 episode of SmackDown!, Edge defeated Angle in a Steel Cage match to end the feud but during the match Edge speared Angle from the top rope. In the process, Edge injured his arm and would be forced out of action for a month. Two months later, he would end up winning the World Tag Team Championship alongside Hollywood Hulk Hogan on July 4, 2002. Edge and Hogan lost the titles at Vengeance to Lance Storm and Christian, and at SummerSlam, Edge defeated Eddie Guerrero then lost to Guerrero at Unforgiven. They met one final time days later on SmackDown! in a No Disqualification match where Edge won, ending the feud. He then formed a tag team with Rey Mysterio, and the two participated in a tournament for the newly created and SmackDown!-exclusive WWE Tag Team Championship. They lost to Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit in the finals of the tournament at No Mercy; the match was voted Match of the Year by the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. After they failed in winning the title, Mysterio and Edge defeated Los Guerreros in a number one contender's match on the October 24 episode of SmackDown! to earn a title shot. At the Rebellion pay-per-view, Edge faced Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman in a Handicap match for the WWE Championship where Lesnar retained the title after Lesnar pinned Edge. On the November 7 episode of SmackDown!, they defeated Angle and Benoit in a two out of three falls match to win their first Tag Team Championship. They soon lost the tag titles to Los Guerreros in a Triple Threat Elimination match that also involved former champions Angle and Benoit at Survivor Series.
After losing the title, Edge and Mysterio went their separate ways to focus on their singles careers. Edge competed in the 30-man Royal Rumble match on January 19, 2003, where he had three eliminations before getting eliminated by Chris Jericho. Edge then teamed up with Chris Benoit, facing Team Angle (Kurt Angle, Charlie Haas, and Shelton Benjamin) in a series of singles and tag team matches. Prior to No Way Out, Edge suffered a legitimate neck injury, rendering him unable to compete in his scheduled match. At the event on February 23, Edge was written off television through a backstage attack. He then underwent surgery with Dr. Lloyd Youngblood and was sidelined for over a year.
His autobiography, Adam Copeland on Edge, was released on November 2, 2004. Unlike most Wrestlers who used "ghostwriters" to write their biographies, Copeland wrote the entire book himself, in longhand. Mick Foley, who also wrote his wrestling autobiography himself in longhand, wrote the foreword to his book. Copeland does not smoke. He claims he had his first cigarette when he was sixteen, hated it, and has not smoked since.
On the November 29 episode of Raw, both Edge and Benoit competed in a number one contender's battle royal, but they eliminated each other simultaneously at the conclusion of the match, resulting in a draw. As a result, Triple H was forced to defend the title in a triple threat match. In the match, Benoit locked the Crippler Crossface on Edge, who shifted his weight putting Benoit's shoulders on the mat for a pin. This match also ended in a draw for Benoit and Edge, as Benoit made Edge submit at the same time the Referee counted a pinfall for Edge. As a result, the World Heavyweight title was vacated the following week on Raw. In January 2005, Edge competed in his first Elimination Chamber match at New Year's Revolution for the vacant World Heavyweight Championship. Shawn Michaels (acting as special guest referee) performed a superkick on Edge, in retaliation for an accidental spear by Edge, causing Edge to be the first eliminated. This led to a match at the Royal Rumble later in the month, in which Edge defeated Michaels.
In 2000, Copeland had a cameo appearance as a road bandit in the fantasy movie Highlander: Endgame. In March 2002, he appeared with other Wrestlers on the quiz show Weakest Link. He was voted out in the first round, and the eventual winner was Kane. On the August 6, 2006 episode of Mind of Mencia, he appeared as Edge as a commentator for "The Royal Religious Rumble". He punched out an actor playing L. Ron Hubbard to stop Scientology from ruling the world and then speared another actor playing Tom Cruise.
According to a Sports Illustrated article rotated on August 30, 2007, Copeland was named one of ten Wrestlers found to have purchased steroids and other drugs from an online pharmacy, a violation of the WWE Talent Wellness program. Copeland was said to have received somatropin, genotropin, and stanozolol between September 2004 and February 2007.
