Tonight, Adam Cole (BAY-BAY) defends his Ring of Honor World Title against Christopher Daniels at ROH's 15th Anniversary PPV in Las Vegas.
Cole spoke to Sports Illustrated for their "Extra Mustard" section and had nothing but respectful to say about his opponent tonight.
"The history between Christopher Daniels and I is actually much deeper than people realize. When I first watched Ring of Honor, Christopher Daniels was one of the first guys I attached myself to as a fan. I liked him a lot. Christopher Daniels was the one guy in Ring of Honor who went against the grain. He didn’t shake hands, he was disrespectful, he was better than everybody else. Seeing his transformation, from the first Ring of Honor event to the career he’s had, it’s really cool to think that we’ll have the chance to compete against one another at the 15th Anniversary of Ring of Honor. It’s almost as though we switched positions—I’m the arrogant, brash, cocky champion that feels he’s better than everybody, and Christopher Daniels’ time is past. Christopher Daniels is the underdog in this match, despite the fact he has experience over me.
Every time Christopher Daniels is in a huge match, he goes about trying to prove himself all over again. He set the bar even higher for himself. On a personal level, Christopher Daniels is always someone I wanted to have a big match with on a pay per view with some hype and some build, but I stand by the fact my title reign is a legendary, historic three-time ROH world championship run, and I have no plans to lose the title any time soon."
Later in the interview, Cole was blatantly baited into taking a shot at WWE and Goldberg's quick title victory over Kevin Owens last weekend.
"Can you promise that your main event world title match with Christopher Daniels will last longer than 22 seconds?"
But Cole didn't take the bait. In fact, he turned it around and put over not only Daniels again, but also ROH as a whole.
"I’m a very confident, cocky person, and a lot of people know that, but I know it’s going to take me longer than fifteen seconds to beat Christopher Daniels. It certainly will be a memorable, and time consuming, main event.
Here’s something else I can promise: Ring of Honor stands by the statement that we are the best professional wrestling on the planet. As far as in-ring competition, in-ring storytelling, and polarizing characters, I really stand by the fact that Ring of Honor is the best pro wrestling product in North America. We will show that at the 15th Anniversary event. Christopher Daniels, who many people have called the forefather of Ring of Honor, has never been ROH world heavyweight champion, and a lot of people think he should be.
The piece working against Christopher Daniels is that I am champion and this run is something I want people to talk about for a long time. I will beat every person that gets in my way, and Christopher Daniels will be no different. This match is more than just me versus Christopher Daniels. This match, and this event, is fifteen years of Ring of Honor culminating in one night in Las Vegas, and this will be historic, memorable, and iconic."
He also talked about his perceived beef with Kenny Omega and the rumors that he's headed to WWE. You can read the whole interview here.
