10 Things We Learned From Adam Cole On Renee Paquette’s Oral Sessions Podcast

10. How Karate Got Him Into Wrestling

Bet you weren't expecting this as an opening entry.

Cole was super-into karate as a kid, and it was that zest for martial arts that led to a love of pro wrestling. One day, he told Renee, young Adam showed up for class early to find his instructor already jogging on a treadmill. He was watching something on tv too: Monday Night Raw.

On-screen, Adam could see Kane and Steve Austin putting Paul Bearer down a sewer (he didn't know who any of them were at the time). His instructor noticed Cole watching, and asked if he watched wrestling regularly. Lying to look cool, the future World Champ said, "Oh, I watch it all the time".

That'd be true soon enough. The same instructor taped WrestleMania XV on VHS for him, Cole's mother gave such tape-trading the green light and Adam became infatuated with the industry. That might never have happened had he not rocked up early for karate class.