“It is so incredibly important (and) so significant,” Cole says. “When the audience is having a great time, then the people watching at home are more intrigued and more interested because there's a ton of people in a crowd having an absolute blast.”
Wrestling fans of Phoenix will have plenty of reasons to get loud when AEW broadcasts “Dynamite” and “Collision,” its two biggest weekly television shows, at Arizona Financial Theatre on Wednesday.
The cards will include Big Bill taking on Powerhouse Hobbs in a street fight, The Patriarchy battling The Opps in a three-on-three trios match and a face-to-face confrontation between the dastardly MJF and cowboy anti-hero “Hangman” Adam Page.
Roderick Strong — a member of Cole’s AEW faction, The Undisputed Kingdon — will also square off against Orange Cassidy.
“AEW Dynamite” will broadcast live on Wednesday on TBS and streaming service Max, while “AEW Collision” will air Saturday on TNT.
Phoenix New Times recently spoke with Cole — one of wrestling most dynamic stars who has previously competed with WWE and NXT — to discuss AEW’s amped-up crowds in recent weeks, his recent return from injury, his passion for video games and other topics.
Adam Cole, center, with fellow Undisputed Kingdom members Roderick Strong, right, and Kyle O'Reily.
AEW
Adam Cole: Oh, man, I fully believe that they can. The past few weeks in Texas, specifically, the fans have just been wonderful and generally, I really do mean this across the board, fans of AEW always come out for a great time make a lot of noise. So I certainly hope that the fans in Phoenix are gonna come ready to make some noise. So I'm excited. I'm excited to see what the AEW fans in Phoenix bring to the table. I think it's gonna be good.
How much does a hot crowd add to a wrestling show?
It is so incredibly important (and) so significant. Because when the audience is having a great time, then the people watching at home are more intrigued and more interested because there's a ton of people in a crowd having an absolute blast. To me, in many ways, a hot wrestling crowd can seriously make or break a match lots of times.
For the performers and the wrestlers — oh my God — it makes such a difference. Again, a lot of what we put our bodies through is very physically demanding and when you have a crowd that is on their feet and making as much noise as they possibly can, it really gives you like this extra level of adrenaline to push even further and even harder. So a hot crowd, to me, is just as important as the wrestlers in the ring.
Do you think AEW's recent shift toward smaller venues gives its shows more energy?
Yeah, for sure. I mean, again the the more excited and the more the crowd feels like they're kind of on top of you, at least for me as a performer, is what I prefer. So I think it's been a massive benefit, both visually (with) how it looks and for the performers and the fans themselves. I think it's created an awesome atmosphere for us, and, again, the fans are not disappointed at all. They've been amazing. So yeah, I really like the route that we've gone with that.
It's been a few months since you returned from a gnarly ankle injury. Do you have your full confidence back inside the ring?
I do, yeah. I'll tell you what, I'm glad you brought up the word "confidence," because that would be the best way to describe probably the biggest challenge of coming back from this injury. Obviously, previous to that, there was a fear and a concern with the concussions that I had, where I was just so concerned about being able to get back into the ring. And then, when I did, I felt pretty confident pretty quick. But when you are pretty much relearning how to put weight on your ankle — with how much in wrestling there is running, jumping and leaping, and things like that — overall mobility is so incredibly important.
So there was absolutely a big concern (when) I first came back where I'm just kind of getting out of my own head. But after these past few months of feeling great in the ring, I feel healthier than I’ve felt in years, like top to bottom across the board. So I'm feeling really good. I don't even really think about it before I go out there. I make sure I take all the proper precautions and get it all wrapped up and then tighten things up, but, man, the confidence is high. I'm feeling really good and I'm just so glad to be back.
Last week, the Undisputed Kingdom had a fantastic trios match with the Death Riders, who cheated to win. As heels, have the Death Riders have become too dominant? It almost feels like shades of the nWo circa '96 or '97 where they're beating everyone down and always winning.
I think what's gonna happen — and this is ... from what I got from that match — is I think that could be the case. ... I know that me, Roddy and Kyle are gonna get another shot at (the AEW World Trios Championship). And when we do, we're gonna make sure win the titles that time, since now we're aware they're willing to do whatever it takes to hang onto the titles. But me and Kyle, at the very, least we're not gonna let that happen.
