I think you're looking way, way too deep into this. The issue people have with Adam Cole is that his size and psychology are at odds with each other. It just plain looks silly when he's going toe to toe with guys much bigger than him. It's not that he isn't muscular enough or manly enough, it's that his psychology sucks. It's very weird for an undersized heel to wrestle like he does and it throws a lot of people off.