CAGEMATCH.de: Before we start with hard-hitting journalism and brutal honesty, let's start on a lighter note: how do you feel? Are you happy with your current situation in wrestling or generally in live? Any injuries or illnesses plaguing you? Read something funny? Got boring questions?Adam Cole: Haha. Everything in my life is great, man, I have no complaints. I'm healthy, I'm surrounded by wonderful friends and family, and I'm getting to see the world through my passion. Life is good, my man.
First I'd like to ask some general questions about "Adam Cole". You've been on the independent scene since 2008 and made your first big impact with the win of the CZW Junior Heavyweight Championship. You've held that title for 554 straight days and are the record holder of that championship. In late 2010 you've signed with ROH and formed "Future Shock" with Kyle O'Reilly, and now you've pinned the ROH World Champion Davey Richards at the aptly named "Young Wolves Rising" IPPV. Any thoughts about your relatively short but eventful career?Well, I told myself when I got into wrestling that I was going to put my heart and soul into this, and that I would do everything I could to be the best that I could be and go as far as I could. I really believe that if you get into wrestling for any other reason you're wasting your time. This is a really competitive industry, so you have to put your heart and soul into it for even the slightest shot of success. So I've been really fortunate to be surrounded by some great teachers and people who really believed in me, and therefore have had some accomplishments that I'm definitely proud of. Hopefully many more to come!
I've got a pretty special question from one of our users: at the beginning of your career, when you were wrestling for a little promotion called Maryland Championship Wrestling, you wrestled under the name "Adam Carelle" although you were already known as "Adam Cole" pretty much everywhere else on the Indy scene. Are there any deep reasons for that?Yeah, that was an interesting circumstance, haha. There was another guy who worked for the promotion at the time by the name of
Cole Calloway. Pretty much MCW didn't want two different Cole's, so I went with Adam Carelle, obviously for the initials. I hated it, lol. But I didn't complain because I was happy to get the work, and MCW was always so good to me and gave me great match ups. I learned a lot working for that promotion. Eventually they let me change my name back to Adam Cole again, so I didn't have to deal with my identity crisis, lol.
You wrestled four straight shows for the relatively new company EVOLVE Wrestling. First, what are your general thoughts about the company, especially considering the fact that they are now almost one with Dragon Gate USA? Second, did you plan to wrestle there (meaning both EVOLVE and DGUSA) more often, or what are the reasons you aren't there anymore?I owe a lot to EVOLVE and
Gabe Sapolsky for giving me that opportunity real early in my career. Gabe was always so good to me, and his vision and passion for pro wrestling is very motivating. I loved my time there, and had a blast working for him and his company. A lot of it comes down to scheduling and contract issues, but I certainly would love the chance to work with him again sometime down the line.
Pro Wrestling Guerilla just had their Show "World's Finest", next in line is the 2012 edition of the DDT Tournament. You and Kyle O'Reilly are set as one of eight teams. A win would bring you and Kyle very near to a title shot for the Tag Team Gold. What whould winning the title with him mean to you? And besides that, do you plan to conquer the East coast more and wrestle there more often? Or are you more focused on ROH due to your contract with the company?Getting a shot in PWG is something that I've wanted for a long time, and now that I'm there, I'm extremely focused to make the best of it. It'd be awesome for me and Kyle to maybe one day become PWG World Tag Team Champions, and really show everyone what Future Shock in PWG is made of. I love wrestling everywhere that I can, and I definitely want to continue to make my name not only on the east coast, but all over the world if I can. Whether it's for ROH, PWG, CZW, etc, I take this very very seriously and want to become the absolute best wrestler I can be anywhere I go.
Pretty much at the same time I asked you for this interview, word got out that you would travel to Japan with fellow wrestler Sami Callihan. As I write this questions, you are still in Japan and hopefully kick some ass over in the land of the rising sun. How did all that come about and will you be returning to Japan on a more regular basis? And how is it in Japan?I had a match with MK McKinnan at a
Fight Club: PRO show in England, and some reps from
Big Japan Pro-Wrestling were there, and were interested in bringing me to Japan. Obviously, I jumped all over the opportunity. That was my first tour of Japan, and I absolutely loved it. The fans and wrestlers alike are so passionate about wrestling, and I really feel that I grew quite a bit as a wrestler from that tour. There is some talk of returning soon, so hopefully I can make that trip to Japan a regular occurrence.
From Japan to Germany: you've wrestled here nearly a dozen times, most notably your fantastic bout with Kyle O'Reilly against Zack Sabre Jr. and Marty Scurll on the third day of the 16 Carat Gold Tournament in 2011. Any thoughts on Germany as a whole or that match in particular? And when can we expect more Adam Cole here in Europe or Germany?Ah man, my time in England and Germany was a blast. Actually my number one country I wanted to wrestle in was England, just because of the fantastic history that the country holds when it comes to pro wrestling, so getting to do that was a dream come true. And Germany is always so much fun. The fans are rabid there, so that always makes the experience that much better. I respect Zack Sabre and Marty so much, and I'm glad that the fans took to our match the way they did. The four of us have actually wrestled each other in 3 different countries now, so hopefully we can keep tallying it up.
