Adam Cole is widely viewed as a despicable villain on NXT, and the former NXT Champion recently explained how his run as a face added some compelling layers to his character. In an interview with Steven Muehlhausen of DAZN, Cole discussed the complexity of his persona on the black-and-gold brand.
“So I actually love the shades of gray in wrestling characters,” said Cole.”To me, that’s what I think keeps everything kind of fresh. Because again, like you would mention, I was a bad guy for years on NXT television. Then I had that run there for a few months, where like you said, I was kind of an in-between guy or maybe even leaning more towards a good guy to almost give the fans just a little bit of a break.”
Cole explained that his face run freshened up his character and made his later actions as a heel even more powerful. He described how this progression has given him the creative freedom to explore, and he’s enjoying the journey.
“The Panama City Playboy” also previewed his NXT Championship Match with Finn Balor, and he stated that the winner should be considered the greatest NXT Champion.
“I think it’s actually started a long time ago,” said Cole. “We’ve had hints of having issues or matches and stuff like that. In the past, it’s been this very slow build towards who is the greatest NXT champion of all time because, at the end of the day, that’s what it’s always been about. When we had our first match together, and I was the NXT champion, I beat Finn Balor. Then we wrestled each other again, and Finn Balor wins the NXT championship, and he beats me.
Now we’re coming into this match, and it’s technically the rubber match to see truly who is the greatest NXT champion of all time.”
Adam Cole also emphasized that this match will offer fans a clash of NXT’s two premier stars. He stated that their previous encounters have been dynamic, so he’s excited to see what will happen this time around.
“I do truly believe that many people view us as the one and two or 1A and 1B as far as NXT champions go,” said Balor. “I absolutely feel like we’re scratching the surface, and it feels so new and so fresh every single time we’ve had a match together. It feels almost like it hasn’t happened before because there’s so much different stuff going on around us.”
It’s hard to disagree with Cole’s claim that the winner will go down as the greatest NXT Champion of all time, given his historic reign and Balor’s impressive run with the title.
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