Adam Cole has arguably become NXT's top star in recent years, but it was in August we learned his WWE contract was set to expire during SummerSlam weekend. Rumour has it he'd signed an extension to stick with NXT for a few more months prior to that PPV, and it didn't take long for speculation he might sign with AEW to start doing the rounds.
His girlfriend, Britt Baker, works for the company, while anyone can see that NXT talent fare badly when they arrive on RAW and SmackDown due to Vince McMahon simply not "getting" them.
That's why the likes of Kevin Owens, Shinsuke Nakamura, and Sami Zayn have all floundered, and while we'd heard Cole had a positive meeting with Vince, it clearly wasn't enough to get him to stick around! During last night's All Out PPV, Kenny Omega successfully retained the AEW World Championship against Christian Cage and then declared that there's no one who can beat him.
With that, Adam Cole hit the ring...only to turn heel by superkicking Jungle Boy and joining The Elite!
There was another surprise that followed, but we'll bring you details on that soon. Cole was close with Triple H and Shawn Michaels, so his defection to AEW should ruffle a lot of feathers!
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