Mike Chiari: You’ve had a lot of memorable moments during your time in ROH, but your Fight Without Honor against Jay Briscoe for the world title in December was easily one of the best matches of the year and it received a ton of praise from fans. Why do you feel like yourself and Jay have such great chemistry in the ring, and what’s your level of interest in rekindling your feud in the near future?
Adam Cole: I cut an interview where I talked about Jay and I being like the Batman and Joker. I really feel that way and the feud between us will never die. When you look at the two characters, they are just so polar opposite and that’s why I think it attracts so well. I think initially the interest from the Ring of Honor fan base about the battles Jay and I had was it wasn’t traditional in Ring of Honor you have two of the best going at it to see who number one is. Jay and I have so many different dynamics that we can play off of and fortunately we had a really extended amount of time to build up to this Fight Without Honor. This wasn’t a scenario where we had three months to build up to Fight Without Honor. We had been feuding for almost a year and a half so the back story was there. What was kind of easier than anticipated to put certain things into place to really tell that story, get the fans invested, and get the fans behind everything? I just think it’s the classic scenario, whether its Adam Cole or Jay Briscoe in a wrestling ring, a television show, or a movie, it just clicks because the characters are so different.
Brandon Galvin: Speaking of Jay Briscoe, Donny and I have noticed how more and more fans turn on wrestlers during long stretches of being on the top. It happened to John Cena, CM Punk and many more before them. As one of the top young wrestlers in the world, what is your take and perception when you see fans starting to turn on their former favorites?
Adam Cole: I think it’s just a classic scenario of people liking the underdog and jumping on the bandwagon and get behind the guy before he makes it big. It’s exciting to want something different. Everybody whether they realize it or not wants change. I think overtime, it’s just the reality and the nature of the beast that people want something different instead of getting the same thing they see all the time. Nobody is saying that Jay Briscoe is doing a bad job, he is true and tested being with the company since the very beginning. So everyone I think very much respects Jay Briscoe. Like anyone involved with any sort of entertainment, generally speaking people do like change. I think it’s just a situation where the Ring of Honor fans want something different.
Donald Wood: At the end of 2014, you suffered a shoulder injury that temporarily derailed an incredible two-year run. You returned recently to Ring of Honor and look to be performing at an elite level once again. How is the shoulder holding up and can you describe the injury and your recovery process?
Adam Cole: This injury goes back to me wrestling with a fracture in my elbow and a partially torn triceps for probably a year and a half to two years. I worked through it because I knew I was about to get a run with the Ring of Honor world title. I was still PWG champion so I had to continue to work through everything and have a really good run. Unfortunately, I dislocated my shoulder at a Pro-Wrestling Gorilla event and I popped it back in to finish the match and thought I was going to be ok. Long story short, I got a MRI and it was a torn labrum which is a vital tendon in the shoulder that can cause problems with your bicep, triceps, or even neck down the line. It was something that I needed to get fixed and opted to get it fixed after Ring of Honor Final Battle. The rehab process was more mentally draining than it was physically and I thought the physical part was easy. Of course it hurt and got redundant, but it was more the idea of sitting out while all this great stuff was going on and I wanted to be back in there. I also did hit some hiccups in the recovery process but the Dr., told me it may be smart to come back in June so there really was a scare there for a minute that I wouldn’t be able to do the Ring of Honor/New Japan shows. Fortunately, I was able to let the thing rest up and come back at Philadelphia Best in the World. I’m taking it easy on my schedule until June just to make sure my shoulder holds up ok. It felt fine but the most difficult thing was not being able to train in a ring whatsoever. When I wrestled AJ, that was the first time I was between the ropes at all in five months. I hadn’t done any wrestling training or anything like that in the meantime. It was really nerve wrecking, not so much if my shoulder was going to hold up but that I was going to be able to perform. Fortunately for me wrestling is like riding a bike. The second I got in there everything just clicked and came back fortunately.
Mike Chiari: One of the biggest stories in wrestling right now is Samoa Joe’s WWE debut at NXT TakeOver, and the fact that he’s still permitted to work with other companies like ROH. That type of freedom is pretty unprecedented as it relates to WWE, so if that ultimately becomes the new norm, how do you think that might impact performers and their willingness to make the jump to a brand like NXT?
Adam Cole: I think it will be really interesting. Obviously Samoa Joe is the first one to get a contract of this kind and it sounds very appealing to a lot of different people. I think a lot of it depends on how willing Triple H, WWE, and NXT are willing to give guys deals like this. Then obviously it will be interesting to see what route guys go. I know a lot of guys, including myself, that are very happy at Ring of Honor but obviously you never say never with things. The problem with the scenario is it’s so hard to predict. With Ring of Honor on Destination America, a lot of people are wondering if Samoa Joe can even come work those shows on TV, I have more questions than answers when it comes to stuff like that. It certainly is going to create a real feeling of suspense and excitement in pro-wrestling that we haven’t had for quite some time. The idea of not knowing where people are going to show up, when they are going to show up, who they are going to be wrestling for, similar to the way it was in the Attitude area. I think this is just a really an exciting cool time for wrestling with not knowing where people are going to show up.
Nick was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, and lived there until the age of 18, when he decided to pack his flack jacket and move to New York City.
