Adam Cole Details The Loudest “Bay Bay” Crowd Chant He’s Ever Heard
AEW star Adam Cole recently spoke with the #Dork podcast about the creation of his, 'Bay Bay' catchphrase. While Cole has previously admitted he took inspiration from Chris Jericho and Joey Matthews, he revealed that he never intended for it to be a catchphrase for people to say back to him.
"When I first did, 'Adam Cole, Bay Bay,' it was never intended to be like a catchphrase, or like a thing that people said," Cole said. "I was a heel in an independent promotion called Combat Zone Wrestling, which is like this super violent, deathmatch style wrestling, and I didn't do any of that. I was the straight-laced regular wrestler, so I was trying to find different ways to get heat with that crowd.
"Again, aside from the Joey Matthews and Chris Jericho story, I used to just throw my fingers up in the air and yell, 'Adam Cole Bay Bay.' But, so many times during a match, it would be like 10, 11, 12 times during a match. People would just boo because it was just this arrogant heel tactic that I used."
Cole also spoke about when the catchphrase actually caught on with fans, crediting the Ring Honor audience, and how an injury allowed the audience to miss him enough to chant it.
"What happened was, I was in Ring Of Honor and I needed to take like four months off to get my shoulder, tricep, and elbow repaired," Cole stated. "When I came back, again that beautiful thing about pro wrestling where if you're gone for a bit, not too long, but just for a little bit, they have a chance to miss you. So when I came back, the fans were really excited and they knew that I did, 'Adam Cole Bay Bay,' so they started doing it then. For some reason, it has just completely caught on, and now, it's like what I am known for in a lot of ways."
Cole has had major 'Bay Bay' chants ever since that point, but he revealed that his debut at AEW's All Out was the loudest that he has ever heard.
"I would say, probably All Out, is probably the loudest one," he admitted. "I don't know if it's because my sense were super heightened at that point because of the surprise aspect of it. But the genuine reaction, and excitement, and getting into the ring, doing it in Chicago. That one felt the loudest.
"But I feel like, every single week, every town that we go to with AEW, it gets louder, and louder, and louder. Arthur Ashe Stadium was unreal, that one was really loud. But, to me, the absolute loudest one was All Out in Chicago."
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit the #Dork podcast, with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.