Adam Cole On Why He Moved To AEW From NXT

Speaking recently with Under The Ring, Adam Cole shared some details on why he chose to leave NXT when his contract ended and what drew him to sign with AEW instead (via Wrestling Inc). Cole explained the personal and professional factors that contributed to the decision while also recalling some of his best memories from his NXT stint. You can find a few highlights and listen to the full podcast below.

On what drew him toward AEW rather than NXT: “It was definitely a choice I thought about for quite some time. There were a couple of factors that kind of really pushed me towards making the AEW decision. First and foremost, I was a massive fan of the product and I would watch it every week. It was so awesome to watch these shows … the crowds were so raucous and so wild every single week and it almost felt like an NXT TakeOver every week. At this point, me and Britt, my girlfriend, were barely seeing each other -– I was maybe seeing her one day a week at this point because our schedules were so different. The idea of not only being able to see her more, travel with her, be there for her before and after her matches, that was something that was very attractive to me.”

On the defining aspects of his NXT run: “I certainly hope history looks back on that era as a special one. I felt like we were in the middle of something very special. As far as what made it work, I think it’s a combination of the timing being really right, I think you had Triple H who was eating, sleeping, and breathing NXT at the time and totally invested, Shawn Michaels, the exact same thing, and then you had a roster full of guys who had known each other for years and were ready to commit everything to making this the best possible show. You could feel the brand growing and you could feel more people joining this ride that was ‘NXT’ black and gold. I think for a lot of people, it was the first time they had seen that style of wrestling. It just created this movement that was absolutely unbelievable.”