wrestling / Columns

411 Interviews: Adam Cole of Ring of Honor

December 9, 2011 | Posted by TJ Hawke

Adam Cole is quickly becoming one of the most popular independent wrestlers going at the moment. Besides being a member of the Ring of Honor and CZW rosters, in the last two years alone, Cole has wrestled for PWG, DGUSA, Evolve, Chikara, wXw, and many other promotions. This Saturday, he and Kyle O’Reilly will be at PWG’s Fear event where they will take on The RockNES Monsters. For information on the event, go to the PWG Website (At my blog, I organized a PWG Fear Roundtable Predictions thing , if you are interested).

TJ: You have been in Ring of Honor for over a year now. When did you learn that ROH was planning on using you primarily as a tag team wrestler with Kyle O’Reilly? At the time, were you hoping to start out as a singles wrestler?

AC: Well actually when I first came into Ring of Honor, pretty much right off the bat they let me know that myself and Kyle were going to be a tag team. It was interesting news for the both of us at the time, not only because we were primarily singles wrestlers, but because we had been opponents in other promotions. I guess Ring of Honor believed in the old saying “they make such great opponents, I bet they’d make a great team.” I think initially both me and Kyle envisioned being singles guys, but we had no complaints at all about becoming a team. As a matter of fact, since then, Kyle has become one of my very best friends, and teaming with him is my absolute favorite thing to do in wrestling. I think so much of him professionally and personally, and really do believe he’s the future of Ring of Honor. Together as Future Shock though, I think we are so compatible together. We certainly are going to continue to do all we can to be ROH World Tag Team Champions someday.

I interviewed Adam Cole’s tag partner, Kyle O’Reilly , back in September at my blog.

TJ: Ring of Honor is about to have their biggest iPPV of the year, Final Battle. With the World Tag Title match already set for the show, who would you like to be the opponents for Future Shock?

AC: We just today [Wednesday] found out that we are going to be in a tag team gauntlet match to determine the number one contenders for those very titles, so we couldn’t be happier to be honest. A match like this will be hard, and a lot of it is luck of the draw depending on where you are in the gauntlet. But anytime a potential shot at those Ring of Honor tag titles is at stake, there are no complaints in either of our minds.

TJ: Final Battle 2010 was Future Shock’s first big showcase to the iPPV audience. How do think you two have improved in the last year?

AC: Ah man we’ve improved leaps and bounds since then. The experiences that we have had as a team in this last year are priceless. Me and Kyle toured Europe together to improve our game, we’ve wrestled practically every team in Ring of Honor, and we’ve been training harder than ever. When you get the chance to wrestle the very best in the world, you have to step your game up or you’ll be eaten alive. And I think we’ve done just that.

TJ: Before ROH was regularly putting you on TV and their house shows, you had a number of strong appearances with Evolve and Dragon Gate USA. How was your experience working for those companies? Were you disappointed when you stopped working for them?

AC: I really owe a lot to Gabe and DGUSA/EVOLVE. I’d say my pre-show match with Kyle at a DGUSA show back in November of 2009 was the first match I had that had any kind of real buzz about it. Gabe also really believed in my abilities, and I am forever thankful to him for giving me a chance to showcase myself on a different stage. I think very highly of everyone on their roster as well.

Here is the DGUSA match between Adam Cole and Kyle O’Reilly

TJ: Future Shock finally made their PWG debut at Steen Wolf where you guys challenged for the PWG tag titles against the Young Bucks. What was it like to perform in front of the famously enthusiastic PWG crowd? How do you feel about your next match in that promotion, against SoCal stars, The RockNES Monsters?

AC: I had heard from a few of the guys that the PWG crowd was the best crowd to wrestle in front of, and let’s just say they were pretty damn accurate. That PWG crowd has so much passion and enthusiasm, so it makes the long journey that much more worth it. They really do add to the ingredients of what makes PWG one of the very best promotions in the world, bar none. AND we were wrestling the Young Bucks, one of the very best teams in all of wrestling. Me and Kyle are both really excited about our match with RockNES. Those guys have had some outstanding showings against some great teams in PWG, so we really look forward to going toe to toe with another upcoming team just like ourselves.

TJ: For a number of years, you have competed regularly for CZW. You recently lost the Jr. Heavyweight title after holding it for 570 days. How was your experience training at CZW? What about your time in CZW has helped you the most as a performer?

