Awesome / Adam Cole

• Adam Cole, along with Kyle O'Reilly and Bobby Fish, making his NXT debut by attacking Drew McIntyre following the main event of Takeover: Brooklyn III.
• The WarGames match at Takeover: War Games itself was insane, with such spots as two simultaneous towers of doom, a superplex from Roderick Strong to Adam Cole off the top off the cage, Alexander Wolfe German suplexing one of the Authors of Pain through a table and Killian Dain doing a goddamn Van Daminator!
• Cole and Aleister Black beat the absolute hell out of each other in a phenomenal extreme rules match at Takeover: Philadelphia.
• Takeover: New Orleans opened with the ladder match for the newly-revealed NXT North American Title. It did not disappoint. It was filled with some of the most nasty spots the brand has ever seen eventually resulting in Cole finally dumping Ricochet back and climbing the ladder to become the first NXT North American champion.
• Ricochet's performance against Cole at Takeover: Brooklyn IV had Mauro proclaiming "this guy is a Cheat Code!" That includes blocking a Cole super kick in mid-air then trying a standing Lionsault only for Cole to kick him in the middle of it. Despite that, Ricochet is able to hit Cole with a hurricarana off the apron and into the ring en route to pinning him for the North American title.
• During the 2018 Halloween episode, the Undisputed Era is doing a promo boasting of their greatness when the War Raiders attack them. Later in the show, the cameras reveal the teams are still fighting outside the Full Sail arena, smashing each other with garbage cans and such. Ricochet races out to fly off a table and attack the UE. The brawl heads to the ring with the Era getting the upper hand...only for Pete Dunne to show up with a chair and even up the odds. That brings out William Regal who says if these eight want to rip each other apart they can...in War Games.
• Over the course of 47 minutes, the WarGames Match at Takeover: War Games II between The Undisputed Era and the team of War Raiders, NXT North American Champion Ricochet, and WWE UK Champion Pete Dunne was an absolute joy to watch, with so many epic moments from both sides.
• In the astonishing main event of Takeover: New York, Johnny Gargano, at long last, wins the NXT Championship in a bout that saw many near-falls, with Johnny Wrestling kicking out of everything Cole had to throw at him and fending off The Undisputed Era to finally win the big one. This match also has the distinction of being the first 5.5 star match in WWE.
  • To put it in perspective, Dave Meltzer, who gave the above rating, called it "the greatest match in WWE history." Not NXT history, WWE history.
• Having closed out New York with what many called WWE's greatest match, Gargano and Cole had a lot to live up to at Takeover: XXV, to put it mildly. While most would say their previous bout was better, the fact that this one came damn close to matching it shows how good these two are at their jobs, with ridiculous counters and near-falls as the crowd was practically split on who to root for. In the end Cole hit the Last Shot on Johnny Wrestling to win the NXT Title and become their 2nd Grand Slam Champion. How did Uncle Dave rate this match? 5.25 Stars, giving NXT its 2nd match rated more than 5* in the span of a few months.
• The wild, bloody, insane 2-out-of-3 falls battle between Cole and Gargano at Takeover: Toronto II outdid anything they had before. Cole won the standard first fall when Gargano hit him with a chair. The second fall was a wild street fight where Gargano evened up the score. That left the final fall inside a barbed wire steel cage that was an epic war so brutal that even jaded wrestling critics were calling it a classic battle.
• The opening contest of the October 2, 2019 NXT is for the NXT Championship. Adam Cole taking on Matt Riddle. Despite having an injured hand in a cast, Cole doesn't back down against the Original Bro, and the pair go on to have a 20 minute classic with plenty of near falls. With Cole's hand, it seemed like all was lost for the Panama City Playboy, but it actually worked in his favor. With a cheap shot with his cast, Cole was able to knock Riddle through a loop, allowing him to hit the Last Shot and keep the Undisputed Era's prophecy intact.
