Adam Cole: How Shawn Michaels Played A Role In My WWE/AEW Decision

During his time in WWE NXT, Adam Cole worked closely with both Triple H and Shawn Michaels and the longest-reigning NXT Champion has previously put over how his relationship with The Heartbreak Kid helped his career "tremendously." 

Such was the closeness of their relationship that it was a big factor in Cole choosing between AEW and WWE after his contract expired, The Elite member revealed.

"That 1000 percent was a factor and a big one," Cole told Brandon F. Walker on 'Rasslin. "To this day, I do still have that relationship with Shawn. But again, I look at him as the greatest professional wrestler of all time, at least for what I like in pro wrestling. Whether he was babyface or a heel on the microphone, my favourite thing about Shawn was, when you look at him, you can say a lot of people's best matches were with Shawn Michaels and that's the ultimate compliment to Shawn Michaels.

"He was so incredibly helpful in so many different ways and I really did form a friendship with him as well. So, the idea of not seeing him every week or working with him every week was a tough pill to swallow for me. Because again, I idolise him, but fortunately we have still been able to stay in contact, which is amazing. But yeah, when I was sitting there weighing the pros and cons of what I wanted to do, the idea of not being around Shawn anymore was a factor, yeah."

Cole would ultimately decide to sign with All Elite Wrestling and he debuted in the promotion at the All Out pay-per-view in September. Cole previously noted, though, that it was a late decision to join AEW and he was weighing up his options until a couple of days before All Out.

H/T to WrestleZone