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The Owen Hart Foundation tournament quarterfinals kicked off in a match between Adam Cole and former WWE Star Dax Harwood.
Before their bout, Harwood took a jab at Cole on Twitter by saying he was afraid to be embarrassed. The ROH and AAA tag team champion added that he was willing to go on to fail.
During the match, Cole targeted Harwood's ribs by driving him to the steel steps and repeated kicks. The latter responded by hitting German suplexes and a sling shot powerbomb to the former, for a near-fall.
Later on, Cole hit a superkick while Harwood hit a piledriver, both for a near-fall. Harwood also tried to hit the Sharpshooter but his injured ribs gave up.
Harwood was able to beat the referee's count even after he collapsed outside due to injured ribs. In the end, Cole capitalized by applying the Sharpshooter as Harwood's injury severed, making him tap out.
With the victory, Cole will now await the winner of another quarterfinal bracket between Jeff Hardy and Darby Allin. The winner of the said match will face Cole in the semifinals of the tournament.
Adam Cole gives thoughts on Forbidden Door event
Speaking on the Busted Open podcast, Adam Cole expressed how elated he is for the upcoming mega event. He added that the spectacle was a long time coming and the locker room was excited as well.
"It's really exciting. Again, you look at NJPW, its history... epic events and the epic roster that they have and then I think about AEW and how much we've grown. To me this was a long time coming. It's been something that's been fantasized or talked about pretty much since AEW's inception, and now that it's finally gonna happen, I think I am as stoked, and the locker room is stoked as the wrestling fans are." [30:38 - 31:06]
For now, Cole is focused on winning the Owen Hart Foundation tournament. It will be interesting to see if he will be involved in the June 26 spectacle or not.
What are your thoughts on Cole's match against Harwood? Sound off in the comments section below.
