Adam Cole has looked back on his WWE debut and how things could have been very different had the cameras caught the moment from a different angle.
The main event of NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn III saw Drew McIntyre defeat Bobby Roode to become the new NXT Champion. After the match, Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly made their way into the ring after debuting earlier in the night. Shortly after the staredown, the New York crowd erupted as something was happening off camera, which was revealed to be the arrival of Adam Cole.
All 3 ganged up on McIntyre in what was one of the most memorable debuts in NXT history. However, according to Cole, things could have been a lot different.
Appearing on The Ringer Wrestling Show, Cole admitted that he nearly fell down while getting in the ring:
“I am so glad you brought this up because I don’t know if I’ve ever told this story before. I’m not sure if I have. But, as you had mentioned, huge night for me (at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn III). Huge night for me. I know I’m gonna be involved in this major angle. Like you had said, kicking Drew McIntyre. I’m nervous, I’m excited. The adrenaline going through my body in that moment was wild and I remember coming down in jeans and dress shoes and not even really thinking about it.
There’s so much other stuff going through my mind. But as I’m going down and the crowd is reacting, I feel my adrenaline building so like, my legs are getting a little Jell-O-ee, my hands are tingling. I’m so, so excited. When I go to get into the ring, I do almost fall… and the camera didn’t catch it.
First of all, so glad I didn’t fall. Can you imagine? If you debut and just fall on my face. How wild that would have been. But yeah, I was so excited and then when I went to go in and run, like you said, with dress shoes and jeans on, I almost lose my balance for a second but I caught myself, thank goodness.
So yeah, at that point, I was like, never again am I gonna be wearing jeans and dress shoes specifically. I’ve done quite a few run-ins in jeans but I at least gotta wear some comfy shoes or something with a little bit more grip so, yeah, that was terrifying. That could have ended really, really poorly. Really poorly.”
Adam Cole Finds Success At AEW Dynasty
At AEW All Out 2021, Cole was one of many surprise debuts for the promotion. Having been in the company for over 3 years, Cole headlined the first show in Wembley Stadium and also won the ROH Tag Team Championships with MJF. At the 2025 Dynasty pay-per-view, Adam Cole won his first AEW Championship.
H/t to Post Wrestling.