As the longest running NXT champion in WWE history, amassing an impressive record of 403 days with the gold, Adam Cole now finds himself away from the title picture, and yet he’s heading toward a bitter grudge match that could turn out to be the most significant match of his career so far.
Pat McAfee, the former Indiana Colts player, has been a thorn in Adam’s side since he first appeared as a broadcast journalist in WWE. During the last several months, Pat has made a series of jibes and insults regarding the Undisputed Era captain’s stature. On a recent episode of NXT, Pat took things further when he managed to cheap shot Cole, and so all hell will likely break loose when the two enemies finally collide at TakeOver XXX on Aug. 22.
This will be Pat’s first in-ring appearance, a daunting challenge for just about any competitor. Add to that the fact that Adam has been called “the next Shawn Michaels” by many in the industry—a comparison that shouldn’t be taken lightly—and it’ll be interesting to see how the former football player fares in the squared circle.
And even though Cole has years of experience on his opponent, he’s not taking anything for granted either.
Muscle & Fitness was granted an exclusive interview with Adam just days out from what has become a fight for bragging rights as he wrestles for respect. We found out that the 31-year-old from Lancaster, PA is taking great care of his physical and mental health, and could even be described as training with some of the old “ruthless aggression.”
Adam Cole vs. Pat McAfee will go down at NXT TakeOver XXX on Aug. 22 on WWE Network. For more information visit WWE.com.
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Courtesy WWE
He refuses to be a victim
As today’s society calls for greater tolerance and acceptance, Pat McAfee’s constant remarks about Adam being too light or too short could be considered bullying in many circles. But as a former NXT champion, and one of the greatest to ever step between the ropes, Adam doesn’t need people’s sympathy.
“A lot of what he’s said could be considered bullying, but the only problem is that I’m not going to allow myself to be bullied. When we do get into the ring, I’m going to teach him a lesson,” says Adam.
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Courtesy WWE
Ignoring the trolls
As one of wrestling’s most talked about athletes, Adam receives praise from social media followers, but along with the positives come the negative views and trolls. Going into TakeOver XXX, the 31-year-old has developed a mature approach to handling the naysayers.
“I can’t think of a time before [social media] where literally everyone who has the internet can go online and choose to say either really nice things, or really nasty things to people. If truth be told, and this is being completely transparent, early on it used to really bother me if I had a match that I was proud of and just one person said they hated it, it would bother me for days. As you grow older, and you mature a little bit more, you’ve gotta learn to develop a bit more of a thicker skin…The nice messages, and the kind ones are also out there. Social media is a powerful thing, but sometimes people are just trying to get attention and they just need to be ignored,” says Adam.
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Courtesy WWE
Training for longevity
McAfee hasn’t wrestled yet in NXT, so he will be in for a shock to the system when he tries to hang with one of the promotion’s most epic combatants. What Adam lacks in size, he more than makes up for in sheer stamina and conditioning.
“Especially some of those matches I’ve had with Johnny Gargano, who is just like an absolute machine, we’ve had 45- and 50-minute matches. Even before I came to NXT, I had a 92-minute match so cardio has always been something that is really important, and then believe it or not, now that I’m a little bit older, yoga is something that has helped me tremendously. It’s helped me so much with conditioning as well. I think breathing was something that I didn’t focus on as much as I should. If I can get someone tired, that is something that really works for me,” says Adam.
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Courtesy WWE
Cole is digging down deep
As NXT’s longest-ever reigning champion, Adam knows that chasing greatness requires immense effort. For that reason, he embraces methods of training that he might not necessarily enjoy, but he’s willing to dig down deep because he understands their value.
“Burpees is something that I love to do, just because I hate them so much,” he says with a laugh. “So, if I have a big match like this coming up, I will make myself do a bunch of burpees. Once again, because my body hates them so my brain tells me ‘hey, ok, this is great.’ I’ve never been the best swimmer, but we have a pool here [at home] so I am trying to get better at swimming as that’s also a great cardio workout.”
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Courtesy WWE
Trying new things
Rather than being set in his ways, Adam is always eager to learn new ways to train and get an edge over his opponent. In training for Johnny Gargano, Adam discovered the benefits of wearing an altitude mask. It’s a tool that he’s using as he prepares for TakeOver XXX.
“The altitude mask has been huge. The first person that I saw using that was [fellow Undisputed Era member] Kyle O’Reilly. Similar to yoga, it just forces you to focus on your breathing. So that’s absolutely been something that I am utilizing leading into this match with Pat because he’s a guy that has not had a wrestling match before. He’s not a pro wrestler and it’s a very humbling experience when you’re in there with someone and they make you tired, and I’m very excited for Pat getting tired,” says Adam.
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A note on nutrition
Right now, it’s fair to say that Adam is in the perhaps the leanest shape of his pro wrestling career. Keeping a handle on nutrition when you’re a world-traveling pro wrestler is no easy feat, but Adam knows that good nutrition is the fuel that drives success.
“There are times when I’m focused on putting on weight so I will increase carbohydrates and get more strength training in. Then there are those other times, with a big match coming up that might go long, so I’m worried more about conditioning. For me, generally, both of my parents were runners and I have an incredibly fast metabolism…lots of times when we’re on the road and driving late through the night we eat somewhere like Chipotle where we can double up on the protein portions, get the vegetables, and the and brown rice in there. If we stop somewhere, we will make sure we pickup some protein bars,” he says.
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Courtesy WWE
He’s not holding back
Many pro wrestling fans are speculating that a move to Raw or SmackDown, the WWE’s top brands, may be in the near future for Adam. Whether or not he stays with NXT or moves to one of the other brands, Adam is not holding back as he prepares to give Pat a rude awakening. Adam intends to show a non-wrestler how things are done.
“I would never, in a million years, say to you or anybody that I could walk on an NFL football field tomorrow and knock it out of the park…it’s not my world. The fact that Pat has tricked himself into thinking that he can somehow step into the ring with the longest reigning NXT champion of all-time, a guy who has been doing this at the highest level for over 12 years, and he somehow thinks that there’s a possibility that this is going to go well [for him], just proves how absolutely delusional he is…I’m going to make sure that this is his first and his last match.”
