Adam Cole Reign

[Lone Wolf]

How are you guys finding his run so far? Has it been good,average or bad for you?

I still feel he truly has not hit top gear yet with his matches and promos but it has been decent, also how much longer do you think he will hold it for?

[Mattxx87]

May 10th, 2014.

That's the date he facing the GREATEST WRESTLER THAT EVER LIVED in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

KILL!
STEEN!
KILL!!

As for his ROH World Title run, I feel it's a little flat so far. It's been somewhat overshadowed by the Jay Briscoe thing, where you know he's the champion, but someone is trying to discredit him. That's never happened before (the title had also never been vacated before, there's that). His matches have been good but not great. He got pinned at Glory by Honor after 73 minutes [Probably his best match of his whole reign thusfar because of how strong he looked, and the story it told] won at Final Battle with a roll up, and his matches with Hero haven't been anything special, winning dirty at 12th Anniversary, and (Raising the Bar Night 2)

Spoiler: show

pinned way too many times at Raising the Bar, before ultimately winning while making it seem like he survived

.

I'd give it a C- right now, but, before the end of SCOH it will be up to a B- because the title will finally be unified. All depends what happens and how his matches are at the NJPW shows. If he puts out two MOTYC, or even a ***** match, we might be talking about beating out Davey Richard's reign for 5th best all time. He could jump Steen into 4th all time, but, for me personally, that can NEVER happen because of the rebirth of the company which happened under Steen's reign. The other three (Danielson, McGuinness, Joe), he's never touching, and for reference point, I have Aries1, at 6th all time.

[Ladrao12]

It may be at Global Wars to Steen, and he's definitely in the same spot as Elgin, where it looks like they're building him for a title run (a 2nd one) but idk. If not Steen in May, maybe some time after to Elgin.

As for his current reign, it seems like his promos are doing better than his matches, which from a heel is something that should be expected. I'm sure things will pick up over the next couple of months with his matches, tag match with the Briscoes tomorrow, Jay Briscoe in a ladder war and so on.

[fm20000]

I just really haven't enjoyed it all that much. I haven't seen the Ringmaster's challenge with Hero yet, but every match just feels meh. It's like they are trying to give him Nigel's heel style reign, but it's just not working for me.

While 90% of the time ROH waits too long to put the title on someone, I think this time it was too early.

[jordidebaas]

I don't see him losing it before DBD this year. His reign hasn't been bad, but it's not great either yet, especially his matches with Hero were a bit underwhelming. But with the ladder war and matches against Steen and probably Tanahashi coming up, and in a later stadium Styles, Elgin and hopefully Paul London, it could still become really great.

[Burnside]

I like the character a lot, but his matches haven't been that great.

He put on too much muscle trying to get into WWE. Was a better wrestler when he was 10 pounds lighter.

Agree that the best match of his reign thus far was the 8-man at GBH.

Steen's not getting the belt back.

[lariat_tubman]

I've liked it so far, hasn't been perfect but I'm entertained by it. I think we should wait to fully judge til after the Briscoe feud is done.

[JigsawVs.Jason]

I really enjoy his reign thus far. He's on par of becoming one of the greatest champions in ROH history IMO. Every promo he does enhances the match he's having and highlighting the importance of that match. All of his matches as champ have been good, he still needs that outstanding wrestling match under his belt, but I'm sure that will come soon. So far, he's doing very well and I'm enjoying everything he does.

[BTW10]

Ehhh. For one thing, his title defenses just haven't been anything spectacular besides that awesome three way at Final Battle. I can do without his typical wrestling heel character too. I wish he would stand out more like he does in PWG, but ROH is serious business~! With that being said, his feud with Jay Briscoe has been really good and Ladder War should be great.

[Northwoods_Nightmare]

The matches have been average. That being said I like Cole as champion and he's made up for some of the match deficiencies with a great character and promo.
I'm of the opinion that at the moment he's the best choice for champion at the moment. Elgin possibly might have had better matches technically, but wouldn't have half the personality.

