ADAM COLE, SWEETHEART!
Re-watching Adam Cole’s All In speech, I thought knowing what he was about to say would
spare me from the sunken, low feeling again. No. It felt worse. I had tears in my eyes before
Cole could say “shit.”
And, honestly, I would not even say I’m a fan of Adam Cole, the wrestler. That is somehow,
despite Cole is half of the reason I write about pro wrestling. Yet while the emotional
connection with Cole the wrestler is not as deep-rooted as many of the fans shown on
screen in Texas, I can deeply understand their feelings towards the human being beneath
the persona.
What Cole said was devastating and yet resilient. Uncertain but determined. It was human.
In some ways bittersweet and for some relieving.
Some commentators and fans were quick to highlight the positives. The tone of the promo
made some fear the news was even worse. I saw one person describe it like when Roman
Reigns announced on Raw that his chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) had returned. The look
of Kyle O’Reilly and Roderick Strong’s faces, like Seth Rollins and Jon Moxley’s, recognises
life’s morality.
Cole’s health is compromised, but thank your choice of deity is life is not at risk of ending. Or
that the suffering is as horrific as Cole’s previous concussion-related injuries. The reason for
that seriousness is perhaps twofold. One, how much wrestling means to Cole, and two, the
depth of love of Cole’s friends and their connection to him. Their empathy and understanding
of what this means for not just them, but Cole, is greater than ours.
Still, the tragedy is real. It hits hard because of the type of person Cole is.
Paragon
To have over fifteen years of experience and remain a paragon of goodness in the
sometimes shady, morally dubious, and egoistical world of wrestling makes it sting worse.
Plenty of wrestling fans rightly feel connected to Cole, not just because of his streaming and
engagement with them.
Cole is not a wrestler to put down fans. To treat us as trash. Being a wrestler who shows
respect and sometimes, equity with the fans is still radical and invites abuse from some fans.
Especially, those who have internalised and perpetuate this narrative that we are “marks”.
Pages of wrestler’s praising and rallying behind Cole post-All In show the depth of his
goodness. Amidst the nuclear explosion of one of the most controversial, infamous, and ugly
shoot promos of the 21 st century, CM Punk took care to say Adam Cole is a “sweetheart”.
It’s why it stings more that some have and will disrespect or make jokes at Cole’s expense or
about his AEW run.
They and have will continue to say/write bad things about Cole because they are marks for
something toxic and unhealthy. Some folks need reality like storylines to make sense of the
world and their tribalistic views of AEW and WWE. It’s happened with various wrestlers,
including Mariah May/Blake Monroe, with interview comments on WWE sparking further
changes to one side’s narrative.
They are the minority who have and will continue to talk and use Cole as a game piece in
their game/narrative. It’s nothing new. Comparison between Cole’s WWE and AEW runs has
been frequent and started early after jumping ship. One of the first posts I saw after All In,
which was quickly deleted, was a caption commenting, tongue-in-cheek, that Vince was
right. Cole would end up a manager.
Like with AEW’s booking of May/Monroe, things haven’t been perfect. It’s hard to think of
anyone else in AEW who’s faced such a series of issues with injuries and booking woes as
Adam Cole. Myopic morons like to blame AEW as the source of all problems, without either
context or vagueness.
A former wrestler whose moniker is a Burning Night Club made comments about AEW’s
safety procedures post-All In with the same cliché and redundant safety concerns. Others
have or will make manager quips, body-shaming comments, and parasocial nonsense. We
can’t control that, but we can ignore it. The positivity will outweigh the negatives long-term.
Narratives are easy, emotive, and tell us what we want. I mentioned that I would not describe
myself as a fan of Adam Cole, the wrestler and character. Honestly, there was a time when I
hated the character.
Real-life Interlude #1- The In Joke:
Partner: “Hey, you know what it’s all about?”
Me: “Punk rock?”
Partner: “No. You know what it’s all about?”
Me: “What?”
Partner: *“The boom!”
*- She did the pose.
Story Time
Humans like symbolism. Wrestlers become symbols and representations of ideas and
concepts. Being brutally honest, until 2023, I unfairly associated Adam Cole with the creative
decline in AEW because of how I connected the dots.
By the mid-2010s, I rarely watched ROH. What I had seen of Adam Cole suggested that, like
Seth Rollins, he was suited to WWE. When Cole went to NXT, it confirmed bias. I didn’t
watch as I had already given up on the developmental system’s “steal from indies” formula.
