Adam Cole has been on fire since his return to wrestling last month, but admits that he struggles with issues with self-confidence in the ring.
The former NXT Champion has been on a tear recently, and defeated Chris Jericho in a brutal Unsanctioned match at AEW Double or Nothing 2023.
He looks set to be MJF’s next challenger for the AEW Championship, which could net him his first championship title since signing for AEW almost two years ago.
Speaking on Swerve City Podcast, Cole spoke about struggling with self-confidence issues, nothing how he differs from the “Adam Cole” character that we see on screen, saying:
“For me, certainly, I think lots of times I battle with — and Shane (Swerve Strickland), I don’t know if you agree with this or not but I definitely have some self-confidence issues, even to this day, after doing it for 15 years.
“I think part of the Adam Cole character as a heel that I enjoyed so much is I was this cocky, brash, no one can touch me, I am the best in the world character that is so not who I am as a person.”
He goes on to talk about his feelings before and after a match, struggling to balance the feeling of not being good enough, and not being too cocky, following a performance in the ring.
“It’s like when I walk through that curtain, it was like I felt invincible for a second and then you walk back through and again, I think at the end of the day, it comes down to because I care and we care so much about this job that you wanna be perfect and you’re constantly chasing that perfection of whether it’d be matches or promos or what have you, you wanna be the best.
“You really, really do so I think I’m still growing and learning as time goes on but early on, it was such an internal battle constantly of being able to balance that act between always wanna better yourself and not absolutely tearing yourself apart for feeling like you’re not perfect if that makes sense.”
Adam Cole defeated Chris Jericho in an Unsanctioned Match at AEW Double or Nothing on Sunday, May 28 2023, in a match that received a mixed reception from wrestling fans.
The bout also featured the AEW debut of Sabu, although he was only a special enforcer in the match, and not a competitor.
Cole won the bout by referee stoppage, as Jericho could not protect himself from the barrage of punches coming from Adam Cole. This gave him revenge over Jericho, who attacked his girlfriend Britt Baker for weeks in the run up to the match.
You can read about the rest of the matches from Double or Nothing 2023 down below;
