There have been a lot of conflicting reports about what WWE and Vince McMahon had planned for Adam Cole for his main roster debut. However, the prevailing opinion appears to be that the WWE Chairman wanted to change Cole's name and have him serve as a mouthpiece for Keith "Bearcat" Lee.
For what it's worth, Cole has chosen his words carefully and not spoken negatively about his time in NXT at all in recent interviews. Clearly, his loyalty to Triple H and Shawn Michaels means he's unwilling to throw WWE under the bus, but it's clear he knows more than he's been letting on.
Well, Fightful Select is reporting that one early idea was to bring Cole to RAW and SmackDown and change up his look with a haircut. Apparently, he wasn't remotely interested in that and the suggestion wasn't made again. By the time that final pitch was put forward (that ultimately led to him deciding signing with AEW was a better idea), Cole getting a new look had been dropped.
This clears things up a little, while it's also been said that sources within WWE have praised Cole for the way he's spoken about his time there and how he handled his departure.
Now part of the AEW roster, he'll face Jungle Boy for the first time during tonight's Dynamite on TNT.