I also think a lot of the blame lies with booking his opponents. I can't say that there's been a Cole title match yet that I've considered highly anticipated other than the 3-way at Final Battle, and that one was so-so because everyone figured he'd win.

[RacingBoy]

such a missed chance first you have this long boring feud with Briscoe second he get paired up with Hardy and now with Maria and Bennett where the seem to be implying Maria is the one in charge. He's had some good matches but ROH really dropped the ball here

[sg86]

I like the Cole heel character a lot and I think his matches have been fairly good but the endings have all been overbooked so bad that they've ruined a lot of what has come before them.

[Dragon Screw]

His matches have not quite delivered yet, I am enjoying his promo work but yeah its not been a total success but matches with Briscoe and steen that are coming up should elevate it. I think he will hold the title untill the end of the summer.

[Tom123]

I'd probably have to agree with the opening poster, some good promo work but his matches haven't been that spectacular. I fully suspect/hope that after Ladder War V, Cole reign will start to hit higher gears...

I honestly think with Cole's promo work alone, he doesn't need to be associated with Matt Hardy, it's just taking some of the shine away from his title reign, I mean his promo work along with Jimmy Jacobs last November had everybody excited to see the outcome of their match. Plus this business with Briscoe has dragged on far to long. I know Delerious had done a credible job of building Jay Briscoe as a genuine title-contender, but again Cole's been overshadowed for far to long...

I've said it before and I'll say it again, Cole's full heel turn should have been cemented before his actual title-reign, probably before the world-title tournament, but what's happened as happened now... With some strong showings against the likes of Briscoe, Steen and whoever from NGPW he defends the championship against, this good well and truly put his title reign back on track again.

[Braggis]

His Title reign has been bogged down by being attached to Matt Hardy imo.

What fucking sense does it make to have your young and ambitious heel World Champ working under a washed-up ex-WWE guy? And not only that, but Matt Hardy is the lesser Hardy. If it were Jeff, I'd have an easier time buying it.

Cole was over enough on his own. He had no reason for a manager. Managers are reserved for guys who are good in-ring but can't work the mic to save their life (I'm looking at you, Michael Elgin) which clearly isn't an issue for Cole.

And hes booked like a pussy when he SHOULD be booked as a credible threat. Hes already been beaten clean by Jay Briscoe and in every match he can barely pull off wins against everyone on the roster.

Drop the Matt Hardy thing, keep him with Bennett and Maria, and make him look more credible in his matches and it might, MIGHT, be salvagable.

[Robareid]

I think what Cole is lacking is that one singles main event match where he really blows the roof off. These upcoming shows could have that. As ROH champion, you're expected to go out there and hit ***3/4 or above every night if you're champ, and Cole has done that for me.

Cole's singles main events since champ:

Adam Cole vs. Michael Elgin ***3/4
Adam Cole vs. Roderick Strong ****
Adam Cole vs. Jimmy Jacobs ****
Adam Cole vs. Jay Briscoe vs. Michael Elgin ****
Adam Cole vs. Chris Hero ***3/4
Adam Cole vs. Matt Taven ***3/4
Adam Cole vs. Chris Hero ***3/4

He's got the consistency of a champ, so for me what he needs is that one iconic defense to solidify his reign as a great reign. Could that be Cole vs. Steen? Could it be Ladder War V? Let's hope so

[DDMurdock]

Needs to be booked stronger. He can still be the heel who barely escapes with the title occasionally, but not every match.

[GardenStateSaint]

I wish he would stand out more like he does in PWG, but ROH is serious business~!

What exactly do you mean by this?

[JTCole]

I like his reign because we finally have a good long term heel champ which ROH hasn't had since Nigel. Strong was a heel I know but he has the personality of a brick and relied on Martini to draw heat anyway. And no I don't count Steen either.

[Mattxx87]

I like his reign because we finally have a good long term heel champ which ROH hasn't had since Nigel. [..] And no I don't count Steen either.

Uh...ok. Because he was a heel for four years, while being champion for eleven months, as a heel, until he slow burned a face turn from January to April 2013.

EDIT: Telling El Generico he was going to kill him at Ladder War... remember that promo?