WWE veteran Jim Cornette begs AEW not to waste "second chance" with returning star

Former WWE, TNA, and Smoky Mountain Wrestling booker Jim Cornette has called for AEW to make good on their "second chance" with Adam Cole.

Adam Cole last competed at the Forbidden Door pay-per-view in June 2022 for the IWGP World Heavyweight title. Cole was pinned in the match as Jay White retained his title and has been out of action since with a severe concussion.

The former NXT Champion returned during last week's AEW Dynamite to a roaring reception, confirming he was cleared to compete. Jim Cornette described his return and reaction as a "second chance" for Cole's AEW run, during The Jim Cornette Experience.

"If Adam [Cole]'s gonna be able to come back and he's got this level of support right now and can talk like that as a babyface, again, I say certainly to god they can't f*ck this up. But they f*cked up his first debut and it never recovered and then he got hurt. So maybe they've got a second chance at this. But this was everything it needed to be," Jim Cornette said. [From 1:49:59 to 1:50:30]

Prior to his return, Cole was last seen on Dynamite in August 2022. During that segment, he criticized the Young Bucks for their seeming lack of loyalty towards Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reilly before the 'Undisputed' trio set upon the two-time AEW tag champs.

Bully Ray has also called on AEW to capitalize on Adam Cole's return

Bully Ray was equally complimentary of the former NXT Champion's return. He even went as far as to say the promotion would be "ignorant" not to take advantage of his return. He said that the reaction was too great to be ignored.

"I’ve said it from day one on this show, I’ve been an Adam Cole fan since the very first day I met him. I’m a fan of his work, I’m a fan of his look, I’m a fan of his promos, and if they don’t take last night and run with it and push him to the moon, they are ignorant. I don’t think that’s going to happen. You don’t get a reaction like that last night and then put him back on the back burner," said Bully Ray. [From 04:16 onward]

Cole joined Tony Khan's promotion in 2021. He challenged for the world title on two occasions, both against Hangman Page. He also won the first-ever Owen Hart Foundation Men's Tournament.

Do you think Adam Cole should get a strong push? Let us know in the comments section below.

Please credit the "Jim Cornette Experience" and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling when using quotes from this article.