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Adam Cole Confident He Can Thrive in ‘Pressure Cooker’ of Main Event vs. ‘Hangman’ Page

The former NXT champion has his first title match in AEW at ‘Revolution’ on Sunday, facing a man he has plenty of history with.

Justin Barrasso

SI.com’s Week in Wrestling is published every week and provides beneath-the-surface coverage of the business of pro wrestling.

Adam Cole on a potential return to The Pat McAfee Show: “I’d love to go back and chat with my best buddy. We still have some unfinished business to discuss.”

Adam Cole will challenge “Hangman” Adam Page for the AEW world title at the Revolution pay-per-view on Sunday in Orlando.

The match represents a clash of two of the most prominent stars of the short-lived “Wednesday Night Wars” between AEW and NXT, when the two sides engaged in a head-to-head weekly battle. Cole spent a healthy portion of that stretch as NXT champion, and viewers are now treated to the best of the black-and-gold era of NXT against the rising star of AEW.

“My goal is to be in the main event,” says Cole, who arrived in AEW in September. “Emotionally, mentally, physically, this feels right. I’m so prepared for this spot. I have main-event experience, and I’m glad to be in this pressure-cooker situation.”

Before his masterly run in NXT, Cole also had major moments in Ring of Honor, New Japan Pro-Wrestling and super-indie promotion Pro Wrestling Guerrilla. He was vaulted to new heights as NXT champion when he wrestled Bryan Danielson—then working as Daniel Bryan—on the Nov. 1, 2019, edition of WWE’s SmackDown. This was a seminal moment for Cole, who flew from Orlando to Buffalo earlier that day alongside Shawn Michaels after it was determined that WWE would need reinforcements to fill in for the talent still stuck in Saudi Arabia after the Crown Jewel a day earlier.

“Both Hunter [Paul “Triple H” Levesque] and Shawn gave me this unspoken confidence,” Cole says. “They put me into this next gear and gave me this championship mentality.

“That night, neither Hunter nor Shawn talked about the stakes, the stress or how everyone there was counting on me. They trusted my ability, that I could get on a plane that afternoon and wrestle later that night on SmackDown against one of the top stars in the industry.”

Cole had boarded a 3 p.m. ET flight that day, still unaware of where he would be on that night’s card. Just hours later, he was defending the NXT title against Danielson in the show’s main event.

“They didn’t bat an eye; they knew we were going to tear the house down,” Cole says. “Triple H and Shawn Michaels were instrumental to my career. I learned so much from them that I will carry with me for the rest of my career. Being in that environment taught me certain aspects of my game that I didn’t know before I was there. That’s benefited me in a lot of ways. That’s given me an edge in AEW, too. Two of the greatest to ever do it had full faith and belief in me. I’ll never forget that. So I know I deserve to be in this spot and deserve to be in this role.”

Cole will be carrying those lessons into his Revolution main event this Sunday, where he relishes the opportunity to have a competitive, physical contest against Page.

“This hasn’t been talked about a lot, but I was in one of the matches that led to him to being signed by Ring of Honor,” Cole says. “I was rooting for him every weekend when he was being discussed for Bullet Club. To see the performer and pro wrestler he’s become, it’s really, really cool. He’s had battles for that world title. They’ve all been absolutely spectacular. He’s done a hell of a job as AEW champ. But that’s the place where I want to be.”

A 14-year ring veteran, Cole is currently creating must-see content in AEW beside The Young Bucks’ Matt and Nick Jackson and reDRagon’s Kyle O’Reilly and Bobby Fish. Cole is dynamic in singles matches and tags, as the leader of an ensemble or as a solo act. He stands out wherever he goes, including massively popular podcasts like The Pat McAfee Show.

Cole and McAfee had a memorable interaction on the show two years ago, which ended when Cole erupted and sent expletives hurling at McAfee as he left the studio. That built to their match the following month in August 2020 at TakeOver XXX, in which McAfee shined in defeat against Cole.

One of wrestling’s top stars, Cole is no stranger to social media. He noticed that former boss Vince McMahon will be on McAfee’s show Thursday—and he also offered to return for an upcoming episode.

“Pat doesn’t have the guts to have me back on the show, so I don’t think it’s going to happen, but I’d love to go back and chat with my best buddy,” Cole says. “We still have some unfinished business to discuss.”

Perhaps McAfee—who is now providing commentary every week on SmackDown—will be more interested in bringing Cole back if he is AEW champion. And that is the plan for Cole, who has the opportunity to add another world title to his vast collection with a win against Page at Revolution.

