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What’s the story?
During a recent appearance on The Sam Roberts Wrestling Podcast, current NXT North American Champion Adam Cole spoke about his surprise entry in the 2018 Royal Rumble match.
In case you didn’t know…
Earlier this year, at NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia, Cole competed in a gruesome hardcore match against Aleister Black, with the latter coming out victorious, despite outside interference from Cole’s fellow Undisputed Era stablemates Kyle O’Reilly and Bobby Fish.
Following Cole’s defeat to Black, the very next day the 28-year-old entered the 2018 Royal Rumble match as a surprise entrant.
This marked his first appearance on the main roster in the process. Cole was eventually eliminated from The Rumble match by the returning Rey Mysterio.
The heart of the matter
According to Cole, he apparently found out about his surprise entry in the 2018 Royal Rumble match the very last minute and seemingly, the first Pro Wrestling show Cole ever attended as a kid was also in the very same building [Wells Fargo Center].
In addition, the former three-time ROH World Champion also stated that the first WrestleMania that he ever watched was also in Philadelphia [WrestleMania XV] and Cole apparently also trained to be Pro Wrestler in the city of Philadelphia as well. (H/T: Wrestling Inc)
"I found out last minute about the Royal Rumble. Second of all, the first pro wrestling show that I ever went to was in that building [Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia], the first WrestleMania I ever watched was in Philly [WrestleMania XV], I trained to be a pro wrestler in Philadelphia, so so many things mean that much to me coming out of Philadelphia, and to be able to make my Royal Rumble debut in Philadelphia it's like, okay, great career Adam. That's it."
What’s next?
Cole is currently in possession of the NXT North American Title and the leader of The Undisputed Era is expected to have numerous notable targets on his back right now, as several NXT superstars will look forward to getting a shot at Cole’s championship belt.
Meanwhile, The Undisputed Era is also slated to battle The British Strong Style for the first time ever, later this year at the WWE UK Tournament.
Author’s Take
Cole’s debut at The Royal Rumble match was certainly one of the most memorable main roster cameos I’ve ever witnessed and there is no doubt on the fact that Adam Cole will indeed have a much bigger impact on the WWE main roster upon his eventual call-up to the main roster.
