Former NXT Champion Adam Cole has revealed that WWE did indeed pitch a name change.
Cole was a top star on the NXT brand and had been since he first arrived in WWE back in 2017. Cole signed a brief contract extension after his deal was up in order to give Kyle O’Reilly the final win in their feud. Cole did speak to WWE chairman Vince McMahon but he ultimately decided to sign with AEW.
Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter reported that WWE pitched Cole becoming a manager for Keith Lee. On top of that, it was said that Cole would’ve likely had to change his name.
During an appearance on Talk Is Jericho, Adam Cole confirmed that WWE did suggest a name change.
“It was funny because apparently, there were a lot of ideas, but they were very vague on what exactly they wanted to do. This is interesting too because I remember when I first had the conversation, they had 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 just because I’d spent nearly 14 years as Adam Cole, and then our latest conversation, they were definitely more open to me being me and being myself and stuff like that. They could tell I was not too thrilled about the idea.”
It’s clear that Cole in his current form is well-liked by wrestling fans. He has been receiving sizable ovations since arriving in AEW. Whether or not he would’ve thrived on the WWE main roster is one of those “what if” questions, but some will be glad to not know the answer.
