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What's the story?
During the recently concluded UK Championship Tournament, NXT North America Champion Adam Cole spoke with WFF regarding a host of topics.
Cole seemed to discuss the pressure of his NXT debut, his dream opponent on the main roster, and The Undisputed Era.
In case you didn't know...
Earlier this year at NXT TakeOver: New Orleans, WWE NXT crowned it’s first ever North American Champion when six top superstars in EC3, Ricochet, The Velveteen Dream, Killian Dain, Lars Sullivan, and eventual winner Adam Cole competed in a six-way ladder match in order to decide which superstar gets the right to call himself the first ever WWE NXT North American Champion.
As noted, by the end of a brutal contest it was the leader of The Undisputed Era, Adam Cole who became the first WWE NXT North American Champion.
The heart of the matter
While interacting with WFF, Adam Cole opened up on several notable topics and below are the highlights from his interview: (H/T: Wrestling Inc)
His thoughts leading up to his NXT debut at TakeOver: Brooklyn III;
According to Adam Cole, he stated that despite being a 10-year veteran on the Independent Circuit, he was definitely nervous and excited at the same time prior to his NXT debut, because the WWE is a whole different game.
"Very nervous. So, it's exciting when you think, 'Okay, I'm going to make my WWE debut in NXT,' but in my brain, I was a successful independent wrestler for ten years and I had gotten to wrestle all over the world. But WWE is a whole different animal and in my mind I'm thinking, 'I really, really hope these people care and they know who I am. I hope they react and make noise when I come out.' Finally when it did happen and they reacted the way they did, I had such a sense of relief and was just so happy they responded the way they did. It was a big combination of emotions: excitement, nerves, fear, pressure, and all that stuff, but it ended up being one of the best nights of my life."
His dream WrestleMania opponent;
There is certainly no doubt in the fact that Adam Cole has always competed at the very highest level in the Pro Wrestling industry and during his time on the Independent Circuit and Ring of Honor, Cole wrestled in some absolute high-profile matches against the likes of Finn Balor, Kevin Owens, and current WWE Champion AJ Styles, who currently remains as Cole's number one pick for a dream WrestleMania opponent.
"AJ Styles would be my number one pick. The reason being I wrestled him twice before and I didn't beat him, either time. On top of that, I think AJ is the best pro wrestler that I've ever been in the ring with. I think he's absolutely number one. His ability is just second to none, so to get the chance to wrestle him on that stage would be really cool and on top of that I can beat him. [Laughs]"
The Undisputed Era possibly working on the main roster;
During these past few months, The Undisputed Era has been at the very top of their game and with Adam Cole currently in possession of the NXT North American title, alongside O'Reilly and Strong in possession of the NXT Tag Team titles, the faction is currently stronger than ever.
As per Cole, he feels that almost every NXT superstar currently dreams of making it to the main roster as part of Raw or SmackDown at some point in time. However, Cole additionally also claimed that he and the rest of his stablemates are currently looking to stick around for a while in NXT.
"I'm very happy where I am, I think anyone who says they don't want to end up on Raw or SmackDown is kidding themselves. I think eventually that's the goal, but for right now I'm one-hundred percent focused — Let me put it to you this way. If I had the choice right now and they said, 'Okay, you lose the North American Championship, you're done with Undisputed Era, you go right to SmackDown, or, do you wanna stay longer in NXT with the North American Title?' I would stay, for sure. I really believe in what our group is doing. I think we have something special. I take a lot of pride in being the first North American Champion that's a very special position to be in as the first champion of anything. And I really believe in this brand too, so I definitely believe in what we're doing and plan on sticking around for a while."
What's next?
Adam Cole is currently slated to defend the NXT North American title at EVOLVE 107 against Walter. However you could definitely expect him to be in action at the upcoming NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn event as well.
Would you like to see Adam Cole in the WWE sooner rather than later? Have your say in the comments.
