Adam Cole

[Grimmas]

El McKell said: 

Adam Cole Has a charisma and presence that gets him over wherever he goes. Despite the fact that he doesn’t seem to be spectacular enough to be a main eventer in PWG or (pre USA network) NXT he still has great matches in these environments. He’s not someone who doesn’t have longevity, he’s been at least pretty good for 10 years, and from near the beginning teaming with Kyle O’Reilly he knew how to be a dickhead heel that has this undercurrent of likeability.

w/ Kyle O’Reilly vs Marty Scurll & Zack Sabre Jr WXW 03/13/2011

vs Kyle O’Reilly PWG 05/23/2014, go to 1hr 15 mins in that video for the match

vs Johnny Gargano NXT 04/05/2019, go to 2hr 21mins 30secs in that video for the match

[Tetsujin]

He was cool before NXT. Not super great, but for a guy of his age and size he built a really strong aura around him, and the guy has undeniable charisma that can carry most of his matches to make them look better than they actually are. Once NXT turned him into an epic main eventer, I fucking started hating him. The Gargano trilogy will always be one of the worst series of matches I've ever seen, he has nothing matches against other guys too... He's just not a good big match worker. Cole is at his best when working 15 minutes on tv (take a look at the Daniel Bryan match in SmackDown, that happened in the middle of his horrible NXT title reign but he had such a great performance against Bryan. The Jungle Boy match at Dynamite is also a proof of this). Not a contender for my list, but has some cool stuff when working small.

[NotJayTabb]

My least favourite member of one of my least favourite factions in recent history. The Gargano matches pretty much killed my interest in NXT, I went from staying up late to watch each Takeover (UK time) to barely being aware they were on. None of the Undisputed Era members were big, but whereas Roddy and O'Reilly had good looking offence and could wrestle convincingly against larger opposition, Cole was never believable against a Keith Lee or an Aleister Black. When your NXT run wasn't as enjoyable to me as Lars Sullivan's, you aren't making my list.

[Makai Club #1]

Cole has charisma and is over everywhere he goes but he might be one of the dullest, least interesting wrestlers that I've seen. The Gargano series was dreadful and a perfect example of a big match style gone wrong but it wasn't the norm for me as far as Cole is concerned. What is the norm was matches against Kyle O'Reilly that had all the action in the world but failed to materialise in anything interesting or visceral. Cole can try taking as many high bumps as he can but there is no drama or sense of danger there, making the spots moot. Cole is an absolute no for me. 

[Jmare007]

Very similar stance to @Makai Club #1 There's a good number of wrestlers I'm not that fond of that are very over but I can at least understand why they are so popular and why people like their matches so much. I can't grasp it with Cole, even when people explain it to me I just don't/can't see it.

[EnviousStupid]

Cole has been primarily a big match worker as early as 2014 and, in my humble opinion, has sucked at it since 2016 with that 2nd ROH World Title reign. Looking back through his NXT run, I'm stunned at how much he was loved by crowds in these matches that are emblematic of the common criticisms brought up about this time period of the brand in retrospect. The Gargano series, the Cole matches, Ciampa, Aleister, Ricochet, all the men's WarGames matches. Just flabbergasted at the moment.

[leo]

I have fond memories of Cole’s CZW days where he was a standout amongst the cluster of talented junior heavyweight guys they had around at the time; that stretch culminating in Best of the Best 2011 sticks out in my head as the most enjoyable work I’ve seen from him. Unfortunately that was over 10 years ago. The 2010s ROH style seemed to influence his wrestling and gimmick in a way I do not care for at all, but is evidently appreciated by and marketable towards a particular demographic, so power to him.