"He got to learn from Hunter" - WWE legend credits Triple H for polishing top AEW star's career
WWE Hall of Famer Bully Ray has praised the work of Triple H for making AEW star Adam Cole the man that he is today.
The former WWE star is currently on the road to recovery at the time of writing, but his AEW so far has been very successful. In fact, in 2022 alone, every one of his pay-per-view matches has had something major on the line. These include The AEW World Championship at Revolution, the Owen Hart Cup at Double or Nothing, and the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship at Forbidden Door.
Cole returned to AEW programming this week on Dynamite but he is reportedly not medically cleared to compete yet.
The 33-year-old star had arguably his biggest run in wrestling while part of NXT from 2017 through to 2021, where he won the NXT Championship and was one of the brand's top stars.
1X NXT champion (the longest)
1X NXT North American champion
1X NXT tag team champion (freebird rule)
7X NXT year end awards
Second NXT triple crown winner.
A main roster win over Bryan Danielson
Adam Coleβs WWE run was fantastic https://t.co/2l8VybCwqD
Speaking on the most recent edition of Busted Open Radio, Bully Ray was asked who would win if Adam Cole and Hangman Page faced off again, to which Ray picked Cole because he got to work with Triple H.
βI am a huge fan of both of those guys. If I had to give the edge to somebody, I would give it to Adam Cole, just because of the time he spent in NXT and the fact that he got to learn from Hunter [Triple H] and Shawn Michaels," said Bully Ray."That puts his psychology a step ahead of an Adam Page, but how does that benefit Adam Page? Heβll be able to be in there with Cole who understands that psychology a little bit more.β [13:57-14:25]
Ray continued by stating that he would love guys who jump ship from WWE to come to AEW to bring with them the psychology that they learnt while they worked for the former.
βSometimes in AEW, I see veterans come in and work the AEW style but donβt apply the psychology that they have. Iβd love to see some of these veterans from the WWE force the AEW wrestlers to incorporate more psychology in to the AEW style. Mind you, Iβm not saying-the AEW guy can do all of his things, all of his moves, work your style, but just work your style in a way that makes more sense," Bully Ray added. [14:29-15:04]
Triple H made an attempt to sign Hangman Page to NXT while Adam Cole was still there
One of the biggest what-ifs in professional wrestling was what if The Elite joined WWE back in 2019 rather than forming AEW with Tony Khan? The wrestling world would have been very different, and the likes of Hangman Page would have ended up in NXT with Adam Cole.
Imagine if Hangman Page, Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks signed with NXT back in 2019.
They probably would've been released by now.
One person who recalled this time in wrestling was Matt Hardy, who knew that Triple H wanted to sign all of The Elite and put Hangman Page in NXT. He spoke about it on his The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy podcast earlier this year.
"I didnβt talk to Adam Page, I did talk to the Young Bucks a lot because they were also in negotiations," said Matt Hardy. "WWE was trying to get all these guys (...) Triple H was all over those guys (...) They offered these guys a ton of money (...) because they really wanted to secure them," said Matt Hardy.
What do you think Hangman Page would have learnt from Triple H if he went to NXT? Let us know in the comments section down below!
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