10 Wrestlers Who Can Succeed Finn Balor As NXT's Icon
5. Adam Cole
Depending on who you believe, Adam Cole has been on WWE’s radar for a very long time. With his Ring of Honor contract set to expire this December, there’s a strong chance he’ll finally make the move, and if he does, he’ll be an instant hit.
Not only is Cole a fantastic technical wrestler, but he’s one of the most charismatic performers on the North American scene today. A natural heel, Cole exudes natural cockiness in everything he does, and he already has 9 years of experience under his belt at the age of 27. There’s plenty of time for the former ROH Champion to become one of the business’s biggest bad guys, and NXT would give him the perfect platform towards mainstream exposure.
WWE would have to do very little work with Cole. Put him in the Performance Center today and he’d immediately be one of the company’s best talkers. His character work is second-to-none, and while he could likely benefit from adding some muscle mass, he already has a marketable superstar look.
Cole is already exemplary, and would be one of NXT’s most prized assets from his very first day in developmental. With the right amount of seasoning, however, he can become the arrogant heel that NXT’s main event scene is really missing at the moment, and work as a great foil for the brand’s more sympathetic characters.