AEW's Adam Cole on Ankle Injury, Why Entrance Music Is Everything, Video Games, More

For the majority of 2024, Adam Cole was watching his friends in All Elite Wrestling from the sidelines while healing from a brutal ankle injury.

Spending over a year on the shelf would be hard for any athlete, and the process was especially difficult due to Cole needing a cadaver bone to repair his ankle.

The 35-year-old wrestler had a community on Twitch to keep him company while he spent his free time playing video games. He spoke in our previous interview about how the support from fans helped keep him focused on his return.

Now, Cole is back with his allies in The Undisputed Kingdom and looking to make up for lost time in 2025.

We spoke to the former ROH world champion about how his ankle is holding up, his goals with The Undisputed Kingdom, entrance music, video games and much more.

For over a year, Cole had to watch from home as his fellow AEW wrestlers performed. There was even doubt that he would be able to wrestle again, but a cadaver bone replacement has given him a new lease on life.

"I feel the best that I've felt physically and mentally in years," Cole said. "I know when I was first coming back from injury, it was a little concerning to get out of my own head and try not to think about it, or think about what I was going to have to change or how I was going to adapt.

"But I swear to god, with my ankle taped up in my boots, I don't even think about my ankle when I'm in there. I absolutely feel 100%."

Cole has always worked a physically demanding style, so a lot of fans wondered if returning from such a brutal injury would require him to change how he wrestles. Thankfully, that has not been the case.

"That was a real discussion I was having with myself when I was coming back," he said. "Wondering if there were things I was going to have to change or if I was going to adapt, which I was prepared and ready for. But fortunately, based on being back for a few months, I feel as good as ever."

For most of his time in pro wrestling, Cole has been associated with a group of some kind. There was Bullet Club in Ring of Honor and NJPW, there was The Undisputed Era in NXT, and now he has The Undisputed Kingdom in AEW.

While working as a member of a stable has led to some success as a team, the 35-year-old has also been able to achieve individual success.

"I do really enjoy the idea of being in a faction for so many different reasons," Cole said. "First of all, specifically, if I were to talk about Kyle O'Reilly and Roderick Strong, these two guys are two of my legitimate best friends. With or without wrestling, these guys would be a huge part of my life.

"So the fact that I get to share that love and that passion for pro wrestling with two guys I think the world of just makes the experience better for me.

"I absolutely have singles goals and things I want to do here in AEW, which I do think is possible within a faction to focus not just on the team but yourself as well. So I have some singles aspirations in All Elite Wrestling, but also have some trios aspirations as well."

Cole, KOR and Strong recently challenged The Death Riders for the trios titles, but their first attempt was unsuccessful. That has not deterred them from their mission of winning trios gold.

"I love that idea," Cole said. "Especially after getting so close to winning the Trios Championships the last time we challenged for them.

"I really feel like the combination of me, Kyle O'Reilly and Roderick Strong really could be the best trio in all AEW, so winning the trios titles would be awesome and I know it's a goal we all have."

Every wrestler has a few signature things that help them stand out from the pack. Having a unique finishing move is important, as is having a memorable look, but one of the biggest parts of any presentation is a wrestler's entrance music.

"I think it is seriously one of the most important aspects," Cole said. "When you look at pro wrestling as a whole, this is entertainment. And I think the theme song for the pro wrestler just completely sets the tone going forward in that match or in that interview.

"I know for me, when I was nine years old and first got into wrestling as a fan, I was more into the entrance themes than I was into the matches. It just builds the anticipation and hype for what you are about to see and who you are about to see."

When asked who has his favorite entrance theme in AEW other than himself, Cole took a moment to think.

"Do you know whose theme song I really enjoy?" He asked. "Danny Garcia. I think he has a really cool song. It's super catchy. I catch myself singing it a lot."

Pro wrestling seems to go in waves, and right now, it seems like the industry as a whole is in a healthy place. Fans have more options than ever with AEW, NJPW, WWE, TNA and numerous international companies all putting on great work. When asked if this is the best time to be a wrestler, Cole didn't hesitate for a second.

"Without question," Cole said. "It's a fact. Since I've started wrestling, this absolutely is the best time to not only be a wrestler, but to be a wrestling fan.

"It's so incredible to see so much great pro wrestling across the board. All the opportunities that so many different wrestlers are getting. It feels like a golden age, or like a boom period for pro wrestling. I love that. It makes me so so happy.

"2025 At this moment, this has been the most exciting time to be a wrestler or a fan."

Cole has worked in a lot of different promotions during his time as a wrestler, but there is a company he didn't get to spend much time with that he would like to revisit down the line, and thanks to AEW's working relationship with that company, it's a very real possibility.

"The one for sure that I think I would love to do is I definitely want to go back to New Japan. I got the chance to wrestle there a few times and I got to do a Wrestle Kingdom show, which was amazing.

"But then right as I started going to Japan more often is when I left, so I was not able to continue going to Japan. So now that I'm back in All Elite Wrestling, the idea of being able to go over and wrestle for New Japan again is very high up on my list."

If you have been following Cole's career for a while, then you know video games are almost as big a part of his life as professional wrestling. He has built a following by streaming on Twitch for several years and doesn't seem to show any signs of slowing down.

"I'm streaming on Twitch at Twitch.tv/thechugs and we have a blast over there," Cole said. "I'm currently going through a five-game cycle because I like so many different genres of games.

"So what I'm playing is The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, Dark Souls 2, this awesome Metroidvania called Ender Magnolia, and maybe my favorite game in the five-game cycle is the Silent Hill 2 remake."

Cole also covered which games he is looking forward to playing when they come out, why Arthur Morgan from Red Dead Redemption 2 is one of the best gaming protagonists of all time, and his plans to finish playing It Takes Two with fellow streamer GrandPooBear.

We always end our AEW interviews with a movie review, and with Cole being such an avid gamer, it felt appropriate that he chose to talk about the newest movie starring Sega's favorite hedgehog.

"I recently finally watched the Sonic 3 movie," Cole said. "The Sonic movie are excellent. Not to bring it back to gaming, but I'm just so happy that the adaptations from video games to movies and TV shows have improved and gotten so so good.

"Keanu Reeves was a great Shadow, and Jim Carrey is an incredible Robotnik. I think from all the Sonic movies, I've seen them all, the third one is the best one. It's a great movie. Highly recommended."

All quotes were edited for clarity and conciseness. You can listen to Cole's complete answers in the videos included. You can follow Cole on Twitter/X @AdamColePro and you can follow Chris Mueller @BR_Doctor.