You've been in many wrestling factions over the years. How does your current faction, The Undisputed Kingdom, stack up against the others you've been a member of?
Oh, man, I love it. From a personal sentiment — and I really do mean this, regardless of the professional work that we've done together with wrestling — Roderick Strong and Kyle O'Reilly are two of my legitimate best friends in my entire life. These are two guys that I talk to every single day. These are two guys that I've known and have been close with for over a decade. I practically broke into the wrestling business with Kyle O'Reilly, like one of my first major breakout matches was against him. I was in Kyle's wedding. I was at Roderick Strong's wedding. These guys are legitimate friends of mine that I will keep for the rest of my life, with or without wrestling.
AEW's Kyle O'Reily, left, Adam Cole, center, and Roderick Strong, better known as The Undisputed Kingdom.
AEW
Do you still maintain relationships with friends in NXT and WWE? Or is it harder now that there's so much competition between wrestling companies these days?
I still have friends who work for WWE. Austin Creed — or Xavier Woods — I talk to a lot, for anyone who watched the "DaParty" videos back in the day. I don’t want to speak for everyone, but I know that everyone I communicate with (in WWE) has such a level of respect, love and admiration for what the other group is doing. So there’s no ill will, no hard feelings. I would never be in a situation where I don’t like someone or am no longer friends with them because of the company they work for. Yeah, the relationships we have have all stayed (intact).
With that in mind, what was your reaction to Triple H being announced for the WWE Hall of Fame?
What was my reaction? I think it's great. I think he's absolutely an icon who has done so much for the wrestling business. It was a pleasure getting to work alongside him for the time that I did. I think him getting the credit that he deserves is nothing but a positive. I think it's amazing.
You're huge into video games. Do you ever hit up game stores or arcades in cities you visit?
It depends. Oftentimes, it's so rare that I have the time to go, but if I do, I absolutely take advantage of it. One store I used to love — but I don’t live in Orlando anymore — was a place called Gamers Inc. When I was home from the road, I’d go there, and they had all these incredible old retro games. Guys would come in with complete-in-box Super Famicom games, booklets and boxes.
I could spend hours looking through all the different game merchandise, games, guides and consoles. Unfortunately, like I said, when I’m on the road, it’s pretty rare. But if I’m home or have some time on the road and there’s a store nearby, you’ll find me there.
Are you a fan of Mega Ran, who is from here in Phoenix?
Oh, I love Mega Ran. He's the best. Real good friend of mine. He's awesome. We've rated each other quite a few times. Lots of times, we stream on Twitch at around the same time, so we got a chance to do that, which has been nice, but, unfortunately, we've not done any streams together or any other gaming content. It'd be really awesome to maybe do that at some point.
In recent episodes of "AEW Dynamite," Harley Cameron had a Mercedes Moné-inspired Muppet. Would you ever want or need to see yourself as a Muppet?
Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. I wanna see a little Adam Cole Bay Bay Muppet. That'd be incredible, dude. Let's go.
What are your feelings about Adam Copeland recently shortening his name to just COPE?
I think it's cool. Again, there are so many guys from that generation who are so good at constantly reinventing or changing aspects of their game, whether it be the name or the way that they wrestle or the way that they talk. It's this constant evolution of changing who you are and what you bring to the table. At the end of the day, Adam Copeland is one of the absolute greatest to ever do it, in my opinion. And a lot of people from my generation feel the exact same way. So I think it's cool that he's going a different direction in a different route and I think it's gonna work great for him.
So are you happy there's now one less wrestler named Adam in AEW now?
Yes, yes. Absolutely.
Now it's just down to you and “Hangman” Adam Page.
Yeah. We're gonna have to fight for it someday.
To be the undisputed Adam of AEW?
Yeah, the undisputed Adam. And it fits. It fits so good with me. Come on. The undisputed Adam.
"AEW Dynamite" and “AEW Collision.” 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 19, Arizona Financial Theatre, 400 W. Washington St. Tickets are $34.25 to $93.20 via Live Nation.
