Last weekend at the 25
th NXT TakeOver, Adam Cole defeated Johnny Gargano to win the NXT Championship in a fantastic back and forth match. Cole spoke about his remarkable journey to becoming NXT Champion, his alliance with Bobby Fish, Roderick Strong, and Kyle O’Reilly and much more during his interview with Sporting News. One of the questions the Undisputed Era Leader was asked is, why he believes now is the right time in his career to win the championship?
“I think it's been me proving a statement. When I first came in to NXT, the focus was on the fact that I've formed and started this group called The Undisputed Era. About halfway along that journey, Roderick Strong joined the picture. I think now, more than ever, I've proven my worth to NXT. I've proven what I'm capable of. I've proven that I can be a main event guy in any city across the country for NXT and I think I've proven that it was my time to become the champion.”
Cole also speaks about why his partnership with Bobby Fish, Roderick Strong, and Kyle O’Reilly works so well, citing that the four talents have been close friends for years:
“I’ve been close friends with these guys for years and years. We talk, literally, every day. People really seem to gravitate towards a group of guys who have the same mindset, same attitude, are passionate about this job. People love groups and they certainly have loved and attached themselves to The Undisputed Era”.
And the NXT Champion also shares his views on the black and yellow brand as a special place:
“What I think is going on is, again, now in an age where the nuances of professional wrestling are so respected and viewed at in such a positive light, I think NXT fans are some of the most hardcore and die-hard fans and these people who tune in love it. They've followed so many guys' careers even before they made it to WWE or before they made it to NXT and they've seen so many of our journeys to getting to this point.
The relationship I feel between the NXT superstars and the NXT fans is unlike anything else I've ever seen before. These fans want us to succeed. They want the shows to be exciting. They want the shows to be awesome, so in turn, they go and have an incredible time and then our job as the NXT superstars is to give them the absolute best show that we possibly can. I think the biggest thing, without question, is the relationship between the wrestler and the fan and that's why these shows come across as being so special and so memorable.”
Check out the
full interview where Cole talks about the response he got from Kevin Owens after winning the NXT title and much more
.