AC: Training at CZW was very difficult. DJ Hyde made me respect everything I did within the industry, and I am thankful to him for being so hard on all of us, because it makes you appreciate every single opportunity you get in wrestling. I often say I’m so thankful for how difficult the training was, because it makes you prepared for the adversities you deal with in this sport of pro wrestling. As far as what I learned the most, I would say that I learned how to be creative. I’m given a lot of freedom at CZW to tell the stories that I want to tell, and therefore I’ve learned to an extent what works and what doesn’t work for me. I’m definitely thankful for that, and feel that I’ve had some of the best matches of my career at CZW.

TJ: For this section of the interview, I was hoping you could share your thoughts on some prominent matches from your career:

DGUSA Enter the Dragon 2010: Adam Cole vs. Ricochet vs. Chuck Taylor vs. Arik Cannon

AC: This was my first PPV match, so the nerves were definitely high. Fortunately, Philadelphia came to play that night and so did the four of us. Again, one of my earlier “break out” matches, and one that will always be very special to me. Anytime I can step in the ring with 3 guys of that caliber, it’s always a pleasure.

Evolve 5: Adam Cole vs. Jimmy Jacobs

AC: I learned A LOT that night. Jimmy has an amazing mind for pro wrestling, so getting to wrestle him was a great experience. He’s a great story teller, and definitely has a gift, so it was very cool to get that chance to learn from a guy like him.

wXw 16 Carat Gold 2011: Future Shock vs. Zack Sabre Jr. & Marty Scurll

AC: This was actually my last match in a month tour that I did of Europe, so I really wanted to leave on a high note, and I think the four of us did that. I think very very highly of the LDRS as wrestlers and as people, so it was cool to get to tangle with them. Some people in Europe and even here in the States who have seem it have said that it’s one of their favorite matches all year, so that’s always nice to hear. Again, a match that I am very proud of, but I still think we need that rematch…

ROH Honor Takes Center Stage Weekend: Future Shock vs. Briscoes and Future Shock vs. Kings of Wrestling

AC: A lot of people considered Final Battle 2010 as our “arrival” weekend, in the sense that we proved we belonged in Ring of Honor. I really felt like Honor Take Center Stage weekend me and Kyle proved that we could be Tag Team Champions someday. When you have two teams like the Briscoes and the Kings of Wrestling, two of the very best in the world, you have to bring your A-Game. And even though we lost on these occasions, I really feel like we proved to everyone that weekend that we can hang with the best.

Chikarasaurus Rex 2011: Adam Cole vs. Eddie Kingston

AC: I always love wrestling for CHIKARA, and Eddie Kingston was kind of a dream opponent of mine for awhile, so I was excited for this one. I would love the chance to not only wrestle for CHIKARA again, but get the chance to once again go toe to toe with Kingston. I feel a future match up could be very special…

ROH No Escape 2011: Future Shock vs. The American Wolves

AC: Well to say that this was the test of all tests would be an understatement. This tag match is one that really pushed us to the ultimate limit, and I feel we did the same for the American Wolves. Davey said it himself that he sees a lot of me and Kyle in him and Eddie, so this was something that was bound to happen. A match that I am very proud of, and it may be me favorite of all my showings in Ring of Honor to date. With the exception of Kyle being hurt, and of course us not pulling out the victory, this is certainly a favorite.

TJ: Thanks for doing the interview Adam. Is there anything you want to promote (Twitter, Facebook, website, merch, upcoming appearances, booking information, etc)?

AC: I have a new website out that I would love for you guys to check out! It has links to my facebook, twitter, youtube channel, my upcoming schedule, and merchandise; all right there for you to check out! Thanks for having me for the interview!

Thanks everybody for reading! You can send feedback to Twitter or at my email address: [email protected]. If you are a wrestling personality who would like to be interviewed by 411mania, you can also contact me in either of those ways.

PLUGS!

Be sure to check out some of my past 411 Interviews

Kevin Steen Part 1 & Part 2
Eddie Edwards
Mike Quackenbush
Johnny Gargano
Nigel McGuinness
Lance Hoyt/Vance Archer/Lance Archer
Gran Akuma

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For all of my interviews (like TJ Perkins , Steve Corino , Davey Richards , Jimmy Rave , Joey Ryan , AR Fox , etc.) before 411mania, check out my Road to Mania Blog (where I still do stuff like Wrestlemania Build coverage, Wrestling DVD reviews, movie/TV reviews and more).

Clear Eyes. Full Hearts. Can’t Lose.

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TJ Hawke

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