Adam Cole loves a good dominant heel faction. First, he formed The Mount Rushmore of Wrestling with Kevin Steen and The Young Bucks in Pro Wrestling Guerrilla. Soon after, he formed The Kingdom with Mike Bennett, Maria Kanellis, and Matt Taven in Ring of Honor, and then joined up with a rebooted Mount Rushmore in PWG. This carried on into NXT, where he formed The Undisputed Era with Kyle O’Reilly, Bobby Fish, and Mount Rushmore 2.0 buddy Roderick Strong.
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Adam Cole’s the leader of the group, but is he the best member? Let’s take a look at five times he was obviously the standout of the UE, and five times he seemed like the weak link.
10 Best: First North American Champion
Adam Cole’s winning the North American Championship at NXT TakeOver: New Orleans in 2018 was no small feat, as he had to win a Ladder Match against big boys like Killian Dain and Lars Sullivan as well as the fast and agile Ricochet.
9 Worst: Losing It At TakeOver
Most wrestlers eventually lose their title, but Adam Cole’s loss of his title was a bit embarrassing. The Undisputed Era had control of the North American as well as the NXT Tag Team Belts going into TakeOver: Brooklyn 4, and the night had an auspicious start as Kyle O’Reilly and Roderick Strong successfully defended the Tag straps against Mustache Mountain.
However, Adam Cole lost the North American Championship to Ricochet later in the night, making him look weak in comparison. He couldn’t even win it back like the others usually could with the tag title.
8 Best: Dusty Classic 2018
On the flip side, the tag team section of The Undisputed Era always ends up getting knocked out in the first round of the (mostly) annual Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic, despite the team being very good at tag wrestling. The only time they didn’t lose was in the 2018 edition, where the final round was a triple threat between the two finalist teams and the Tag Champs, Kyle O’Reilly and Adam Cole.
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In the end, the only Dusty Classic The UE has ever won was the one Adam Cole took part in, and they technically weren’t even in the tournament.
7 Worst: Losing WarGames
The Undisputed Era has just as bad luck with WarGames matches, too, but at least they won their first. The second was in 2018, where the boys took on the team of Pete Dunne, Ricochet, and War Raiders.
It’s a great match, but not only did The UE lose the match, but Adam Cole took the pin. What’s worse is that Cole was pinned by Ricochet and Dunne at the same time.
6 Best: The Prophecy
When 2019 in NXT rolled around, Adam Cole began speaking of a prophecy that The Undisputed Era would be “draped in gold” by the year’s end, and it came true.
First Roddy did it by beating Velveteen Dream for the North American Championship, then Kyle and Bobby won the Tag Belts from Mustache Mountain. Finally, Adam Cole attained the NXT Championship, cementing The UE’s dominance and leading his whole stable to victory.
5 Worst: Losing WarGames Again
Adam Cole has the worst luck in WarGames. In The Undisputed Era’s 1-2 WarGames record, Adam Cole has taken the pin in both of their losses. The second loss in 2019 is even more disastrous than the first one.
First of all, Cole’s old Mount Rushmore compatriot Kevin Owens showed up to oppose him by revealing himself as the mystery member of the other team. What’s worse, Tommaso Ciampa pinned Cole after an Air Raid Crash from off the top of the cage and through a couple of tables.
4 Best: First Double Champion (Technically)
When Adam Cole filled in for Bobby Fish in the finals of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic, he was also the NXT North American Championship at the same time, therefore arguably making him NXT’s first double champion, as The UE were also the Tag Champs.
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Also, to Cole’s credit, he personally never lost the Tag Titles, as Roderick Strong held the straps with Kyle O’Reilly thanks to the ever-useful Freebird Rule.
3 Worst: Not Winning the Vacant NXT Title
The Undisputed Era’s road to fulfilling Adam Cole’s prophecy was not an easy one. Fish and O’Reilly had to wait for The War Raiders to leave NXT and leave the NXT Tag Titles up for grabs while Roderick Strong chased the North American Title. Adam Cole, meanwhile, had to beat Johnny Gargano in a 2/3 Falls Match for the NXT Championship after Tommaso Ciampa vacated it.
It should have been easy, as Gargano’s thing is losing valiantly, but Cole ended up failing to capture it, and failing in a huge main event.
2 Best: Longest Reigning NXT Champion
It took Adam Cole half a year to capture the NXT Championship, but to his credit, he’s thus far been able to keep it. More than that, Cole has cemented himself as the longest-reigning NXT Champion in history, surpassing the records of Finn Balor, Adrian Neville, Bo Dallas, and Tommaso Ciampa.
Moreover, he’s the longest-reigning champion of any member of The Undisputed Era.
1 Worst: Got Fooled By Velveteen Dream
Earlier in 2020, Velveteen Dream decided to start feuding with Roderick Strong by airbrushing the faces of Strong’s wife and child on his gear, Rick Rude style. This climaxed with a steel cage match that Strong won, but only because Dream let him win.
Instead, while the rest of The Undisputed Era interfered, Dream took the opportunity to lock himself inside the cage with Adam Cole and earn himself a title opportunity in the easiest way: by flogging Cole with a kendo stick. This not only seamlessly transitioned into a title feud but felt like Adam Cole lost the feud on Roddy’s behalf.
