10 Unexpected Origins Of Wrestling Characters
6. Adam Cole Draws Influence From...
While it's a very good listen - when he doesn't platform ar*eholes or indulge the fantasies of the deranged - there's always a perversely funny and awkward moment on Talk Is Jericho when the host interviews an AEW recruit fresh off their debut.
"So why do you want to work with here?" Jericho asks, pitched somewhere between David Frost and Dee Reynolds.
"Well, you of course. And I'm not just blowing smoke up your ass. Beyond that..."
Pleased with the response, Jericho will then pursue a new line of enquiry.
This is almost verbatim how the conversation between Jericho and Adam Cole went when Cole hopped on the show in September last year, but they also covered other topics - like the inspiration behind Cole's wrestling character.
Now, you might think that Shawn Michaels was the primary influence behind Cole's act: Cole is a superkick devotee, is very melodramatic in the spaces between moves, and is effectively Shawn's doppelgänger.
However, Cole was so taken with Jericho's cry of "Baby!" when pinning his foes with one foot that he built his eternally popular call-and-response around his wildly over-the-top enunciation.