WWE / ROH News: Adam Cole on being asked whether he will join WWE, Kenny Omega leaving NJPW

Adam Cole won his 3rd ROH World Championship at Wrestle Kingdom 11

What’s the story?

Ring of Honor World Champion Adam Cole was recently in a conversation with USA Today’s website, For The Win, during which he spoke about being asked regularly if he would join the WWE and which way Kenny Omega might go after leaving New Japan Pro Wrestling.

In case you didn’t know…

Cole became the first ever 3-time ROH World Champion at NJPW’s Wrestle Kingdom 11 event held at the Tokyo Dome on 4 January this year after beating the defending champion, Kyle O’Reilly. Incidentally, Adam Cole was the one whom O’Reilly had defeated at the Final Battle pay-per-view in December last year to lay claim to the title.

The first of Cole’s three ROH World Championship wins came in the promotion’s Death Before Dishonor XI event in September 2013 and the reign lasted for 275 days. He won the title for a second time at Death Before Dishonor XIV in August last year. Apart from this, Adam Cole is also a one-time ROH World Television Champion.

The heart of the matter

Referring to an earlier interview with For The Win where he had revealed that he is asked during every interview if he will be joining the WWE, Cole said that it’s still the same story and the frequency has only increased since he won his third title at Wrestle Kingdom 11. He said:

“It’s the same thing that has been the case throughout the process and throughout the journey when I’ve been asked, what are you going to do? I’ve been asked more since winning the title at Wrestle Kingdom and becoming Ring of Honor champion for the third time. There are a lot of possibilities. I don’t know what I’m going to do.”

He claimed that he is currently focusing on having a good title run at ROH and crossing over to NJPW whenever possible. However, he did admit that things can change a lot by the time his contract with Ring of Honor contract expires in April and he is yet to give it a deep thought. Cole added:

“My focus is on having as good a run as possible with this title and my focus is on going over to New Japan Pro Wrestling. There are so many things that can change over the course of four months. I haven’t really thought about it too much. There’s still a decent amount of time for me to make my decision.”

When asked if he saw any link between Kenny Omega announcing his departure and John Cena posting Omega’s pictures on Instagram, Adam Cole said he wasn’t sure about it. The ROH World Champion did claim that ‘The Cleaner’ was smart enough to take advantage of his opportunities. However, according to him, Kenny Omega is the only one who knows best about his own future.

Here’s what Cole had to say:

“I’m not too sure what it means. It could mean anything. Here’s what I know: Kenny Omega is really smart and really talented and he’s taking advantage of the opportunities available to him as would anyone else. He’s created a lot of cool buzz. As far as what it means for his future, that’s something only Kenny Omega knows, and that’s the truth.”

What next?

Adam Cole has already enjoyed a lot of success as part of the Ring of Honor roster and with just about 4 months left for his contract to expire, there is a high possibility of him exploring other options in the near future.

Sportskeeda’s Take

With a number of former Ring of Honor champions like Daniel Bryan, Kevin Owens and CM Punk having eventually headed to the WWE in the past, it may be worthwhile for Cole to consider the world’s largest pro-wrestling promotion as a new home.


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