Adam Cole Reveals Near Disaster During WWE NXT Debut

Originally posted on Wrestling on SI | By Ryan Droste | Last updated Apr 12, 2025 11:10 AM ET

Adam Cole was an integral part of the WWE NXT brand while part of the company from 2017 until 2021, but as he revealed in a new interview, it almost got off to a very poor start.

Cole's debut happened at NXT TakeOver Brooklyn III in August 2017. He attacked Drew McIntyre, who was the NXT Champion at the time, and aligned himself with Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reilly. That group would become the Undisputed Era.

These days, Cole is famous for wearing Air Jordan 1s to the ring, but on that night, he was wearing dress shoes and jeans. And it almost caused disaster.

"I don't know if I've ever told this story before," Cole told Ringer Wrestling Worldwide. "Huge night for me. I know I'm going to be involved in this major angle, kicking Drew McIntyre. I'm nervous. I'm excited. The adrenaline going through my body in that moment was wild.

"I remember coming down in jeans and dress shoes, and not even really thinking about it. There are so much other stuff going through my mind. As I'm going down and the crowd is reacting, I feel my adrenaline building. My legs are getting a little jello-y, my hands are tingling. I'm so excited.

"When I go to get into the ring, I do almost fall. The camera didn't catch it. I'm so glad I didn't fall. Could you imagine? Debut, just fall on my face, how wild that would have been. I was so excited that when I went to go in and run with dress shoes and jeans, I almost lose my balance but I caught myself, thank goodness.

"At that point, I was like, 'Never again am I going to be wearing jeans and dress shoes.' I've done quite a few run ins in jeans, but I at least have to wear comfy shoes or something with a little more grip. That was terrifying. That could have ended really poorly."

Later in the interview, Cole revealed that it was Britt Baker who got him into wearing Air Jordans and the sneaker culture in general. Cole is now a member of the AEW roster. He defeated Daniel Garcia for the AEW TNT Championship this past Sunday at AEW Dynasty.

This article first appeared on Wrestling on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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