Adam Cole On His Time In WWE—The Main Roster Call-Up That Never Was

Adam Cole has one of the most recognizable faces in the industry that is pro wrestling. Handsome, athletic and epically talented, there’s no question that he’s doing what he was meant to do in this life and he’s doing it well. He has his critics, but who doesn’t? He just smiles in the face of such criticism and goes about his day, shattering expectations.

He did so on the indie circuit and he did so in ROH as well as all the other stops he made before he ever set foot in WWE—specifically NXT, where he would go on to not only dominate but set standards and advance that brand from where it started to where it is today…a viable brand and option for pro wrestling fans out there.

That’s in large part due to him and many other great stars that passed through that platform. And although there were a few instances that showed Cole on the main roster in the past…specifically Survivor Series 2019, where he defended the NXT Championship against Pete Dunne and won….

Interestingly enough, NXT was an actual team in the classic Survivor Series match up that year, pitting Raw, SmackDown and NXT—the NXT team featured NXT stars like Ciampa, Damian Priest, Riddle, Keith Lee and Gunther—then Walter). But an official main roster call-up has always eluded him…and that alone is a paradox that’s hard to explain.

Just before he opted to leave WWE there was talk of a main roster call-up, but one that sounded so disastrous it was almost comical to anyone paying attention. Apparently he was to be Keith Lee’s manager and he would have undergone a serious change of his look and a name change to boot. The word ‘disaster’ certainly comes to mind, folks.

He didn’t take that option, opting to go to AEW where he’s enjoying quite the run thus far. He’s already contested for the AEW World Heavyweight Championship…a title that has eluded him, but one he’s destined to hold somewhere down the line. Of course Cole won the Owen Hart Foundation Cup and that’s a huge honor, as he was the first to ever do it. The event, which will be an annual one started just this year. Britt Baker won the same for the Women’s Division.

Recently he went into why he believes he never got that main roster call-up in WWE that he so richly deserved. These comments were made while he was a guest on the Kurt Angle Show:

“There wasn’t a huge discussion from either of them (Triple H and Shawn Michaels) about going to Raw or SmackDown. I think they knew and they, themselves weren’t even thinking about it as well. I think they probably would’ve been nervous or scared of the idea of like, ‘Oh my god, they just took four of our top NXT stars, now what’re we going to do?’”

via sportskeeda.com / H/T Wrestling Inc.

Cole is currently injured, having suffered quite the injury at Forbidden Door. He already had shoulder issues but suffered a concussion at the aforementioned event. Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer specified specifically what went down with Cole and how bad his injuries are, stating:

“Cole, who has been wrestling with a torn labrum (shoulder), suffered what was believed to have been a very serious concussion, leading to a rushed and awkward finish of the IWGP title match as Jay White pinned him… It’s probably best to fix the torn labrum with surgery, or at least with a lot of rehab, but that also would mean a long time out and clearly by the fact he was wrestling on it, that means he’s mentally wanting to continue. But it’s better to get it fixed now if possible.”

via Wrestling Observer Newsletter

We wish him a speedy recovery if he opts for the surgery or if he opts for rehab, we hope he’s careful, and we further hope for a run that’ll lead to that AEW World Heavyweight Championship down the line.

NEXT: WWE & AEW To Collide? – Will We Ever See A Forbidden Door, WWE/AEW Edition?