During a recent interview with TV Insider, Adam Cole commented on his match with Pat McAfee at the WWE NXT Takeover XXX event, the AEW vs. NXT “war”, and more. You can check out some highlights from the interview below:
On the reaction to his altercation with McAfee on the latter’s show: “It was a mixed bag. There were some people who reached out with comments like, ‘Hey, that guy deserved it. He had it coming. He was pushing your buttons for that entire interview. The fact that you took time out from seeing your family to do his show, and he chose to disrespect you like that.I would have done the same thing.’ Some people would have said they would have slapped him in the mouth. Trust me, I wanted to. Of course, there have been others who I have never heard from before or spoken to before, they had come at me asking how I could act that way. Saying it was disrespectful. That has been the story of this whole thing. There are people who are on Pat’s side and people on my side. The people who come from the pro wrestling world or fans of pro wrestling one hundred percent know where I was coming from. The thing with me and Pat has always been an issue. It’s someone I never got along with. It goes so much deeper than that altercation we had. It’s his whole demeanor and attitude in general. From the first day he walked into NXT and started doing stuff on the kickoff shows and all of that. He acts like he owns the place. Immediately. That’s what bothered me and others. He seemed incredibly comfortable for someone who was a guest. That offended me, and I think other people as well.”
On being excited for the match: “I was at the forefront of wanting it to happen, especially for a guy like Pat who said multiple times he would love the chance to enter the ring. He trained a little bit here and there. He is seriously confident he can go out there and have this killer wrestling match. NXT is filled with the greatest pro wrestlers in the entire world. Guys who have been doing this for over a decade. A guy like me who has come off being the longest-reigning champion of all-time and having the run I did. Emotions aside, I guess I can appreciate the ambition of him thinking he is going to be able to do this. I pretty much am going to make him realize he was not near ready to step into the ring with me. As far as I’m concerned it will be the first and last time he wrestles in NXT. I love having the match. I can’t wait.”
On his approach to this match as opposed to his previous Takeover bouts: “The approach is totally different. Truth be told every time I wrestle and perform, I want people to enjoy it. I want them to have a great time watching an Adam Cole match. I’ve never had a match like the one I’m having with Pat. Where the sole mission is to make sure he doesn’t come back. He gets this one chance because he set me off at the right place, right time. It’sTakeOver XXX, which is a massive event. There is a locker room full of guys who would kill to be on this show. Some of them are not going to be on this show because Pat McAfee is taking their spot. When you say that out loud, that is crazy. My main goal is to make him regret this decision. He is offensive to me. Offensive to our locker room. I’m excited to move past this. I can’t wait for TakeOver, but I’m excited to put this behind me.”
On the AEW vs. NXT ratings ‘war’: “I think a lot of people know I’m very good friends with a lot of those guys. I’m dating Britt. I’m very friendly with a lot of people there. Even though we do have this competition on Wednesdays. When we’re focused on our show, we’re focused on our show. We’re not thinking about what they’re doing. At least I don’t. I’m not sure what anyone else is doing. I don’t have the ability to multitask mentally like that and think about what the other show is doing. I worry about what I’m doing and how to make my segment, my match, my whatever it is the best it possibly can be. Talking to them, I can tell you they feel the same way. They want to make the best show possible.”
On how NXT can come out on top: “Going forward, I think it’s to continue to highlight our strengths. I think finding ways to have really exciting matches and angles and interviews. Finding ways to constantly try new things and see what sticks and what doesn’t stick and evolving the television show. They’re both fairly new television shows. I know NXT has been around quite some time pre everything that has been going on. But as far as being on USA, it’s still new. I just think the brand is continuing to grow, and we have to continue to find different and interesting ways to tell stories. We have a great crew of talent, males and females who are some of the best in the world. As long as they’re highlighted, NXT will continue growing. I’m confident in that.”
On if his desire to go to Raw or Smackdown has increased since he lost the NXT Title: “To say I never want to Raw or SmackDown would be an absolute lie. I think someday it would be cool to try my talents over there. At the same time, one of my favorite parts of NXT aside from the fact I really do believe in the show is being involved in something on the upswing and something that’s growing. I remember when I was in Ring of Honor. There was a really cool thing that was happening where Ring of Honor was blowing up a little bit. We were selling out the Hammerstein Ballroom and forming a relationship with New Japan Pro Wrestling. It was so exciting to be part of a group you feel is really blossoming into something special. I feel like NXT is really blossoming into something special. Selfishly, I don’t want to miss out on that. I’m really enjoying my time here and feel there is more for me to do. I feel like there is more for the Undisputed Era to do. As a group, we have been a dominant force in NXT. ’m in no rush to leave NXT. At the same time do I think the Undisputed Era would be effective on Raw and SmackDown? Absolutely.“
