Adam Cole Recalls Shaking With Excitement Before AEW Debut

Adam Cole recently spoke with Busted Open Radio where he spoke about his debut with All Elite Wrestling. The former NXT Superstar made his first appearance at All Out, and he admitted to being both nervous and excited for his big moment.

"I was incredibly nervous and also very excited. Fortunately for me, I had the chance to meet and talk with a bunch of the crew prior to that because, obviously, my girlfriend Britt Baker works there," Cole admitted. "So getting the chance to talk to a lot of people, I knew that the locker room and the crew that worked there were incredibly welcoming and incredibly nice. So I wasn't, per say, worried about working with a new crew. But again, like you said, the transition from being so used to and accustomed to working in one place and that one place being WWE, and then moving over to AEW, of course, change is always exciting and nerve-racking time.

"So, all things considered, with it being a massive surprise, fortunately, I was in the news a lot at that point because people didn't know what I was going to do. So, absolutely, I had a moment where I was like, 'I really hope these people are excited. I hope they care, I hope they're jacked-up.' Especially considering a lot of people were expecting Bryan Danielson there. So I am thinking, everyone is hoping for Bryan Danielson, hopefully when I come out, they're excited and not like, 'we were really hoping for Bryan,' and of course, they end up getting both at the end of the night."

Cole initially came to the ring and teased a confrontation with Kenny Omega and the rest of The Elite. However, in the end, they joined forces and came together in a moment that proved to be a swerve. Yet that was shortly followed by Bryan making his debut to confront the group.

Cole also mentioned that prior to walking out in front of the fans, his legs were actually shaking. He also revealed it is the favorite night of his entire career.

"I remember when the lights went out and I was waiting for my music to hit, and my legs were physically shaking with excitement. I had so much adrenaline going through my body, I thought, 'this is going to be such a cool moment and I hope that reactions there,' and then it was," Cole said. "I've said this before and I really mean it, I think it was my favorite night of my wrestling career. Very rarely do you get a chance to be a surprise. Some of my favorite pro wrestling moments ever were surprise returns and things like that, so to be involved in something like that on such a big night for AEW, I'll never forget it."

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit Busted Open Radio with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.