Adam Cole spoke with Sports Illustrated to promote his match with Kyle O’Reilly on tonight’s WWE NXT: Great American Bash-themed episode on the USA Network.
Here are some of the highlights:
Sports Illustrated: Your feud with Kyle still feels so fresh even though you have been wrestling one another for more than a decade. How do you keep such excitement in this program?
“The role I was in for so long was defending or chasing the NXT championship, and this is different. There is personal animosity involved here, so this story with Kyle O’Reilly is very specific. And there is so much history, as well as so much history we haven’t even detailed. It’s a never-ending battle.
I don’t necessarily have a formula that I like to follow. For me, I base how I speak, what I say and how I wrestle based on who I’m in there with, which keeps things fresh for me.”
SI: You and Kyle have successfully defined yourself as eternal enemies. Regardless of whether this match will be the best of all your in-ring encounters, it has the most meaning with where we are in your story. As a performer, what is at stake for you in this match?
“In terms of what you said about how meaningful this match is, I could not agree more. That’s due to our history, how we got to where we’ve got at the Great American Bash. The story is there, the competitive nature is there and it’s the right matchup.
This is not just another match. It’s the culmination of all of our history, a combination of the Tokyo Dome, Final Battle, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, Dragon Gate USA from 2009, and all we created in NXT with The Undisputed Era. All of that, mixed together, is coming to a head at the Great American Bash. I’m excited, and I’m ready to have my most special match yet against Kyle O’Reilly.”