Adam Cole is officially All Elite BAY-BAY, but we now have details on what WWE had planned for him on the main roster. We know that Vince McMahon wanted to move the former NXT Champion up to RAW or SmackDown, while Cole has confirmed reports that he met with the Chairman recently to discuss what his WWE future might look like.
During a recent edition of Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer elaborated on what the plan was for Adam Cole in WWE, and it's now easy to see why he decided to make the leap to AEW.
Apparently, Vince was looking to change Cole's name because they have Michael Cole calling the action on the main roster (you really can't make this sh*t up) with him then transitioning into a manager role similar to Lio Rush when he was paired with Bobby Lashley.
As Meltzer explains, "The idea was to turn Keith Lee heel and have Adam Cole be his manager...you have this little guy who is a big talker and he hides behind this big massive African American guy, that type of a thing. That was the dynamic that they were looking for him, more as a manager than as a wrestler."
"One person told me that it was Bruce [Prichard’s] idea and another person told me that it was Vince’s."
In AEW, Cole has immediately been positioned as a main event star and is part of The Elite, but in WWE, he would have been a mouthpiece for Lee who more than likely rarely wrestled. With this sort of creative placed in front of him, it's no wonder Cole decided to head for greener pastures.