Phil Johnson sent this in.
Ring of Honor’s Adam Cole recently took some time to participate in an exclusive interview with PWMania.com. Cole talks about his WWE tryout in 2009, Ring of Honor talent going to WWE and TNA, his future in ROH and more. Check out the complete interview below:
His 2009 WWE tryout: That particular tryout I went down to Afa the Wild Samoan’s training school which at the time was located in I believe may be Tampa, Florida but I may be incorrect on that but somewhere in Florida. We actually got to train for a week with Haku and Afa himself and it was awesome. It was such a good experience. I got my ring conditioning up and I learned little tricks of the trade. I learned how to be more intense in the ring because the Samoan’s are so intense. Then going into that tryout, again the harsh reality of that now looking back as to where I was in wrestling at that time, I was in just way over my head.
ROH talent to WWE & TNA: I think it’s just a testament over the years. People really started to take notice when guys like Daniel Bryan and CM Punk left for the WWE and the success that they had within the WWE. I think at that point the casual fan kind of realised what wrestler they prefer, what kind of wrestler they enjoy and what kind of match they enjoy watching. A lot of those guys; Seth Rollins, Cesaro, a lot of these guys can be found coming from Ring of Honor. So really it’s just cool that from the casual fans standpoint these fans being able to see what Ring of Honor has been doing for years and that’s producing the best in ring wrestling that you can find anywhere in the world. That’s what we really pride ourselves on. I think it’s cool that just finally some of these Ring of Honor guys that are getting the chance to go to the WWE are really exposing and really showing a lot of the fans what a true pro wrestler really is. So it’s really cool the influence that we’ve had and I only think it’s going to continue to grow for us.
His future in ROH: As far as my goals for Ring of Honor, again this may be a cliché answer but it’s the truth. It’s the Ring of Honor World Championship. The coolest time in my life was being the Ring of Honor World Champion. And now that Ring of Honor is on TV and not doing just traditional pay per view, were on national cable television. The company has continued to grow and grow and the people have continued to come out more and more to these events. I could not be more proud of our company and I want to lead the charge. I want to be the flagbearer. So now that I’m back from injury, I’m doing all that I can to once again to try and get in the best shape that I can in my career. I’m continuing to rehab this arm and make sure that an injury like this never happens again. Once I feel ready to go, certainly like I said going out and getting the Ring of Honor World Championship is a goal.
Cole also talks about his past training under DJ Hyde, and John Dahmer, competing for CZW and PWG and working alongside Matt Hardy. He opens up about how grown since he’s continued to develop and his success as part of Mount Rushmore and more recently The Kingdom. You can read the interview in its entirety at this link.