• On the November 1, 2019 Smackdown, in the dream match everyone thought was impossible just a few short years ago, the main event between Cole and Daniel Bryan. Two former indie stars from different generations. They have never met before, but they work an absolutely balls-to-the-wall match, with Bryan putting on numerous submission holds on pretty much every limb on Adam Cole, but Cole never taps out. Finally, Cole counters Bryan's charge with a superkick, Panama Sunrise, Last Shot to the back of the head, and ADAM COLE SCORES A CLEAN PINFALL ON DANIEL FREAKIN' BRYAN.
  • Not only did Cole pull this off, he did it on barely a few hours notice. He and the rest of the "NXT invasion" got the call to be in Buffalo the afternoon of November 1st and flew from Florida. When he got to the arena, he got maybe a few minutes to meet Daniel Bryan for the first time, and then they went on to have such a high-caliber match. Impressive.
• The main event of the November 4, 2019 Raw between Cole and Seth Rollins is once again another barnburner, although it gets interrupted by another brawl between the NXT and RAW rosters before it can conclude properly.
  • It must be said that in the space of less than a week, Adam Cole has defended his NXT title twice against some of the most respected champions in the world. He has done more in four days than the likes of Brock Lesnar has done in months.
• The Undisputed Era has another phenomenal War Games match at Takeover: War Games III eventually resulting in what may well be the single greatest HOLY SHIT moment in NXT history: After exchanging punches, Ciampa hits Cole with The Air Raid Crash OFF THE TOP OF THE CAGE THROUGH TWO TABLES. Naturally, that got the pinfall to cap off an epic war.
• The NXT Title match between Cole and Pete Dunne was the best match of the 2019 Survivor Series event in the eyes of many. Lots of counters and reversals and ended in Cole winning clean, retaining the title to choruses of "This Is Awesome" later in the match. (This was the broadcast version, which given it's WWE is open to editorial manipulation, so YMMV. Given what happened it was probably genuine).
• Cole and Ciampa pull out all the stops at Takeover: Portland in an intense main event that saw Ciampa fend off the Undisputed Era all on his own, all to get his beloved Goldie back. In the end, Cole would retain the title, thanks to interference from one JOHNNY GARGANO as the Portland crowd (and viewing audience) was left in disbelief.
• The Undisputed Era cemented themselves as maybe the greatest War Games team of all time at Takeover: War Games IV by going 4-for-4 in classic War Games matches - this time against Pat McAfee, Pete Dunne, Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch.
• Cole and O'Reilly facing off in one of the most anticipated matches in NXT history at Takeover: Stand and Deliver. Needless to say the match delivered in a big way. For 40 minutes, Cole and O'Reilly weaved a complex story with a ton of callbacks to their time together in the Undisputed Era - of course, with lots of brutal spots mixed in.
• Cole challenging for Karrion Kross' NXT Championship at Takeover: In Your House II in a match that let him mix it up with all his greatest rivals (Gargano, O'Reilly and Dunne) one more time.
• Cole and O'Reilly finally had their rematch at The Great American Bash. It was a violent, hard-hitting battle with both men trying to severely injure the other eventually resulting in Cole capitalising on an O'Reilly mistake to pick up the win.
• With reports that Cole's contract was up, expectations for his NXT swansong and rubber match against O'Reilly at Takeover: 36 were at an all time high. Needless to say, the match delivered. The match was a fast-paced, brutal affair eventually resulting in O'Reilly getting the win to send Cole packing from WWE.
• As The Elite began their traditional beat-down at the end of All Out 2021 on the defeated Christian and Jurassic Express ran out to try and help, Kenny cut a promo about how there was nobody left in AEW who could possibly beat him, but then the lights went out... and out walked ADAM COLE BAY BAY!!! He came down to the ring while Kenny stared at him like he'd seen a ghost (since in Kayfabe the Young Bucks had murdered Cole with poison to write him out of BTE when he signed with WWE), faced off against his former friends... and superkicked Jungle Boy before hugging The Elite.
