Adam Cole Says Kevin Owens Congratulated Him After NXT Title Win, Talks Celebrating With Undisputed Era

– Adam Cole discussed his NXT Championship win at NXT Takeover: XXV in a new interview with Sporting News.

On what he was thinking when he won the NXT Championship: “I think a big reason that TakeOver 25 was so special was the journey to get there. It was a situation, for me, where I had done a lot of really cool things in NXT and I’ve had some really hard fought matches with a lot of really talented people. For me, my journey was all over the place. I was in the first-ever War Games match in WWE history. I became the first-ever NXT North American Champion in a six-way ladder match. I had done a lot of cool and interesting things, but of course, in the back of my mind winning the NXT championship was already at the forefront. So, getting to finally do that at such a monumental event for NXT, at TakeOver 25, was really, really cool, very special. I think it’s safe to say that anybody in NXT – that’s their goal, that’s their mindset, that’s what they’re working towards and for me it was no different and getting to finally do it was awesome.”

On beating Johnny Gargano for the title: “I’m glad you brought that up because I’m not sure if everybody knows, but like you said, me and Johnny go back as far as a decade. We’ve competed and wrestled against each other literally all across the globe, all across the United States and he was a guy that always, any time me and him competed against one another, we always brought out the best in each other or people used to always say that. I know I felt that way and I know Johnny feels that way. To get the chance to do it in NXT on such big stages like TakeOver and showing the world what Adam Cole versus Johnny Gargano is all about has been really cool. Again, just considering the fact that the chemistry that myself and Johnny have has only gotten better and has only gotten cooler and getting to show a whole new group of fans again what Adam Cole versus Johnny Gargano is all about. Then when you put something like the NXT championship on the line, you’re on such a big stage like TakeOver, it brings the best out of us even more. He’s definitely a guy I’m going to do a lot of battles with in the future.”

On sharing the moment with the Undisputed Era: “It’s so hard to even describe. Lots of times, when you have that sort of pressure on you where you just got done having a grueling matchup, and in that case, me and Johnny wrestled for over 30 minutes, sometimes you can get lost in moments like that. But when I’m in there with guys like Bobby Fish, Kyle O’Reilly, and Roderick Strong, I made sure that I did. Those three guys are about as close of friends as I can get in this line of work and even outside of wrestling. Like I said before, I’ve been in Kyle O’Reilly’s wedding. I’ve been close friends with these guys for years and years. We talk, literally, every day. So, to get to share that moment with those guys was awesome. It was surreal. I know, for sure, there was a moment where I’m looking at Kyle and Kyle’s hugging me and telling me how proud he is of me and all I can think about is when we met in 2009 and we wrestled each other in the infamous ECW Arena in front of like 200 people. Fast forward to this journey of me now becoming the NXT champion and being in there with those guys, it was awesome. It made the moment even sweeter for me, getting to have those guys come down to the ring with me and celebrate.”

On Kevin Owens’ reaction to his win: “Kevin was there front row when I made my debut in Brooklyn. Kevin has also been there to congratulate me when I won the NXT North American Championship for the first time. He’s been one of those guys who has always been in my corner and always been supportive. He sent me a very nice text message after I won the NXT championship, talking about how he wished he could have been there and how proud he was of me. That’s stuff that you never forget. He’s been a supporter of mine even before I made it to NXT. It’s been cool. He’s been incredibly supportive.”