2025 is already shaping up to be the year of Adam Cole, and we’re not even halfway through. Not only did Cole and Daniel Garcia deliver a thrilling match at AEW Dynasty that saw Cole become the new TNT Champion, but he’s also formed a new powerhouse group while also taking part in a big debut for one of his favorite franchises with Magic: The Gathering’s Final Fantasy crossover showcase at PAX East. ComicBook had the chance to speak to Cole all about what’s going on in AEW with the Paragon, how his match with Garcia helped find himself again, his all-important choices in The Witcher, his most underrated Final Fantasy, and so much more.
Adam Cole is Back
Cole and Garcia delivered a fantastic match at AEW Dynasty, which saw Garcia coming in at the top of his game. Despite the challenge, Cole was able to take down Garcia and become the new TNT Champion, and Cole gives a lot of credit to his matches against Garcia for helping him find himself again in AEW.
“First and foremost, to go into Daniel Garcia a little bit, when I say that I have like all the respect in the world for him, I genuinely mean that. I think I’ve said before that I think he’s the future of All Elite Wrestling, and he’s already done an unbelievable job,” Cole said. “Like you said, he’s a former TNT Champion. He’s been white hot for a long time. Danny Garcia is the real deal. He’s absolutely incredible. So I couldn’t think of a better guy to test myself against than Daniel Garcia, especially with the trilogy of matches that we had. I feel like throughout the matches I had with Danny, I kind of found myself again, which I think was really, really important for me, especially returning from two pretty bad injuries.”
“To win the Championship against a guy like Daniel Garcia is partially what made that so special, but then again, looking at me and kind of the journey I’ve been on these past few years in AEW, I’ve definitely had some challenges, and I don’t think there’s any hiding that,” Cole said. “I think that’s an absolute fact. Between the head injuries I’ve had, then coming back for six months and then having that horrific freak accident ankle injury where I was out for over a year, there was a lot of like mental stuff going on up here with like, you know, questioning myself and wondering if I was ever going to be able to get back to a place where I felt fully comfortable and fully confident and feeling like, yeah man, I’m back.”
[RELATED: Lost Fantasy Delivers Love Letter to the Genre With a Little Final Fantasy Magic (Review)]
This year is Cole’s 17th year in professional wrestling, and the anniversary actually occurred on the very night he won the TNT Championship, giving the moment that much more impact and making it a particularly full-circle moment in his career.
“The matches with Danny certainly made me feel that way, and of course, winning the TNT Championship on my 17th year to the day wrestling anniversary was beyond cool. The fact that it was in Philadelphia, which is where I became a fan. It’s where I trained. It’s where I had my first match. It really felt like this amazing, meant to be full circle moment, especially being in there with Danny. So that meant everything to me. It’s one of the highlights of my AEW career, one of the highlights of my wrestling career by far, and I think this is the start of something really, really special for me going forward in the years to come within AEW,” Cole said.
Geralt of AEW
Cole was decked out for that grand moment too, as he debuted one of his best gears yet with full-on The Witcher gear based on the White Wolf himself Geralt of Rivia. Cole has a history of gears based on franchises like Halo and Borderlands, but this might just be the coolest one yet.
On such a huge night, I had to come prepared. Gear inspired by #TheWitcher at #AEWDynasty
“This world doesn’t need a hero. It needs a professional.”@thewitcher @CDPROJEKTRED
: @JJWilliamsWON pic.twitter.com/9ZrpuAfpzB
— Adam Cole (@AdamColePro) April 8, 2025
“In regards to the gear itself is, anyone who knows me knows that my two passions in my life are pro wrestling and video games, so anytime I get to correlate the two or combine the two for a really, really special match, it’s always important. Like, for example, before I’ve done the Master Chief from Halo, I’ve done Handsome Jack from Borderlands 2, and now finally, Geralt of Rivia from The Witcher, so that was a really, really cool, special moment. I was super, super happy with the gear as well. Absolutely loved it, and I was so stoked that so many people enjoyed it as well,” Cole said.
Cole also revealed that his first brush with The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt wasn’t all that smooth, and it wasn’t actually until he gave it a second chance that it really clicked.