• Ever since the superkick he received from Adam Cole during the latter's debut at All Out 2021, Jungle Boy has been feuding with him, culminating in a singles match on the September 29, 2021 Dynamite. Although Cole proves to be the veteran and hits his "Panama Sunrise", Jungle Boy kicks out of the near pinfall to Cole's absolute shock and disbelief. Jungle Boy would successfully lock Adam Cole in the "Snare Trap", forcing Cole to win unfairly via mule kick to the groin without the referee noticing, giving him the chance to nail Jungle Boy with "The Boom" knee strike to the back of the latter's head and the pinfall win.
• Having decided to antagonize The Dark Order next, "The Superkliq" (Adam Cole and the Young Bucks) faced Evil Uno, John Silver and Alex Reynolds in a trios match on the October 16, 2021 Dynamite. At one point, Evil Uno pulls out a mysterious sock from nowhere, puts it on his right hand and rams it down Nick Jackson's throat as the crowd hysterically cheers - even CM Punk commentates and wonders, "Wait: is that Mick Foley?"
• The main event of the October 27, 2021 Dynamite was an eight-man tag with everyone in costume for Halloween The Elite as the Ghostbusters (with Michael Nakazawa as a "bay-bay" and Brandon Cutler as the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man) vs. the Dark Order, with Stu Grayson as Kratos; John Silver as Bambi; Evil Uno as a cowboy; and Colt Cabana as Brandon Cutler
• Christian Cage and Jurassic Express took on the Superkliq (Cole and the Young Bucks) in a Fall Counts Anywhere match at Full Gear 2021, a ludicrously fast-paced brawl with too many insane spots to list, including Christian fighting off Nick Jackson and Brandon Cutler in the stands and hitting them with a dive from the upper level, the Superkliq forcing thumbtacks into Jungle Boy's mouth before putting him in the camel clutch and superkicking him in the face, Luchasaurus hitting a shooting star press off the ramp onto all three opponents on the floor, and Jungle Boy finding the steel in him to finish Matt Jackson with a Con-Chair-To (after having hesitated to do it earlier) before pinning him to win. The intensity of this match was enough to convince Dave Meltzer to give it 5-stars,
• Cole and Anthony Greene putting on an absolute blinder on the November 30, 2021 Dark.
• The Undisputed Era officially reunited in AEW at Holiday Bash 2021 with the debut of Kyle O'Reilly.
• Cole vs. Jake Atlas on the January 7, 2022 Rampage was a much-welcomed showcase for the former - a star prospect ever since AEW was getting off the ground - and an embraced return for him after a 10-Minute Retirement. The match's finish also saw an excellent display of professionalism and improvisation on Adam Cole's part, as Atlas unfortunately legitimately injured his knee near the match's climax, resulting in him being in absolutely no position to take Cole's Panama Sunrise finisher. Instead, Cole turned it into a simple kneebar submission, which allowed Atlas to safely tap out while honoring Kayfabe as a logical finisher after such an injury.
• Ever since his return on the December 8th episode of Dynamite from spinal fusion surgery, Trent Beretta has been looking and performing better than before. He opens the January 14, 2022 Rampage against Adam Cole - a match filled with multiple counters and reversals, from Trent playing possum just as Adam gets ready for a superkick, leading into a half-and-half back-throw, to a piledriver on the apron and negating Cole's Panama Sunrise into Trent's "Strong Zero". Unfortunately, true to their Heel nature, The Young Bucks, reDRagon and Britt Baker distract the referee by brawling with The Best Friends and Kris Statlander, giving Cole the chance to nail Trent with a low blow and The Boom for the win.
• One week earlier, Britt Baker got accidentally sent through a table during a mixed tag team match with Adam Cole against Orange Cassidy and Kris Statlander. Incensed at what happened, Cole challenges Cassidy to an Unsanctioned Lights Out Match at Beach Break 2022. The fight is a great showcase of both wrestler's singles competition abilities and their deep-seated contempt for one another after weeks of feuding.
