Following a story-filled run on the WWE NXT roster, Adam Cole decided to take his talents elsewhere.
Two weeks after wrestling his final match for WWE at NXT TakeOver: 36, Cole debuted for AEW near the end of the All Out pay-per-view on Sept. 5. Cole quickly turned heel by helping Kenny Omega, The Good Brothers and The Young Bucks attack Christian Cage and Jurassic Express. Moments later, however, Bryan Danielson also debuted in and rescued the babyfaces.
10 days after All Out, Cole wrestled his first match for AEW on the Sept. 15 episode of Dynamite, defeating Frankie Kazarian via pinfall.
Because Cole wasn't outright released by WWE, he didn't have to go under a non-compete clause and was able to debut for AEW right away. Cole signed a short-term extension with WWE so that he could finish his feud with Kyle O'Reilly, who bested him in a two-out-of-three-falls match at NXT TakeOver: 36.
During an appearance on Talk Is Jericho (h/t WrestlingNews.co), Cole detailed a meeting with WWE chairman Vince McMahon, and he also mentioned some of the ideas WWE had for him had he joined the main roster.
"The idea was for me to go to RAW or SmackDown and not stay in NXT, just because I had been there for so long, and I think they knew, as much as I do love NXT, if I stayed in WWE, to take that step," Cole said. "That was the gist of the conversation. It was definitely to move me up to RAW or SmackDown."
Cole added that WWE was "very vague about exactly what they wanted to do". The possibility of a name change was brought up, but Cole wasn't keen on it.
"I remember when I first had the conversation, they mentioned something about, 'Maybe we’ll do a name change, or maybe we’ll change your look a little bit', so that scared me a little bit," Cole explained. "I just spent nearly 14 years as Adam Cole. In our latest conversation, they were definitely more open to me being me and being myself. They could tell I was not too thrilled about the idea."
When asked by Jericho, Cole admitted that he indeed saw this as a "red flag." And though Cole emphasized that WWE "could not have been nicer", he simply had to do what was best for his wrestling career.
What Could Have Been
It was previously reported that WWE planned to have Cole work as a heel manager for Keith Lee on the main roster, though the former later explained that he "never heard anything" about that.
We'll simply never get to see what could have been with Cole on the main WWE roster. Yes, he was the perfect main event star for WWE to build around over at NXT, but he also deserved some time on the main roster. But at the end of the day, he had to do what was best for him, and AEW promises to maximize his world-class talents and popularity.