“I want to be the one to represent AEW,” Cole says. “I’ve only scratched the surface of showing what I’m capable of, and now I get to do that in a main event pay-per-view slot against an excellent world champion in Adam Page. This is big for me. It’s put-up-or-shut-up time, and it’s time for me to make a statement.”

The (online) week in wrestling

  • Roman Reigns was magnificent on the mike during the contract signing Friday on SmackDown. Moments like that make it seem like eons ago that he struggled to connect with the fans on the stick.
  • Another must-see moment on the mike from this past week came from MJF, who is somehow outtalking CM Punk during this program. 

This feature on Punk was extraordinary. It contains details from WWE, AEW and his personal life that come off in such a genuine, authentic manner. 

Sasha Banks is back on SmackDown, and she announced her intentions to team with Naomi at WrestleMania 38 and win the tag team titles. While this is a stark contrast from headlining the opening night of last year’s event, Banks will add a tremendous value to the tag titles—and hopefully it also leads to some great moments for Naomi. 

  • Following his appearance in the Royal Rumble match, Johnny Knoxville returned to SmackDown on Friday. His story will build to an Intercontinental title match against Sami Zayn at WrestleMania 38. Would this spot have better belonged to Cesaro? Or is the high-profile Knoxville a better choice because he brings extra eyes to the show? Personally, I would have preferred WWE re-sign Cesaro and put him in this spot, creating potential for a program that could have lasted into the summer—not to mention the potential for a genuinely great IC title match at WrestleMania. 
  • AEW’s Revolution pay-per-view is shaping up to be an excellent card, and the sleeper of the night could be Chris Jericho–Eddie Kingston. 
  • Joey Janela turned on X-Pac at GCW’s show in Los Angeles last weekend, setting up a highly anticipated singles match between the two. 
  • Jay White–Alex Shelley should be a fantastic match at Saturday’s No Surrender show for Impact—though as a longtime Eddie Edwards fan, I am also excited to see where his story goes as the leader of the ROH contingent in Impact. 
  • Saturday’s Scenic City Invitational indie show in Chattanooga captures so many of the best elements of pro wrestling. Benefiting the local high school’s athletic department and featuring hungry talent, SCI owner Scott Hensley is eager to deliver a great night for wrestling fans.

    “We are so excited to be back in the community helping raise money and put together a wrestling event that is equal parts story and spectacle,” says Hensley, whose show includes IWTV World Champion AC Mack, AJ Gray, Violence Is Forever and Arik Royal, as well as Jaden Newman and Jax Dane. “And we are thrilled to have some of the best independent wrestlers in the world come back to the Chattanooga area to compete.” 

Cesaro does not come to terms with WWE, leading to his exit from the company

Claudio Castagnoli will go on to accomplish great feats in pro wrestling.

But it would have been great to see that happen while portraying Cesaro in WWE.

Cesaro left the company after not agreeing to terms on a new contract. Sources close to WWE revealed that Castagnoli was disappointed in the lack of direction for his character, primarily being placed in a position to enhance others. While that is a valuable role—the men and women in that spot help make champions—it is not what Castagnoli wanted at a time when he believes he is operating at peak level.

WWE’s lack of interest in Cesaro as a main-eventer was astounding. Castagnoli has a distinct look, genuine size and an unrivaled skill set in the ring. Multiple peers confirmed with SI that he was always found at shows, even when he was not working. Seeing Castagnoli at the Performance Center and offering advice at NXT shows in Orlando was a common sight. His passion for all things pro wrestling helps make him such a remarkable figure in the industry, yet the foreshadowing of his future was clearly visible when he was a healthy scratch from this January’s Royal Rumble match.

As hard as it is to believe this, on that particular night, Vince McMahon did not value Cesaro as one of his top-30 talents in the men’s division. In an interview with SI shortly after the Rumble, Castagnoli agreed that he would have added a great deal of value to the match, correctly adding that there are legions of fans that would have been ecstatic had he won the match. So, disappointing as it is to see him leave, there was clearly a divide over his role in the company.

The final blow to Cesaro’s success in WWE happened last year after signing a new contract. He created a magical moment back in front of fans in his WrestleMania 37 victory against Seth Rollins, and then had the misfortune of returning to the overly manufactured ThunderDome set for his program against Roman Reigns. Had that taken place in front of fans instead of in a modified television story, then perhaps Cesaro’s run near the top of the card would have continued. But ultimately, pandemic or not, McMahon had already made up his mind on where Cesaro should be positioned. And Castagnoli clearly disagrees.

Outside of the walls of WWE, Castagnoli’s future will be fascinating to watch.

Tweet(s) of the Week

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Who could have predicted that the war in Ukraine would lead to this exchange between “Hangman” Page and Kane?

Justin Barrasso can be reached at JBarrasso@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @JustinBarrasso.

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