  • Just to show he's taking this match seriously, Cassidy crushes his sunglasses at the start of the match and simply trades fisticuffs with Adam. Doubling with Hilarity Ensues, as the fight is taken outside of the squared circle, Cole gets a steel chair from under the ring, only to have to struggle to pull it out since Danhausen has been clinging onto the chair, making his surprise AEW debut as he "curses" the stunned Adam Cole!
  • Even though this Lights Out was largely bloodless^note Neither wrestler wore the "crimson mask", though Cassidy's right hand does bleed, it was no less brutal: Cole is dealt Laser-Guided Karma trying to deliver a low blow on Cassidy like he did for the past few weeks, but the latter came Crazy-Prepared with a cup laced with thumbtacks and gave Adam his own Panama Sunrise for good measure. Cole also got sent through the bell-ringer's table, while Cassidy is dropped onto Jerry Lynn and Tony Khan's table backstage in the gorilla position and smashed in the head with a stage prop as a counter to Cassidy's "Orange Punch" with a chain wrapped around his right arm and fist.
  • The match would conclude by the entrance stage: as Adam prepares to use the Panama Sunrise from the top of one of the entrances, Orange flanks Cole to give him a low blow, hugging him deathly tight a la The Best Friends, then sends the two of them crashing to the stage below - a 10+ feet drop - with Cassidy landing on Cole, allowing Orange to pin him.
• In the main event of Revolution 2022, Cole challenges Adam Page for the AEW World Championship. After 30 minutes of exhilarating back and forth action, Hangman manages to hit Cole with the Boom and follow it up with his own finisher, the Buckshot Lariat to get the win.
• Cole challenging Adam Page for the AEW World Championship once again on the April 15, 2022 Rampage - this time in a Texas Deathmatch! This was a bloody, violent brawl with both men going to increasingly brutal lengths to keep the other down. In the end though, Hangman managed to hit Cole with a Deadeye off the apron through a table while Cole had barbed wire wrapped around his head to get the win.
• Cole facing off with Jay White, Kazuchika Okada and Adam Page for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship at Forbidden Door. Despite Cole suffering an unfortunate injury that caused the match to be cut short, what we got was 20 minutes of balls to the wall action that was easily one of the best matches on a loaded card.
• Cole teaming up with Roderick Strong, Bandido and his old nemesis Orange Cassidy to take on the Jericho Appreciation Society's Daniel Garcia, Jake Hager, Matt Menard and Angelo Parker in an incredible eight man tag team match on the May 3, 2023 Dynamite.
• Cole facing off with the AEW World Champion MJF on the June 14, 2023 Dynamite in an unbelievable match that saw the two men throw everything they had at each other only for the time limit to expire right as it looked like Cole was going to pick up the win.
• The unlikely tag team of Cole and MJF challenging FTR for the AEW World Tag Team Championship on the July 29, 2023 Collision. The two singles stars threw everything they had at FTR in an awesome match but in the end FTR managed to get the win after MJF uncharacteristically sacrificed himself to save Cole from the Shatter Machine.
• Cole and MJF shockingly capturing the ROH World Tag Team Championship at All In: Zero Hour following them hitting Fletcher with a Kangaroo Kick and a Double Clothesline. This win made Cole the eighth triple crown champion in ROH's history.
• Cole challenging his best friend and tag team partner MJF for the AEW World Championship at All In 2023 in front of 81,000 people at Wembley Stadium. Throughout the match, Cole was willing to go farther than MJF was to win the title. He spent the entire match targeting Max's neck and using a variety of underhanded tactics to try to pick up the win. In the end though, after an incredible 27 minutes of action, he was unwilling to hit his tag partner with the world title belt despite the urging of Roderick Strong which allowed MJF to roll Cole up and pick up the win.