Adam Cole Believes NXT TakeOver Match With Johnny Gargano Will Be The Best Of His Career

Adam Cole is ready to deliver at NXT TakeOver: New York.

It’s fair to say that Adam Cole wasn’t supposed to be in this position. Johnny Gargano was originally scheduled to face Tommaso Ciampa at TakeOver: New York, but a neck injury sidelined Ciampa for the foreseeable future. The NXT Title was vacated as a result and Gargano needed a new opponent. Cole won a fatal five-way, defeating Ricochet, Aleister Black, Velveteen Dream, and Matt Riddle, for the right to face Gargano for the NXT Title in a two-out-of-three falls bout. 

Speaking to ESPN, Cole discussed his upcoming NXT Title match.

“For many years, people who’ve been following both myself and Johnny Gargano, people have compared us quite a bit,” Cole said. “Two guys on very similar rises on the independents. A lot of times, we would work for different companies, but we ended up competing against each other. Pretty much from the very first match I had with Johnny, he was a guy that brought out the best in me, and I brought out the best of him.”

Cole continued, “For us to get the chance on literally the biggest TakeOver that we’ve ever had, I can promise you won’t be disappointed,” Cole said of the match. “I know the fans who have followed our careers know they’re in for something special. For people who haven’t, I could promise you it will be. It will probably be the toughest, most exciting [and] the best match of my entire career. I’m ready to show that to the world in New York.”

Cole made his NXT debut at TakeOver: Brooklyn III inside Barclays Center, the site of TakeOver: New York. At last year’s TakeOver during WrestleMania weekend, Cole became the first-ever NXT North American Champion. 

You can view the entire NXT TakeOver: New York card at Fightful’s events page.