Following up on yesterday’s post about the top 10 wrestlers in AEW that I’m looking forward to seeing Bryan Danielson face, I can’t just ignore the other big debut in Adam Cole. He’s more than deserving of a list of his own, as he’s been one of the best performers in WWE over the past few years and arguably the anchor of NXT.
Just the same as before, I invite everyone else to leave their lists in the comments below. These can be based on who you’d like to see have a true feud with, who you think he’d have the best matches with, or any combination or other factors. Everyone’s lists are their own opinions, so be sure to explain why you picked who you picked!
Without further ado, here is my top 10, along with my honorable mentions.
5 Honorable Mentions
- CM Punk – It might seem crazy to not have Punk on the top 10, but I want to see more of his new style before I make a judgment call on whether he’d make the list or not. Right now, having seen his match against Darby Allin, I was underwhelmed with the amount of rest holds and such. If that’s more of how he’ll be wrestling, I don’t think he’ll have great chemistry with Cole, who has a faster pace. The promos would be great, though, and this would have to be a true feud and not just a one-off match.
- John Silver – #4 of Dark Order is often overlooked as far as in-ring competitors. He’s on the smaller side, but he’s jacked and can really put on a great show. Since Cole is also smaller, I could see them pairing well together. Both have comedic timing in the ring, too, so they could make this even more on the humorous side if need be, without turning it into something too silly.
- Kenny Omega – Eventually, we’re going to get this and it will be great. For now, though, I’ll put it on the back burner. I don’t want to see Cole break off from The Elite super soon, so I’m okay with waiting until we go through at least the rest of this list before we turn one of Cole/Omega babyface.
- PAC – There’s not much to this other than that I think they’d have a great match together. I don’t care much to see it be a dedicated storyline, but I’m down for them locking horns.
- Rey Fenix – Fenix against anyone is likely going to be a good match, am I right? It’s as simple as that.
10. Sammy Guevara
As I mentioned in my Bryan Danielson posts, Sammy Guevara makes almost every one of these types of lists for me. He quickly went from someone I kind of wrote off at first, if I’m being honest, to one of my overall favorite talents. There aren’t many people in AEW who I could imagine the company revolving around in due time more than Guevara.
As a babyface, Guevara doesn’t have quite the same edge to him because he’s naturally more of a cocky jerk. It’s hard to do that without seeming like an asshole. However, if you’re opposite Adam Cole, being a jerk to him just seems like you’re the hero.
I think Cole could talk down to Guevara in a way where he’d chastise the “kid” and get his comeuppance when he realizes being a little older doesn’t mean he can bully him around.
Who would ultimately win this feud? I’d go with Guevara.
9. Christian Cage
Cole’s been at the game for 13 years, so there aren’t many people who have been wrestling longer. Christian is one of the great in-ring talents who could actually pass on some knowledge to Cole, isn’t too much bigger than him and could verbally spar with him better than most people on this list.
In fact, I say go with this as the first feud for Cole. Cage is going to still have his issues with The Elite following All Out, but he shouldn’t keep wrestling Omega. He’s already fought the others in various formats, so let’s have Cage vs. Cole at something soon enough. That’s a marquee match for a Dynamite or Rampage that would certainly draw in some viewers.
Who would ultimately win this feud? I’d go with Cole.
8. Chris Jericho
Babyface Jericho works best when he’s opposite someone who can hold their own on the mic. If not, Jericho tends to overload the other person so much that it seems less like a feud and more like he’s actually making fun of the guy.
Cole’s more than capable of trading some barbs. Even better, Cole’s fantastic at reacting angrily and surprised at anyone who can jab at him. He’s an amazing foil to be the butt of a joke without looking too bad.
In a way, this is similar to the Christian situation in that Cole could learn from Jericho, but they can also respect each other well enough that it wouldn’t be as clear-cut as a “rookie vs veteran” type angle. You would be able to buy into Cole being able to beat Jericho just as much as Jericho having an edge over Cole from having a longer career to draw inspiration from.
Who would ultimately win this feud? I’d go with Jericho.
7. Darby Allin
Cole is at his best when he’s a total jerk. Since he’s not on the monstrous side like Wardlow, there aren’t too many people he can bully around without it looking a little pitiful the bigger babyface is taking that much crap.
Darby Allin is one of the smallest on the roster and a beloved babyface who would be a fantastic target for Cole. I’d imagine this would be a feud that could go on for a solid amount of time with Cole belittling Allin’s aesthetic, only to find out that he shouldn’t have pushed around a loose cannon.
Who would ultimately win this feud? I’d go with Cole.
6. Jon Moxley
Establishing a theme here, I think Cole is best utilized as the antagonist who can really get on someone’s nerves. I’d imagine Moxley would be someone who wouldn’t want to deal with Cole’s bullshit and would take great offense to the tiniest slight, turning it into a bigger deal and snowballing this feud.
