Copeland was born in Orangeville, Ontario, the son of Judy Copeland, a single parent who worked two jobs to support her son. Copeland has stated that he has never met, nor ever seen a picture of, his father. He became interested in professional wrestling at a young age; his favorite wrestlers included Mr. Perfect, Randy Savage, Hulk Hogan, Ricky Steamboat, Shawn Michaels, and Bret Hart. As a teenager, Copeland attended WrestleMania VI sitting in the eleventh row at ringside.

Copeland resides in Asheville, North Carolina. Copeland used to play hockey with retired National Hockey League (NHL) player Aaron Downey. He is a fan of the NHL's Toronto Maple Leafs and New Jersey Devils. He is close friends with fellow wrestler Jason Reso, otherwise known as Christian.  Copeland has several tattoos: a red and black sun on his left upper biceps, which covers a tattoo of a muscular shark which resembled the Street Sharks; a star on his right upper biceps with several smaller stars and two skulls wearing bandanas, adorned with flowers and hearts, below said star tattoo; a tattoo of a cross on his left forearm; and another tattoo of a scroll like piece of paper adorned with the words "Rise Above". All of Copeland's tattoos represent a stage in his career. His sun, which Copeland got while recovering from his neck injury, represents "looking towards brighter days." The cross tattoo represents his time with the Brood, and his star and skull tattoos represent his Rated-R Superstar persona and his self-proclaimed status as the "Guns N' Roses of wrestling".  In March 2007, Copeland became a key figure in an alleged steroid ring and drug investigation. On March 19, Sports Illustrated posted an article on its website in its continuing series investigating a steroid and HGH ring used by a number of professional athletes in several sports. That article mentioned several current and former WWE wrestlers, including Copeland, who was alleged to have obtained HGH. Copeland has previously admitted to using steroids in April 2004 after neck surgery as an experiment on TSN's Off The Record with Michael Landsberg in January 2005. He said, he felt it slowed him down, so he quickly got off the substance. According to Copeland, he took HGH after returning from a spinal fusion neck surgery. He was told by doctors that it would help the bones grow back around the screws and plate that were inserted into his neck. He claims to have taken blood tests, consulted doctors, studied the drug, and got prescriptions before deciding to take them.  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.  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.Answer this question using a quote from the following article:

Has he been involved in any conflicts or controversies?
key figure in an alleged steroid ring and drug investigation.