Adam Cole's expected NJPW tenure

[supersonic]

Expected to begin in August per Meltzer.

[ICHIFUJI]

Super J Cup ?

[Big Red Machine]

Super J Cup ?

I think they want him to be a heavyweight

[monster mafia]

[supersonic]

Observer:

It was New Japan’s decision have Adam Cole and Adam Page join The Bullet Club on shows they were involved with, and both will be working Japan as part of the club, both starting this summer.

The other members of The Bullet Club were the ones who made the suggestion for Cole. Primarily The Young Bucks asked and pushed for it. Matt Jackson was one of the key people as far as the design and layout of the angle at the end of the PPV. Cole makes sense since Bullet Club lost key people and with Kenny Omega moving to heavyweight, there was a spot open for a singles junior heavyweight. Page was a surprise. ROH has tried to elevate him from being a nobody, but it’s not like he caught on in a big way with the fan base. It was almost like one of those NWO additions that felt like it weakened the concept. But ultimately, Page was a New Japan call and had already been booked as part of the group on an upcoming tour, and it was Gedo who wanted him there.

Cole hadn’t been booked for any ROH shows this week, but that was all part of the angle where the tease was that he was fed up with ROH and leaving. He’s actually under contract until April, 2017.

But it is true that WWE has a strong interest in him, more than almost anyone on the indie scene. But that’s a story for next year’s Mania season as a lot can happen between now and then.

Unlike others who they were looking at to have on the roster, WWE has seen Cole as an NXT headliner to start out with. Cole had a tryout and did well, a few years ago and it was thought by almost everyone in NXT that he was a lock for a job. But the decision was made to pass on him. There was a lot of second guessing because at roughly the same time Cole and Adam Scherr (Braun Strowman) got tryouts and everyone who saw the tryouts figured Cole was a lock to be signed and Scherr was so awful and blew up so fast and showed nothing and the feeling was he didn’t have a prayer of being signed. But Paul Levesque saw Scherr and his size as a project and he was signed. Cole wasn’t signed, but every indication was that he was almost universally praised.

William Regal did an interview in the U.K. months back talking about someone who was very good and that they had interest in, but passed on, thinking he facially looked too young. He noted one of the key things Paul Levesque wants is that people look like they can beat someone up in a real fight. The idea was that Levesque said the guy was good, but in his case, let him age a few years so he doesn’t look like a teenager and gets a more older, tougher, adult look and looks tougher and gets a little bigger, and let him get experience at the top of the cards on the indies since he was already an indie star. In a few years, he’ll be ready and everyone will be better off in the long run. Then he can come in and be pushed while having already had years of experience as a headliner.

It was never actually said this person was Cole, but the belief in the industry is that is who they were talking about. Also the belief is that they came to the conclusion that person was ready and looked the way they wanted him to and were interested, but he was under contract. But obviously based on booking, New Japan has interest in Cole for the long-term, which puts him in a great position when his deal is up. At that point, who knows where TNA would fit in.

[monster mafia]

pretty great for adam page

great news we have adam cole for another year in roh

[DXvsNWO1994]

So basically it was NJPW's idea to have Cole & Page in The Bullet Club....

[monster mafia]

So basically it was NJPW's idea to have Cole & Page in The Bullet Club....

i hope roh can play her game in this storyline..but idk anymore if that is good or bad

[JigsawVs.Jason]

great for Page, great for NJPW and great for Adam Cole, fantastic news all around!

[supersonic]

For what little its worth, Adam Cole when directly asked by Larry Dallas on Sirius XM's Busted Open about lockerroom feelings/morale concerning NJPW/Bullet Club stuff, whether people were jealous of others getting opportunities, etc. gave one of the most rehearsed, ROH office answers I've ever heard. Basically hit every bullet point about how great the lockerroom was, supporting one another, etc. Felt like he knew the question was coming and knew what to say...

Also, Meltzer said his deal was up Apr 2017, Bauer said Dec. 2016. Either way, he's got the bland corporate PR answers down pat, he'll fit in great in WWE.

[supersonic]

Rovert also posted a reminder that the Bucks deal ends in December. I believe Bauer more than Meltzer about Cole's deal based on him breaking the big story 4 months ago.

In addition, last I heard, Omega is on the typical NJPW deal through January.

With that in mind, more Bullet Club invasion of WWE on Royak Rumble weekend?

[WHG]

If Cole signed a 2 year deal, it would end in Dec 2016. The question is whether ROH deals work like WWE deals where injury time needs to be made up at the end of the contract. Cole missed the first 4 months of 2015, which would line up pretty close with Meltzer's timeline.

I believe Dave because he initially said he didn't know when Cole's deal was up and then came back with "11 months." That sounds like he got pretty specific info from someone.

[supersonic]

http://www.sportingnews.com/wwe/news/ad ... 54y6w1yck2

[Mr. Mojo Risin]

Interesting stuff there. Cole is not only the overall best wrestler ROH has, but he's now their best backstage politician. You don't need to read between the lines, that Gedo is a major force on ROH's booking with respect to NJPW storylines, hence the continual jobbing of ROH talent to NJPW talent. Now, ROH contracted talent is going to Gedo to use NJPW booking for leverage on ROH storylines. And who is completely absent from the Cole interview? Delirious. I give Cole credit. He has the standard company lines down to a science as far as giving the pad answers in interviews.

[JTCole]

Adam Cole looking like a teenager isn't what makes him look not very tough in my eyes, it's his size.

Having said that I love Cole but he really shouldn't be booked like a total badass anyway. Not totally chickenshit either.

[Mr. Mojo Risin]

I agree with that. He should play up the cocky mother fucker attitude as I believe that suits him the best.

[187_Joeism]

I loved this part, he is on point, i'ts 2016 for fuck's sake, let the crowd decide who they want to cheer

Spoiler: show

SN: There were some people after the big angle that were upset that you and the others from the Bullet Club were not playing the role of heels. That's a big question right now in wrestling, not only here but also in WWE with several people. What are your thoughts on the role of heels and babyfaces in today's wrestling world?

AC: I'm glad you brought that up because, definitely, you can see across the board, not just even in Ring of Honor or New Japan but also in the WWE. A lot more now there's a focus on that shades of gray, guys becoming stars and becoming as popular as they can whether they're being cheered or whether they're being booed and almost letting the fans make the decision of who they like and who they want to cheer for and who they want to support. A perfect example is if myself and Jay Lethal wrestle for the ROH World Title. I can almost guarantee you that the crowd is going to be split 50-50. There's a lot of those moments in Ring of Honor now. Same with Jay Lethal and Jay Briscoe, same with myself and Kyle O'Reilly.

[Thelone]

Shades of gray... Does anyone even understand what this means anymore ?

[187_Joeism]

Shades of gray... Does anyone even understand what this means anymore ?

Let the crowd decide who they want to cheer, is pretty easy to understand. Right now you don´t have real heels anymore in wrestling so is not the worst option.

[Thelone]

You need strong babyfaces for the heels to get some kind of heat. Of course ROH has none of that so the heels are wildly cheered when they beat up half the roster.

Nowadays, this "shades of gray" bullshit might as well just mean "I'm a shitty booker who can't even get the basics right".