Now that we've talked about pretty much everything in the world but Ring Of Honor, let's get right to it: the company celebrated its 10th anniversary a few weeks ago, you've been with the promotion for about a year and a half. Any memories of ROH before Adam Cole? Any favorite matches or wrestlers?Oh yeah, totally. I remember first seeing Ring Of Honor when
CM Punk was feuding with
Raven, and I was blown away by Punk. I didn't really follow ROH or the indies by this point, but Punk totally captivated me. His promo ability alone blew me away, so I became a fan instantly. And then obviously the matches that ROH put on were like nothing I had ever seen before. I would go to shows in Philadelphia, and I had never been in an environment where the crowds were so rabid and crazy, so I loved every minute of it. That's one thing that ROH can really pride itself on, that interactive fan experience that is so hard to capture.
You started your ROH career together with Kyle O'Reilly. You've teamed a couple of times in 2010 and 2011, before you finally got a name at the start of the "Sinclair era": Future Shock. Any thoughts on your time with O'Reilly as a tag team?O'Reilly is a guy that I respect so much. He's so so gifted in the ring, and we motivated each other through that time to be the best that we could be individually and as a team. I'm thankful that we had each other to grow in ROH together, and I think the sky is the limit for him. Even though now we find ourselves as opponents, he's still a guy who I admire in the ring, and there's no doubt in my mind he'll be a Ring Of Honor World Champion someday.
I have to be honest: I was a little bit sad when everybody talked about Davey Richards, Eddie Edwards and Kyle O'Reilly. You've got mentioned a couple of times at the beginning of this year, but Future Shock was pretty much on hold. But then you came back with a bang! You became the partner of Eddie Edwards, you went on to headline the 10th anniversary show and even got a pinfall victory over world champion Davey Richards. What are your thoughts on your rapid rise to the top?Well, I look at it like this: everyone in Ring of Honor wants to be the best. Everyone wants to be the top guy. So when all the focus and drama had been put on Davey, Eddie and Kyle, I used that as fuel to push myself harder and say that when I get my chance, I will shine through. Then I found myself in the main event of the 10 Year Anniversary event, and said that this is my shot to prove to everyone that I belong in the main event, and that I can be a big time player in ROH. Then actually defeating Davey in that match made everything that I had worked so hard for that much sweeter. Having the fans support through all of this I can't even put into words. I work so hard for not only myself, but for them too, so that victory was for all of us.
Let's talk about "Showdown In The Sun". Obviously, your big match of the weekend was the clash with your (former) tag team partner Kyle O'Reilly on the second night. Any thoughts on him? And what are your thoughts on the match?Well, wrestling Kyle on a stage like that was a big opportunity for us. We both wanted to prove who the future of ROH really is, so the tensions were high. We both put everything that we had to do so, and then Kyle decided to cheat and pull my tights for the fall, and level I thought he'd never stoop to. That's not the Kyle O'Reilly that I teamed with for the past two years, but now I know for next time (and there will be a next time) what to expect, and I'm ready for it.
At the TV tapings this coming weekend, you will be facing World Television Champion Roderick Strong for the title. This will be your first chance at one of the singles titles in ROH. Are you excited to finally get your chance on singles gold?Getting to challenge for the TV Championship again is a very big deal for me. This little winning streak I have been on gives me all the confidence I need to go into Baltimore with the mindset of walking out as the TV Champion. Roderick Strong is a guy I obviously respect greatly, but I need this win big time to take my career in Ring Of Honor to the next step, and I plan on doing that this Saturday.
The "Showdown In The Sun" shows are this year's traditional shows on "Mania weekend". Did you watch the "granddaddy of 'em all"? What match was the match you were looking forward to the most? And what do you think about the rise of ROH alumni Bryan Danielson and CM Punk?I did get to see WrestleMania, and I thought it was a great show. It was awesome to see Punk and Bryan go in as champions, and it motivates guys like me to say that the sky really is the limit.
Okay, I think we asked you more than enough questions. But before we get you off the hook, I'd like to play a little word association game. I'll give you some keywords and you just tell us what comes to your mind:
Ring Of Honor: The true alternative in pro wrestling
Eddie Edwards: A mentor, and amazing athlete with true toughness
Combat Zone Wrestling: Where I got my start, and a company that continues to grow by the day
Kyle O'Reilly: Amazing competitor, but disappointed in his recent change of attitude
Davey Richards: One of the best in the world. A great wrestler, and a great human being
CHIKARA: Outstanding promotion with a great following. Always a pleasure to work for them when I get the chance, and would love to go back
Jim Cornette: Such a great teacher, and a guy who has done so much for ROH
Future Shock: Very proud of our team, but I feel we only scratched the surface of our potential together
Germany: Had some of the best times of my life there!
Big Japan Pro Wrestling: Awesome company, great wrestlers, and great fans!
CAGEMATCH.de: Thank you for the interview! Keep up the great work guys!
And a big "thank you" to Adam Cole from everyone here at CAGEMATCH.de! I hope you guys enjoyed this informative and entertaining interview with Mr. Cole. We want to wish him best of luck in his future, especially this coming weekend in his match with Roderick Strong for the World Television Title! 
