



Yes, he is now a member of the infamous Bullet Club.



But Cole now joins Austin Aries and Jay Briscoe as the only two-time RoH World Champions.



On August 17 at Death Before Dishonor XIV, Cole defeated Jay Lethal to start his second reign as champion.



He will bring the championship with him as he and Ring of Honor return to Stage AE on September 16.



The Swerve Magazine recently spoke with the new champ about this title reign, joining the Bullet Club and his upcoming work with New Japan Pro Wrestling



The Swerve Magazine: It must have been a crazy last couple of weeks for you winning the Ring of Honor World Championship for the second time.



Adam Cole: It has been crazy, but a good crazy. I’m excited for it. I’m ready for it. This is what I live for. The busier I am, the more I like it. When I have a lot of downtime, I don’t know what to do with myself.



SM: As long as you get a little bit of time to take it all in.



AC: This second time around has certainly been better for that. The first time, I was 23 and still a kid. So, this time, I can enjoy it a little bit more.



SM: You join quite the prestigious group of winning the Ring of Honor Championship for the second time.



AC: I am the third guy ever to win the Ring of Honor title for the second time. It is pretty cool. The list of Ring of Honor Champions is already a very prestigious list. If you look at the names of Bryan Danielson (Daniel Bryan), CM Punk, Seth Rollins (Tyler Black), Nigel McGuinness, Samoa Joe and the list goes on and on. The reason the championship means so much is because of the men who have held the title. Then you look at the other class of those guys that were not only able to carry it once, but twice. The fact that I am in that class of guys to me means my name will be synonymous with Ring of Honor forever. So, to not only have that reward, but that responsibility of being a two-time champion is humbling. It is something that makes me very confident going forward.



SM: Like you said, you have more experience this time around.



AC: When I won the Ring of Honor World Championship for the first time, I was 23. I was scared to death. Maybe I didn’t project that on-screen, but in real life when I would go home or go back to the hotel room, the pressure of being Ring of Honor World Championship was so overwhelming for me that I didn’t get to enjoy it.

Adam Cole is in a very prestigious group of professional wrestlers.Yes, he is now a member of the infamous Bullet Club.But Cole now joins Austin Aries and Jay Briscoe as the only two-time RoH World Champions.On August 17 at Death Before Dishonor XIV, Cole defeated Jay Lethal to start his second reign as champion.He will bring the championship with him as he and Ring of Honor return to Stage AE on September 16.The Swerve Magazine recently spoke with the new champ about this title reign, joining the Bullet Club and his upcoming work with New Japan Pro WrestlingThe Swerve Magazine: It must have been a crazy last couple of weeks for you winning the Ring of Honor World Championship for the second time.Adam Cole: It has been crazy, but a good crazy. I’m excited for it. I’m ready for it. This is what I live for. The busier I am, the more I like it. When I have a lot of downtime, I don’t know what to do with myself.SM: As long as you get a little bit of time to take it all in.AC: This second time around has certainly been better for that. The first time, I was 23 and still a kid. So, this time, I can enjoy it a little bit more.SM: You join quite the prestigious group of winning the Ring of Honor Championship for the second time.AC: I am the third guy ever to win the Ring of Honor title for the second time. It is pretty cool. The list of Ring of Honor Champions is already a very prestigious list. If you look at the names of Bryan Danielson (Daniel Bryan), CM Punk, Seth Rollins (Tyler Black), Nigel McGuinness, Samoa Joe and the list goes on and on. The reason the championship means so much is because of the men who have held the title. Then you look at the other class of those guys that were not only able to carry it once, but twice. The fact that I am in that class of guys to me means my name will be synonymous with Ring of Honor forever. So, to not only have that reward, but that responsibility of being a two-time champion is humbling. It is something that makes me very confident going forward.SM: Like you said, you have more experience this time around.AC: When I won the Ring of Honor World Championship for the first time, I was 23. I was scared to death. Maybe I didn’t project that on-screen, but in real life when I would go home or go back to the hotel room, the pressure of being Ring of Honor World Championship was so overwhelming for me that I didn’t get to enjoy it.



I actually enjoyed it more that it was over. I was like, “Oh cool, I did that.” I enjoyed it after it happened.



This second time, I’m prepared, mentally and physically.



That night that I won the championship, I got to appreciate it. It is the finest honor in pro wrestling.



SM: And your feud with Jay Lethal was something pretty special too. It wasn’t a long story. It was a relatively short story with these concise plot points. Some other places, not naming names, seem to get lost in stories that are overly complicated.



AC: I’m really glad you brought that up because I was just talking about this the other day. If you look at a couple other storylines I’ve had with Jay Briscoe and Kyle O’Reillly, we had a lot of time to play with to tell those stories. Which is great. For an artist or a pro-wrestler, it is great to have more things to play with when you are trying to tell a story where you are trying to create peaks and valleys.



With the Adam Cole/Jay Lethal story, we did not have much time to prep this story. We didn't have a lot of time to play with. I and Jay had to pack in a lot of really compelling stuff in a short amount of time. We kept it very simple. And if you look at the feud between me and Jay Lethal, it is a very traditional heel versus babyface storyline with good peaks and valleys. Working with Jay, somebody as talented as him, really made this entire process easier for me. It also made it a lot of fun.



SM: Do you think that with longer feuds there is a tendency to get lost in the details? Your feud of Jay Lethal was direct and to the point.



AC: I think sometimes guys try too hard. And don’t get me wrong, coming up with new stories and new ways to tell pieces of those stories is good because you always want to change and evolve in wrestling. But sometimes, people get lost in the idea of just sticking to that simple formula of good versus evil. Or the babyface wanting to get revenge on and the bad guy trying to get what he wants.





