Triple H Speaks With Pat McAfee About Adam Cole Incident

After Adam Cole stormed off the Pat McAfee Show this past Thursday, Triple H made an appearance on the show today. Triple H discussed Cole issuing an apology on Twitter and said that it was essentially a lack of communication between the two caused by Cole being sensitive and McAfee pushing his buttons.

"This is all a misunderstanding," Triple H said. "You guys have had a relationship for a while. Positively partly and then becoming negative. You guys had interaction from the showbiz side of this, I think sometimes those lines get blurred and you guys had a relationship that became somewhat more contentious behind the scenes."

"Adam calls me last week and says he's going to be in town and McAfee invited me on the show, [asks me] is it cool if I do it? I say yes, a little bit in my mind thought I hope that goes well, not knowing it would become what it becomes. I think everybody's hypersensitive in today's world especially but I apologize for Adam coming on your show. He's the nicest guy in the world on a lot of levels, there's an interaction between the two of you where I believe Adam is being a little over sensitive and you Pat, being Pat McAfee which is a professional needle pusher."

Cole posted an apology on his Twitter this morning and said that he was embarrassed by his actions.

"I've had the weekend to think about everything, and it's still hard to put into words where to begin," Cole wrote. "First of all, to anyone that I offended, I apologize. I apologize because I represent a brand that commands respect. Not just because of what we do in the ring, but how we handle ourselves outside the ring. Even though he continued to push my buttons, I still should have kept my composure and acted like a professional. I'm embarrassed by my reaction, and I will make sure something like that never happens again. Thanks for the continued support everyone."

Triple H said he never told Cole to send out the apology and that he appreciated Cole being the bigger person. He said that Cole and McAfee were on edge with some of the conversations they've had in the past. He noted that McAfee was poking fun at Cole and some of the disrespect came from the fact that Pat trained in wrestling once and tries to act like he knows the business.

"I didn't ask him to put out an apology, I didn't ask him to do anything," Triple H said. "Him being on your show, he asked me if it was cool. I said yes, he did your show and he's a grown man and responsible for his actions in a way. I'm sure [Pat] you've been in situations before where you're already on edge going into something.

"You like to have fun, but to some of those talents you're picking fun at something you're not really a part of. You're attacking people that they see you as a guy who bought a ring one time and then interacts with [wrestlers] sometimes like you're one of them. I think they're hype sensitive to it.

"Adam comes on the show thinking this will be cool, Pat and I will get along great and then you do what you do which is probably unjust and at any time he would've taken it in that manner and it just struck him wrong," Triple H said. "He's a human being and he had a bad day and it struck him wrong and he snapped. I think there were moments in there where he clearly started to get agitated and you kept your foot on the gas."

McAfee continued on to ask Hunter if he or the WWE fined Cole for the incident. Triple H said he appreciated the way Cole responded and apologized.

"If I did that would be between he and I," Triple H said. "That's not something I would discuss, with all do respect, on here. Whatever he and I discussed business wise is us in business. As far as him coming on here, this is him as a man coming to you and saying I overreacted and I'm sorry. He put out an apology, I didn't ask him to do it, I didn't tell him to do it. How he handles it with you is different and I think he's reaching out to you as a man to apologize to you."

McAfee also asked Triple H what it would take to get him back on NXT.

"That's why I am on the show," Triple H said. "You enjoy it, I enjoy you working on the show, I enjoy your interaction, I feel you're refreshingly honest sometimes but with refreshing honesty sometimes it can hit people wrong. I think that's what works in the situation. I do feel like at some point sooner than later so this doesn't fester, I think it should be in person if at all possible I think you guys get together, sit down in the same room, be honest with each other and I think you guys would genuinely like each other.

"I think most things in life on a grand scope come from bad communication. If you miscommunicate with each other it leads to situations like this and I think that's all this is. I think if you guys actually sat in the same room for a bit you'd be on the same page."

Triple H also offered a gesture to McAfee about setting up a meeting between him and Cole so they can talk about the situation and fix their issues with each other. Triple H extended the invite to McAfee to come to an NXT show if he's in Florida anytime soon.

"I'll open it up to you," Triple H said. "If Florida's in your plans any time soon, any time you're around come on the show, I'll promote your show, I'll promote you just like we've done before. And if you don't want to do it that way, with no promotion, I'm fine with that too. We can do it however you want."

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit The Pat McAfee Show with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.