On November 23, 2008 at Survivor Series, Edge returned to WWE after an introduction by SmackDown General Manager and his on-screen wife Vickie Guerrero, replacing Jeff Hardy in the Triple Threat match for the WWE Championship involving champion Triple H and Vladimir Kozlov. He pinned Triple H to become the WWE Champion for the third time in his career. The following month, Edge lost the title to Hardy at Armageddon in a Triple Threat match, which also featured Triple H. At the Royal Rumble, however, Edge regained the title in a no disqualification match, following Matt Hardy's interference. At the February event No Way Out, Edge lost the WWE title in an Elimination Chamber after being pinned by Jeff Hardy, being the first to be eliminated, with the title eventually being won by Triple H. Later that night, Edge inserted himself into the World Championship Elimination Chamber match after attacking Kofi Kingston and barricading himself inside one of the Chamber's pods, proceeding to win his eighth World Championship, last eliminating Rey Mysterio and taking the title over to SmackDown. At WrestleMania XXV in April, Edge lost the championship to John Cena in a Triple Threat match, which also included The Big Show. Three weeks later he regained the championship at Backlash, when he defeated Cena in a Last Man Standing match, after interference by The Big Show. After a successful defense against Jeff Hardy at Judgment Day, he lost the title to Hardy at Extreme Rules in a ladder match, and afterwards said some disparaging things to his on-screen wife, Vickie Guerrero. While Hardy was celebrating, CM Punk cashed in his Money in the Bank and defeated Hardy to win the World Heavyweight Championship. The following night, Guerrero resigned as the Raw General Manager due to being humiliated, and Edge came out to apologize. Instead, however, he claimed he married Guerrero because she had authoritative powers as the General Manager, and sought a divorce. On the June 15 episode of Raw, Edge received his rematch for the World Heavyweight Championship in a triple threat match against both Hardy and Punk, but was pinned by Punk.
On December 10, Kane pleaded with Edge to return his father, but Edge refused and tested his TLC skills on Paul Bearer. That night, Kane rejected participating in the main event with his would be partner, Alberto Del Rio. Kane chased his nemesis to where Paul Bearer was held, atop two ladders in another part of the arena. Kane first thought it was a dummy then unwittingly pushed Paul Bearer off to the bottom, injuring Bearer and writing him out. On December 17, because of worries that Kane may not show up to TLC, Teddy Long added Alberto Del Rio and Rey Mysterio to the mix. While Edge fought alongside Rey Mysterio against the Miz and Del Rio, Kane barged in until Teddy Long had the entire Smackdown locker room restrain them. On December 19, 2010 Edge defeated Kane, Rey Mysterio, and Alberto Del Rio in a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match at the TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs PPV event to win the World Heavyweight Championship for a record sixth time and making him a ten time World Champion. Edge then defended the World Championship against Kane in a winning effort in a Last Man Standing match, thus ending their feud.
Copeland appeared regularly in the Syfy series Haven, which started in July 2011, as Dwight Hendrickson, a troubled man whose affliction is revealed to be attracting bullets and who works as a cleaner, cleaning up after the troubles. He is later appointed the Chief of Police. He was part of the cast until the show's series finale in December 2015.
WWE Studios released Bending the Rules, in which Copeland starred, in 2012. WWE released the official trailer of the film on the February 28, 2012 episode of Raw. The 2012 documentary, You Think You Know Me – The Story of Edge, includes a look at Copeland's life and career in pro wrestling.
On September 4, 2013, Copeland hosted a special episode of the Syfy series Ghost Mine.
In December 2014, Copeland made a cameo appearance in the music video for the In-Flight Safety song "Destroy" as his Dwight Hendrickson character.
On July 16, 2015, it was announced that Copeland would be set to portray Atom-Smasher in the second season of The Flash.
On July 26, 2016, it was announced that Copeland would play Kjetill Flatnose on Season 5 of the Vikings in a recurring role.
