Kyle O’Reilly On What His Breaking Point Was With the Undisputed Era, How He Felt About Their Tactics

In an interview with Vibe and Wrestling, Kyle O’Reilly spoke about the end of the Undisputed Era and what he felt was his breaking point with the group. He will have a match with former UE leader Adam Cole at the WWE NXT Great American Bash tomorrow. Here are highlights:

On his match with Cole tomorrow night: “It’s going to be an extremely different match because it’s not unsanctioned. Our last match was violent, it was two guys dragging each other through hell. This match on Tuesday at Great American Bash is just to prove who is the better performer. Straight up match, normal rules, so this is gonna be a very different match, more scientific and more methodical I think.”

On his breaking point in the Undisputed Era: “When Adam Cole kicked me in the face is when I realized but before that I felt maybe rumblings because I was in a weird place in the summer before that, maybe six months out Adam kicking my teeth down my throat. I was in a weird spot because I thought I was growing as a performer because I was sick of the tactics of Undisputed ERA. There were a lot of underhanded tactics that we used to great success and we saw a lot of championship gold but we are attacking guys in a parking lot, we are clubbing them in the knees with a weapons so to speak and I wanted to be a more honorable fighter, I wanted to treat my opponents with respect and play by the rules because that is the only way to prove that you are the best and now I’m on this quest to just straight up, taking on those new challengers and all comers and no more underhanded tactics, I felt I was beyond that and I think Adam sensed that I he made the decision.”

On his new character: “It’s hard to placed where the inspiration comes from. It comes from me trying to be authentic myself and I’m still finding it, seeing what really works for this character. A lot of this is throwing stuff at the wall and seeing what sticks; but yeah, I am trying to be myself and have fun with it and not stressed myself out. That what this should be about. I am so lucky to be involved in this business so you are trying to get as much fun as you can while you are here.”