AEW's Adam Cole Explains Why He Turned Babyface Upon His Return From Injury

Adam Cole made his surprise return to AEW television last month, announcing that after dealing with serious side effects from concussions, he's finally cleared to return to in-ring competition. Cole's promo and subsequent vignettes have taken a much more upbeat, babyface approach compared to the heelish role he'd been playing since arriving in AEW at All Out 2021. He talked about the decision to make the switch in a new interview with the Wrestling Observer this week. 

"In this particular situation, if I would have come through with a different approach of cutting a heel promo or acting like a heel right from the return, we would have been fighting upstream. It was one of those things where, of course, the fans were going to be excited and be behind you, especially when they hear the story. In that sense, that process has been easier," Cole explained (h/t Fightful). "In general, I have been a heel for 95% of my entire career. I've talked like a heel and wrestled like a heel for a really long time. To even step outside of that comfort zone and talk, like I feel, as a babyface would, was very mentally intimidating for me. Fortunately, the process of the real journey and real story makes it easy because it's all real. It's all things that I actually feel. The entire recovery process was all real. At this point, whether it's heel or babyface, I'm just worried about telling my story and I'm glad the fans have my back on this one."

Cole has hinted at returning to action at next month's Revolution pay-per-view. He also discussed his goals for the next step in his career and it wasn't long before the AEW World Championship was brought up. 

"At this current time right now, I'm just so excited to be back. I can't wait to get back in the ring, and I'm so thankful that I'm actually able to get back into the ring, especially with that scare of thinking it might not happen. Regarding the AEW World Championship, of course. I would love the chance to be the AEW World Champion. That's absolutely a goal in the back of my mind. Again, that's the stamp of approval from the company that you work for, saying, 'Alright, we're gonna get behind this guy. We're gonna give this guy the ball.' So certainly, being the AEW World Champion someday is a goal of mine, but currently, in this moment right now, I'm just thinking about being able to get back in the ring and wrestle, and being back on the road. That's a big win for me," Cole said.