Adam Cole recently gave a run down of his all time favourite heels, as well as his desire to step into the ring with WWE Hall of Famer Edge.
During a recent interview with Ryan Satin for WWE on Fox, the former NXT Champion discussed the villains he most highly ranked. Cole would offer a number of names in the process, a legendary ‘who’s who’ of the wrestling world:
“It’s all actually kind of for different reasons, to me, Ric Flair was one of the greatest heels of all time. Again, I know that a lot people liked him but the job that he did to make guy after guy after guy after guy was so so impressive. And if you did pay attention as well, and I’m talking about the fans, is even if they loved Ric Flair before he stepped in the ring, while that match was going on whoever he was facing – that live audience was for his opponent. It was awesome, really really great to watch. Shawn Michaels was a fantastic heel; so, so good at getting under people’s skin. It’s amazing with Shawn is he’s just as good at being a good guy, which was a very very special skill and trait to have.”
Shawn Michaels became a trainer at WWE’s Performance Center in late 2016. He would go on to play a major part in NXT in a backstage role. Adam Cole also pointed at NXT founder Triple H as one of pro wrestling’s all time great bad guys:
I look at, so there’s multiple faces for this one too and in many ways I’m listing some of my favourites, but I thought Kurt Angle was a fantastic heel – when he did his beginning run of kind of being, I don’t want to say over-the-top, but just obnoxious and loud and unaware of how ridiculous he sounded. I love characters like that, and then later on when he was that mean nasty killer that Kurt Angle was, that was really impressive too. And going back, right now I’ve been going back and watching a lot of Attitude Era RAWs, and Triple H was fantastic. The amount of anger he caused so many fans all across the world. People hated him, they couldn’t stand him. And then you go back and watch his interviews and the way that he would bounce around for guys like the Rock and Austin and Foley and Undertaker and the list goes on and on and on. He did that job pretty much better than anybody, he was fantastic.
When I was 11 or 12 years old I hated Triple H – I hated him. I was that classic fan that loved the good guys and hated the bad guys but I really disliked Triple H. When you go back and watch it, it’s like ‘wow, he was really good at his job’.”
— Adam Cole (@AdamColePro) February 12, 2021
Cole, who recently parted ways with his Undisputed Era partners, would go on to describe his admiration for the 2021 Royal Rumble winner, Edge. ‘The Rated R Superstar’ made a shocking return to WWE in 2020, and is scheduled to face Roman Reigns at this years WrestleMania.
Prior to confirming Roman as his Mania opponent, Edge would appear on Raw, Smackdown and NXT, even hinting at his desire to capture the NXT Championship. The idea of the Hall of Famer in NXT is one that Adam Cole is desperate to create:
“[I want that match] so, so, so, so badly. Now, I feel bad for not mentioning Edge as one of my top heels as well. There’s so many good people that I’ll give a list and we’ll bring somebody else up and I’m like ‘oh crap, I should have added him to the list’, but Edge is one of the greatest heels of all-time. His run, no matter where he was, as a tag-team wrestler, as a world champion, as a heel, as a babyface; it didn’t matter, he was just so fantastic. The fact that Edge indeed does want to come back and not just wrestle every now and then but is excited at the idea of coming to wrestle guys in NXT. I remember years ago, Edge used to come down to the Performance Center, and share his knowledge with people just because he has such a passion for pro-wrestling. It was so cool to see that and how important it was to him. He’s one of my all-time favourites, his body of work speaks for itself. If I had the opportunity to get in the ring with Edge, I wouldn’t pass that up for anything – I would love the chance.”
Adam Cole has perviously hinted at a potential showdown against Edge. During a conference call in February, Triple H confirmed that ‘The Rated R SuperStar’ has expressed an interest in working in Net following his return. Cole would retweet this statement, coupled with a picture of the two.
Credit for Interview: WWE on Fox