For example, let’s say both are in an eliminator tournament to crown a No. 1 contender and Cole happens to cut a promo where he says something disparaging about Moxley. That’s not going over well. The first chance Mox would get, he’d be gunning to put Cole on the shelf. That would turn Cole into the “Woah! Someone has to cage this animal!” type of guy we’ve seen in the past and it would all spiral out of that.
Ultimately, Cole would have to eat his words in a hardcore match of sorts like a street fight where he’d be unable to beat Moxley down enough to get a win.
Who would ultimately win this feud? I’d go with Moxley.
5. Jungle Boy
As mentioned in the Danielson list, Jungle Boy’s always a top option for me as far as pure matches go. He’s among my favorite in-ring competitors and someone I always enjoy watching against almost anyone, be it an upper-echelon name or a jobber.
Since they’re a similar size, we could see the more grappler side of Jungle Boy that doesn’t come out when he’s fighting someone bigger and has to be more of a speedy striker. Then again, Cole’s worked an amalgamation style against guys like Johnny Gargano, who is of a similar build to Jungle Boy, so this could really be a hybrid of all types of performances.
This is a type of feud I could see being super generic (ie, Cole’s a bad guy, Jungle Boy wants revenge from All Out and to right the wrongs of The Elite, and nothing much more than that) but that it could be so good in the ring that we could get multiple matches out of it and people wouldn’t be tired of watching them fight.
Who would ultimately win this feud? I’d go with Cole.
4. Bryan Danielson
For all the reasons listed on the Danielson post, this is two of my favorite wrestlers from the past decade or so, who could verbally spar with one another, can trust that the other guy knows what he’s doing and can use their veteran knowledge to give it their all.
We’ve seen it before and it was great, but I’d imagine under AEW, the match would feel like it’s so new that it wouldn’t be like revisiting a rerun.
This could very well be their first feud in the company, as it makes sense to pair them off given how All Out ended. I’d still opt for the Christian vs. Cole option first, but if we get Cole vs. Danielson, I’m not saying no at any point.
Who would ultimately win this feud? I’d go with Danielson.
3. Cody Rhodes
Cody Rhodes is at his best when he’s facing someone who doesn’t have to be a total monster. I don’t want to see this as some story where Rhodes is debating retirement again or has to cut an impassioned promo about his family. Instead, I just want the Cody Rhodes who is passionate about professional wrestling and wants to put on a great show.
Rhodes has had his interactions with The Elite in more ways than one. Sometimes, they’ve been on the same team, while other times, they’ve been as far apart as one could imagine.
Here’s a scenario where I think Cole represents the worst of The Elite (in the sense of his character being a jerk—not the performer himself, who is fantastic) while Rhodes represents the more wholesome side of it. That dichotomy could work well for the foundation of their opposing views. Cole’s the guy they bring into the fold because he’s a bad influence and goes along with their shenanigans, whereas Rhodes was a guy they could form a company like AEW alongside.
Who would ultimately win this feud? I’d go with Cole, probably, but that’s about a 50/50.
2. Orange Cassidy
There’s no way in Hell this isn’t one of the most fun matches Cole could have. Orange Cassidy is far too entertaining 24/7 for him not to be on this list, especially opposite someone like Cole who could be over the top in anger reacting to him.
Cole’s deceptively humorous. He’s kind of a straight man inside the ring. While he doesn’t do much true “comedy” wrestling, he has the timing to pull off moments where he’s full of himself and eats a boot to the face to pop the crowd, for instance. He also knows right when to turn up the volume on his heel persona to draw heat against someone as beloved as OC.
In my mind, this is a case where Cole “doesn’t get” Cassidy. He could cut a promo about how he’s in AEW for a lot of reasons, but one of them isn’t to hang around the weird guy who sticks his hands in his pockets. Who does that loser think he is, anyway? Then poof, Cassidy’s showing him up, which infuriates Cole in a blinding kind of way and we’re off to the races with their rivalry.
Who would ultimately win this feud? I’d go with Cassidy.
1. “Hangman” Adam Page
This is the easy call for the top pick. Once Page is ready to come back from paternity leave, there’s nobody he should go after more than Cole, who is effectively taking his spot in The Elite and filling the gap that Page purposely left when he didn’t see eye-to-eye with his former friends anymore.
It would be kind of a tale of the two #2’s battling it out, as both have always been in the shadow of Kenny Omega. Since Page lost his status as No. 1 contender, he needs to work his way back up to challenge Omega again and going through Cole would be a great means to accomplish that.
Who would ultimately win this feud? I’d go with Page.
Who are you most excited to see face Adam Cole in AEW? Leave your list in the comments below!
