During a recent appearance on the “My Mom’s Basement” podcast, WWE NXT Superstar Adam Cole revealed his Mount Rushmore of wrestling, how CM Punk influenced his career, and more. You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
On his personal Mount Rushmore of wrestling: “The four that stick out to me as far as what they mean to me – Shawn Michaels is obviously on that list. Stone Cold Steve Austin is on that list. Kurt Angle is another one. CM Punk is number four. All four for different reasons. Shawn being the relationship we have now, and again, I really do think he’s the greatest pro wrestler of all time. Steve Austin is the reason I’m a wrestling fan in the first place. Kurt Angle, I think at one point, made me appreciate the skill and technical ability of what we do. In 2004, nobody could touch Kurt Angle. That was when he was just a killer. He was so amazing. Also, just a side note, but he was the first wrestler I ever met. I remember he was so nice to me that I could not stop thinking about it or talking about it as a kid. That, to this day, has made me realize any time I meet fans to always be nice, thoughtful, and kind because of my interaction with him. And then CM Punk was the guy that got me into the independents with Ring of Honor and stuff overseas. His promo ability is second to none. I’ve made it very obvious before he’s a guy I’ve studied quite a bit as far as promos go. Those four, as far as my personal Mount Rushmore, are the ones that stick out to me.”
On CM Punk’s impact on his career: “I do think that guys like him and Daniel Bryan are responsible for me having a job here. I really do. They made everybody open their eyes and say, ‘There are guys out there who can bring a lot to the table as independent wrestlers.’ I don’t know if he feels that way about it, but I certainly do. I just remember – I know it’s a famous one with his pipebomb promo – but he’s been cutting pipebomb promos his entire career. There was a promo he did against Raven in Ring of Honor that was so good. I went to this website and there were all these articles about CM Punk. I was like, who is this guy? Everybody was talking about him as the best in the world or whatever. So, I was like, I’m gonna order this Best of CM Punk Ring of Honor DVD. And I did, and this is the truth, I remember watching it and really liked the matches. But I wasn’t like this is the greatest wrestler I’ve ever seen. This is zero knock, it was just like, cool. Then he cut a promo, and I’m like, this guy is my favorite wrestler. In that one promo, he grabbed me that much just from that interview. That’s his skill – whether it’s bell to bell or cutting promos, he’s awesome. He’s inspired a lot of people.”
(h/t – 411 Wrestling)
