Adam Cole On Probably The Most Important Reason He Signed With AEW Over WWE
AEW's Adam Cole joined Busted Open Radio to talk about joining AEW this past Sunday at All Out in Chicago, Illinois. Cole detailed his journey to AEW over his thirteen and a half year career, and how surreal it's all turned out to be.
"It's been incredible," Cole said. "When I first decided I wanted to be a pro wrestler, the mentality was 'I really just want to get out there and wrestle.' And at the end of the day, that's all I want to do as well. I just want to go out there and wrestle. But to think of all the cool experiences and all the great people I've gotten to work with and cool places I've gotten to go, and for it to lead to that moment at All Out, it was surreal. It felt like a full circle moment in a lot of ways. I haven't gotten to share the ring with the Young Bucks and Kenny Omega in a really long time. You bring up Kyle O'Reilly. This is the first time since 2009 that me and Kyle O'Reilly are not in the same company, which is really crazy to think about. For so many years we had worked alongside each other, whether that be as partners or as enemies, we had worked alongside each other.
"And then again, the Young Bucks and Omega, being three of the people I'm closest with, to finally share a ring with them again, I was feeling very sentimental. I actually had said this also before, but I remember before I was about to come out, I was so overwhelmed with emotion that my legs were physically shaking. And it wasn't even nerves, it was that I was so excited for that moment. And that's why I'm going to try and relive it constantly in my head. I just had such an amazing time, it was so cool. It feels like all thirteen and a half years kind of led to that moment on Sunday."
Cole also talked about the several things that factored in his decision to join AEW following a four year run in NXT. The keys to Cole were Tony Khan, the hunger for greatness in the AEW locker room and the AEW fans who so badly want AEW to succeed at a high level.
"There are so many factors and I can go on and on," Cole said. "You mention Tony Khan. Tony is such an incredible person. He has such a love and passion for pro wrestling that I've said before, but I'll say again, is contagious. You can tell that he just eats, sleeps and breathes this stuff. And that's great, especially when you're the one leading the charge for a company like AEW. On top of that you've got a locker room full of guys who are ready to do anything and everything to deliver the best match, the best segment possible.
"And then maybe most important, you have a bunch of rabid fans who so badly want AEW to succeed. And when you have a company that is going up to the plate and hitting a home run every single time, and then you have fans that are super satisfied and they want you to hit that home run, that's that magical atmosphere that I talk about and so many other people talk about. I've watched AEW from the very beginning. And watching the product grow and watching it turn into the excellent pro wrestling company that it is, I don't see how you couldn't want to be a part of it."
Even though he's moved on from WWE however, Cole had nothing but nice things to say about his time with the promotion. He particularly praised getting to work with Shawn Michaels and Triple H, and that he wouldn't change the experience for anything.
"I am so thankful for those four years," Cole said. "When I was nine years old, my dream was to work for the WWE, and I got to do that for four years. I had so many amazing experiences. I got to work alongside Shawn Michaels for four years, and develop a wonderful relationship with him. That was one of the absolute highlights of my time there. Triple H was wonderful, that locker room was wonderful, those fans were wonderful. I learned so much there, and I got so many really cool experiences. So there's not even a small part of me that was angry or upset in any way with the WWE. I had a really, really wonderful time, and I wouldn't have changed it for the world."
Cole then turned his attention back to AEW and where they can go from here. He believes that, as hot as AEW is right now, things can only get even bigger from here with the momentum they have.
"I do, I really do," Cole said on if AEW can reach even bigger heights. "And the exciting part is you've seen over the years that there have been certain moments where it felt like AEW was getting even more and more momentum. All Out was absolutely one of those moments, and lucky for me, I got to be a part of it. So the thing that's exciting for me is to think 'what else is AEW going to do to top themselves? How much more attention are we going to get? How many more fans are we going to attract? How many more people who maybe haven't watched pro wrestling in awhile go 'you know, maybe I'm going to check out this AEW.'
"Because it feels like it just keeps growing and growing and growing. Right now I feel we just have so much momentum that just continues to build. So of course I'm excited, and as I get older I get, the more I decide to live in the moment. But I am very excited to see where All Elite Wrestling is going to be in one year, two years, three years and even five years."
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Busted Open Radio and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription