Adam Cole Looks back on AEW Debut—Is Taya Valkyrie Impact-Bound?

In a conversation he had on Busted Open Radio recently, Adam Cole looked back on how it felt for him to premiere at All Out a few months back, essentially making his long-rumored debut in AEW. He said:

“…I was incredibly nervous and also very excited. Fortunately for me, I had the chance to meet and talk with a bunch of the crew prior to that because, obviously, my girlfriend, Britt Baker, works there…So getting the chance to talk to a lot of people, I knew that the locker room and the crew that worked there were incredibly welcoming and incredibly nice…

So I wasn’t, per say, worried about working with a new crew. But again, like you said, the transition from being so used to and accustomed to working in one place and that one place being WWE, and then moving over to AEW, of course, change is always exciting and nerve-racking time.

All things considered, with it being a massive surprise, fortunately, I was in the news a lot at that point because people didn’t know what I was going to do. So, absolutely, I had a moment where I was like, ‘I really hope these people are excited. I hope they care, I hope they’re jacked-up.’ Especially considering a lot of people were expecting Bryan Danielson there.

I remember when the lights went out and I was waiting for my music to hit, and my legs were physically shaking with excitement. I had so much adrenaline going through my body, I thought, ‘this is going to be such a cool moment and I hope that reactions there,’ and then it was…I’ve said this before and I really mean it, I think it was my favorite night of my wrestling career.”

via Busted Open Radio /Wrestling Inc (Transcription)

Adam Cole and the utilization of his presence in the company have been highly criticized by some in the media, but his appearance and immersion into the preexisting storylines has undoubtedly boosted interest in the AEW product overall. That is stated without a single doubt of its validity. Just as the presence of CM Punk and Bryan Danielson have undoubtedly done as well.

The aforementioned critique being that neither of the 3 huge stars were entered in lengthy feuds worthy of their talents. It would seem that Khan and company have taken that into account, as CM Punk has been entered into a feud with Eddie Kingston, and this one looks like it’s going to be a banger for sure, especially if they draw it out past Full Gear, which is set to go down this weekend, on the 13^th.

Cole and the rest of The Elite have been in a feud with Jurassic Express and Christian, something else that will reach a climax this weekend too. We hope that all three of the aforementioned are entered into lengthy feuds that can go on…something  like what was done in WWE with Seth Rollins and Edge—the best feud WWE has put forth in years.

Regardless, Adam Cole is shining, as are the other two…taking AEW to new heights, along with its original roster, one event at a time, and hopefully soon, one lengthy feud at a time.

Taya Valkyrie sets her sights on what’s next…is it Impact Wrestling?

One can certainly hope so. I know that I am excited. I was extremely happy watching her on that platform, where she dominated as Knockouts Champion.

She became the longest reigning Knockouts champion while she held it—377 days. She wrestled at Lucha Underground and at Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide for 5 years (and a few appearances between 2018 and 2021 as well), before her run at Impact and subsequent run at WWE, which started in 2021. This all after her training in professional wrestling at the hands of the legendary Lance Storm.

Of course she was released by WWE in the massive cuts to the roster made as of the 4^th of November. According to a piece at webisjericho.com, she left Impact on very good terms and it seems as though she might just return to the promotion. She was still there in January of this year, so her mini-absence, if we can call it that, can be considered a minor hiccup in her quest to re-attaining her Knockouts Championship.

Her in-ring know-how was massively underutilized in WWE—where she should have appeared directly on the main roster, where she could have undoubtedly given the women’s WWE division a definitive boost.

And although a return to Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide isn’t out of the question, it would seem, to see her have matches with Deonna Purrazzo and perhaps the reigning Knockouts Champion, Mickie James, will be incredible to behold, if she so chooses to go in that direction when her 30-day no compete clause with WWE/NXT ends this upcoming December 4^th. She may do both, as Purrazzo has been.

I know I’m looking forward to it, wherever she goes, epic talent that she is. So as we enter into the preseason to the New Year, perhaps we’ll see “La Wera Loca” herself appears on Impact after all, which is something to undoubtedly be joyous about so near to the holiday season.

NEXT: Jon Moxley on writing ‘Mox’ and the best advice Bryan Danielson could have ever given him