During the Wednesday Night war, I was tribal and picked a side. Cole was the face of the
“enemy”.
Cole’s All Out debut was the case of the odd man out. The middle signing of a triumvirate of
huge successive signings. CM Punk and Bryan Danielson were clear symbolic stalwarts of
an alternative. Cole seemed the opposite.
Subsequently, the signing of further “stars” created a roster bloat and various creative issues
for AEW’s booking. Creative potholes formed, not directly because of Cole. Yet competing in
27 out of 33 Dynamites in a row in 2022, overexposed Cole and made it easier to join those
dots.
The newest member of the Elite, who did not seem Elite. Especially given his in-ring
matches felt like Performance Centre repetition. Shocked kick out of two face. Consistently
winning by low blow and then the boom. In hindsight, like many straight from the WWE
system wrestlers, Cole struggled transitioning to AEW’s style. It also demonstrated another
increasing shift towards overreliance on wrestling to cover up storytelling gaps. Especially
when even notable matches, including a Texas death match against Hangman Adam Page
and a Lights Out match against Orange Cassidy, felt like reliant on stipulations for
story/character development.
I didn’t get Adam Cole or his baybay.
Real-Life Interlude #2- The Woods:
It’s sometime in September 2023, and I’m walking the dogs along the River Avon. We’re
going to the park. It’s a sunny evening.
We pass a small, wooded area. Blaring from behind the foliage is loud music and the shouts
of teenagers. Another dog walker, an elderly woman, and her two dogs cross our paths, and
naturally, my dogs go tail-wagging crazy. The dogs greet each other. We, the owners, politely
exchange small talk.
Teens: “Boom!”
Startled, the other dog walker looks at me.
Dog walker: “Do you think they are okay?”
Teens: “Adam Cole, Baby!”
Me: “I think they’re okay.”
Boom
I’ve always been open to being wrong and change. So, when Cole took MJF to a thirty-
minute draw in June 2023, I was ready to change my mind. Subsequently, a Blind Eliminator
Tag Team Tournament steals the headlines, blending wrestling and childish humour and
character development from vignettes to in-ring action, felt elite.
Ironically, but also very AEW, taking concepts from sports entertainment and elevating them
with more self-awareness and nuance threatened to create he best storyline of the year. This
saga of friendship and betrayal between the then AEW World Champion, MJF, and Adam
Cole had everything.
So, when my partner and I attended that first All In Wembley with wavering expectations, it
felt like the whole card anchored on Cole and MJF’s bromance. On the way there and back,
my partner keeps asking me what it’s all about, in between bouts of me humming MJF’s
theme song.
Without All In 2023, I would not be writing this article. Without MJF and Adam Cole’s
creativity, in the build and in the ring, I would not have begun committing my thoughts and
analysis of wrestling to paper. Their presentation summed up how AEW presents modern
masculinity.
Regardless of how soon afterwards, this storyline would go off the rails due to Cole’s injury
and a refusal to let things die, that match shaped my fandom and life.
Conclusion: Connection and Moments
If this is the end for Adam Cole’s in-ring career, then individually, we’ll each have our
reflections and views on his career. As stated, some will not be kind. Some will use Cole as
a game piece to distinguish between WWE and AEW. This will feel more transgressive in
part because Adam Cole’s legacy stretches beyond the ring to his reputation as a streamer
and saint of a person.
Something not everyone is going to be considerate of or care for.
It’s important to remember that symbolism changes with time. What Cole used to represent
to me has changed and those things will stand out for me against all the negatives.
Few AEW wrestlers embody that respectful bond with the AEW fanbase as Adam Cole.
Likewise, choosing friendship, creative freedom, and autonomy are viable options. Despite
its at times exposing, harsh “no floaties” framework, re-invention and rejuvenation are
always possible.
From overexposed to headlining Wembley Stadium. Converting me from
indifference to Cole becoming part of the wrestling in-joke between my partner and me.
Some will focus on what Cole did not achieve, ignoring what he accomplished. Few
wrestlers will main event Wembley Stadium. Let alone main event in front of 81,035 fans.
Even if Cole’s last championship run was a non-starter, seizing the TNT Championship on
his 17 th anniversary in wrestling, in the city where he started, and in front of his family, meant
something to the man.
That’s what matters is the man. I finish this article, again feeling tearful for a wrestler whom I
would not say I’m a fan of, but undoubtedly impacted my fandom, there is just one thing to
say.
What a sweetheart!