Adam Cole Discusses His Royal Rumble Appearance and Compares the Tokyo Dome and NXT Crowds

Adam Cole is no stranger to pulling double duty.

At NXT TakeOver: New Orleans, Cole participate in the six-man ladder match to crown to inaugural North American champion. Later in the night, he competed in a three-way tag team bout. 

Back in January, he fought Aleister Black at NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia. The following night, he made a surprise appearance in the WWE Royal Rumble.

Speaking to Sam Roberts on the Sam Roberts Wrestling Podcast, Cole talked about his WWE debut and how much that moment meant to him.

"I found out last minute. The first wrestling show I ever went to was in (the Wells Fargo Center). The first WrestleMania I ever watched was in Philly. I trained to be a pro wrestler in Philadelphia. So many things mean so much to me coming out of Philadelphia. To be able to make my Royal Rumble debut in Philadelphia, I was like, 'Great career, Adam. That's it.'" 

Cole continued by saying he made sure to soak in the crowd's reaction at the Royal Rumble. 

The current NXT North American champion has been in front of big crowds before. He competed at Wrestle Kingdom 11, defeating current stablemate Kyle O'Reilly to capture the ROH World title. He noted the difference between the Wrestle Kingdom crowd and your typical TakeOver audience.

"The Tokyo Dome is so many people. But it's so large, you almost, I don't want to say feel disconnected, but they are so far away, that even when they would react, it was on a second or two delay.

"A lot of these arenas are so cool and the NXT fans are so great, that they are so loud. You feel like you're in this intimate, small atmosphere. They do feel like they're on top of you." 

When asked about the pressure to carry the NXT brand, Cole believed that's what makes the product so great.

"There absolutely is that pressure. But when guys move to Raw and SmackDown, that's what keeps NXT relevant and fans invested. They're now conditioned to know that, whoever leaves and whoever comes in, NXT as a product is going give really exciting sports entertainment. Every time. 

That's when everyone is at their best. When you have pressure and you have something to work towards or something to compare yourself to or try to best."

Cole hasn't been bothered by the pressure thus far, stealing the show every time he's in the ring at TakeOver.