“But as far as my love for the Witcher itself, so back in 2015 is kind of when I really started to take a deep dive into my passion and love for video games. And one game that I kept getting recommended over and over again was the Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, and truth be told, I had very little experience with open world games,” Cole said. “And I remember the first time that I played the Witcher 3, which is so wild to say this now because in my opinion, it’s probably the greatest game of all time, but when I first played it, it like wasn’t clicking with me. I was like, I don’t know if this is for me. I don’t really know where to go. It’s kind of overwhelming. It hasn’t really grabbed me yet. So I actually stopped playing and then played Dark Souls 3 for a little while, loved that game, but I kept being reminded of like, trust me, stick with The Witcher.”
“So I started a brand new file just a few months later, and for some reason, I don’t know if it was my mood or my experience as a gamer at that point, but something just clicked. It was one of those games where I would wake up thinking about it and go to bed thinking about it. If I wasn’t playing it, I was just thinking about it all the time,” Cole said. “I could not get enough of that game. So really, my love for The Witcher franchise as a whole did start with the video games. I do have quite a few of the books that I have not read yet. I need to get caught up on reading the books. Loved The Witcher Netflix show as well, but generally speaking, my passion and love for The Witcher is all from the video games.”
Speaking of the games, there is a forever debate when it comes to your choice of relationship in The Witcher 3, as you can pursue a relationship with Yennefer or Triss, and both have their ardent supporters. For Cole, it was always going to be Yennefer, though a poll did at one point almost crash that.
“I am so glad you brought this up. I am Yennifer 24/7, 365 forever, Geralt and Yennefer forever. Actually, I stream on Twitch quite a bit at Twitch TV, The Chugs, and it’s so funny. Everyone in the chat gives me a really, really hard time because obviously there’s a bunch of romance options within the Witcher game, and I, from the very beginning, was like, guys, we’re sticking with Yennefer,” Cole said. “No ifs, ands, or buts. And I ended up, long story short, doing a poll that was my fault, but I ended up doing a poll that allowed me to make a decision that kind of took me off that path, and I was very distraught. I was very upset, but I was able to bring it back. I was able to bring it back. So long story short, Geralt with Yennefer all day. All day, forever.”
The next step for the franchise is The Witcher 4, and while we still don’t know a great deal about the new game, we do know that Ciri will be the main protagonist and leading the franchise forward, and Cole is excited to see what the next chapter of Witcher stories brings.
“Oh, it’s so exciting. Again to I’m playing the Witcher 3, and super minor spoilers. I won’t go into detail, but the small moments where you do get to play as Ciri, it is so fun. She’s an incredibly powerful character, a really well-written character. I love Ciri in the Witcher 3, so to see her as the main protagonist in Witcher 4 has me completely excited,” Cole said. “Honestly, it’s what I was anticipating. I was imagining that when the trilogy or the next Witcher came out, I imagined that the main character was going to be Ciri. So I was pleasantly surprised to see that is the case. I’m very excited to kind of see where the story goes, if we’re going to get a Geralt appearance, and what else they’re going to do. I’m excited. I will be a day one Witcher 4 player, that’s for sure.”
The Paragon
While Cole has been focused on winning the TNT Championship, he’s also been forming a powerhouse faction with some old friends. Cole reunited with Roderick Strong and Kyle O’Reilly to form a new faction called The Paragon, and he explained what the new name means and represents.
“So the Paragon, obviously, what it means is you’re the elite of the elite. You’re, you’re the best of the best, so I feel like in so many different ways that name fits me, Kyle, and Roddy so well. You know, we are going in a new direction here within AEW, and I really do feel, and I think Kyle and Roddy would say this as well. I don’t mean to speak for them, but I’m pretty sure this is how they feel as well, but with all three of us together, we just bring out the best in one another,” Cole said.
To be the best you have to face the best, and that means confrontations with teams like FTR. As we’ve now seen, those battles are as epic as expected. “You know, me, Roddy, and Kyle have the exact same goal that we’ve had anywhere we’ve wrestled, and that is to take over and be a Champion and kind of run the show, and that certainly is the plan. You know, winning the TNT Championship was that first step, and again, guys like FTR who are one of the best Tag Teams not only currently, but to ever do it, I feel they really are, but they’ve got this weird new mentality going on that me, Roddy and, and Kyle are not flying with too well, and Danny as well. So, just like FTR wants to make a statement, we want to make a statement as well. Whether that’s with our new name or the Championships that we win, or the people that we fight inside that ring.”
Magic: The Gathering x Final Fantasy
Cole couldn’t be more thrilled to be a part of Magic’s showcase for the Final Fantasy crossover set, and while he doesn’t have an extensive history with Magic at the moment, this collaboration seems to be changing that.
