Adam Cole's first WWE appearance was a result of a gigantic mishap by the company
The current NXT Champion Adam Cole recently shared an anecdote regarding his first gig in WWE. According to him, it happened only because of a mistake from WWE's part.
Adam Cole, whose real name is Austin Jenkins, had only started wrestling professionally when WWE contacted him, relay
ing their interest on him as a performer. Adam Cole received a gmail where he was contacted by the company, who wanted to bring him to FCW. WWE ended up calling a very excited Adam Cole and spoke to him for 30 minutes, where the interest was re-proclaimed.
When he received the following email, however, Adam Cole saw that the name was not his. After a quick Google search, he found out that the name belonged to another Austin, whom we know today as Xavier Woods. Adam Cole immediately contacted WWE and sent him his photo, and only then did they realize their mistake.
Adam Cole and Xavier Woods had a good laugh over the incident
WWE apologized to Adam Cole and, as an act of generosity, offered him a role as an extra in Raw or Smackdown. Cole had just started wrestling, and being an extra on national television was not a bad proposal for him. He accepted.
"I ended up being the person who was sitting at a bar, pretending to drink with (WWE wrestler) Serena Deeb. And then the Straight Edge Society came in and kicked us out of the bar and I ran away,” he said. “So I was very excited, 19-year-old me, I was very, very excited to get to do a backstage vignette on ‘SmackDown,’ drinking ginger ale with Serena."
Credits: The Wrap
When Adam Cole actually went for a tryout with WWE at FCW, he met Xavier Woods. Woods had known the story, and when Cole narrated it to him, they had a good laugh over it. Woods and Cole are buddies to this day.
Adam Cole faced The Velveteen Dream for the NXT Championship at NXT Takeover: In Your House. While Cole will extended his record NXT Championship run, The Velveteen Dream lost the last chance to win the championship.