Adam Cole says Triple H and Shawn Michaels have given him the confidence to be the main-event-caliber performer he is today.
This Sunday, Cole challenges “Hangman” Adam Page for the AEW World Championship in the main event of AEW Revolution 2022.
Cole spoke with Sports Illustrated this week to promote the show. During the discussion, Cole spoke about working under Triple H and Shawn Michaels during their time together in NXT and how much he learned from the two all-time greats.
Adam Cole made a rare WWE main roster appearance on the November 1, 2019 edition of WWE SmackDown. This was the show that took place when a large portion of the WWE crew was stuck in Saudi Arabia. Cole was called in to defend his NXT Championship against Bryan Danielson. This was a big stage for Cole at the time.
Triple H and Shawn Michaels believed in him that night and made him feel like he truly deserves all the success he’s earned throughout his career.
“Both Hunter and Shawn gave me this unspoken confidence,” Cole tells SI. “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 remembers that Triple H and Shawn Michaels “didn’t bat an eye” or question him for a moment. They knew he and Bryan Danielson would tear the house down – and they did. “I learned so much from them that I will carry with me for the rest of my career,” said Cole. “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 confidence he gained in NXT sticks with him to this day. It’s given him an edge in AEW, as well. He feels at home wrestling in a PPV main event and that’s partially thanks to Triple H and Shawn Michaels’ support.
“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.”
“I’ve only scratched the surface of showing what I’m capable of & now I get to do that in a main event PPV slot against an excellent world champion in Adam Page. This is big for me. It’s put-up-or-shut-up time, & it’s time for me to make a statement.”
– Adam Cole to Sports Illustrated