“So I, Honest to God, I do. I have all the respect in the world for Magic: The Gathering, but I have very little experience with like, the card collecting and playing the games and things like that,” Cole said. “But I do know how absolutely massive and huge Magic: The Gathering is. The second I heard this was a possibility, I immediately jumped on it, so I’m so excited to meet the people there and see more of the game. More importantly, to see more of these Final Fantasy cards. Because again, I am a massive, as well as Kenny Omega, a huge Final Fantasy fan. I mean, for goodness’ sake, I’m wearing a Final Fantasy VII Rebirth hoodie for this interview today.”
“So, yeah, I absolutely love Final Fantasy. The Final Fantasy VII Remake project with Rebirth has been absolutely incredible. Really, the Final Fantasy games as a whole were the games that first made me realize that video games were more than something to just pass the time. They were incredible stories with incredible characters, and they were games that, like The Witcher 3, I used to think about when I wasn’t playing them. They hooked me just as much as a great TV show or a great movie, so the fact that Magic: The Gathering is working alongside Final Fantasy to release these new cards is super, super exciting, and I think this is going to be the start of my collecting process,” Cole said.
“Like, this is going to be my jumping point, which has me so pumped. I’ve never been to a PAX before either, so to go to a PAX is super exciting. I know that Ben Starr is going to be there, the lead voice actor for Clive in Final Fantasy XVI. I’m excited to meet him. It’s going to be really cool rubbing shoulders with some really cool people. People I look up to, people I admire, and people I’m just going to enjoy being around based on our love for Final Fantasy,” Cole said.
The Power of Remakes
We’ll actually get back to Final Fantasy XVI in a minute, but with the success of the Final Fantasy VII remake, I wanted to see how Cole felt about that approach to some of these classic games and how he’s felt about the results so far. While he was skeptical at first, a few Remakes have turned the tide on that, and have even become some of his favorite games of all time.
“Man, I love that you brought this up because there’s such an interesting time that’s happening, I feel like within the video game world, in addition to like the new IPs that we’re getting and the double A and the indie titles and stuff like that. This remake remaster realm that we’re living in right now has been so exciting just because as a kid I never thought this opportunity was going to arise,” Cole said. “But long story short, when I found out that Final Fantasy VII was going to be remade and it wasn’t going to be turn-based, I was one of those people that was upset. I was like, that’s not Final Fantasy VII. Final Fantasy VII is turn-based, and then when I heard Resident Evil 2 remake was being remastered, I was like, it’s over the shoulder. That’s not, we need tank controls. Like I was one of those people hanging on to the old school idea of what these games were.”
“And then after playing them again, the Original Resident Evil 2, not to jump over because I will get back to Final Fantasy, but the Original Resident Evil 2 used to be my favorite Resident Evil game of all time. Now RE2 remake is my favorite Resident Evil game of all time. It surpassed the original for me, and not only because they stayed true to the title itself, but they did add some new things to make it exciting and different for the people who are fans of the original without going too far off the beaten path,” Cole said. “It still feels like Resident Evil 2, and I guess what I’m trying to say is with Final Fantasy is I absolutely love what they have done because the sense of wonder and the excitement I felt playing the first Final Fantasy VII was so unparalleled that now as a 35 year old man, I am feeling that all over again with this remake project.”
“I love that they have us guessing where the story is going to go and I love not being totally sure of what’s going to happen, but at the same time, again, it is staying true to what the original was. So I love this approach. I love this idea. Not saying that it would work with everything per se, but I would love if games in the future continue to remake these games that are so loved and so enjoyed by so many, while also doing like a new school twist on it. I think it’s been amazing. I love everything they’re doing with the FF7 Remake project, and I can’t wait for part three,” Cole said.
Final Fantasy for Life
With a franchise this grand, there’s always going to be entries that don’t click with you in some way or another, and there will also be games that don’t get the praise they deserve. I asked Cole what his least favorite Final Fantasy was and what his most underrated Final Fantasy was, and the answers to both might surprise you (and he’s totally spot-on with the underrated choice, too).
“Oh goodness. My least favorite Final Fantasy, man. As far as ones that I have played, which I only played a little bit of it, so I still want to give it more of a shot, but I did buy the Final Fantasy Pixel Remasters I through VI, and I did start Final Fantasy I. Truth be told, I was just incredibly confused on where to go. Like, it was one point I got through something, and then I got, like, a ship, and it was okay, you can go wherever. And I keep trying to figure out where to go, and I just keep getting in battles, and then I always have to backtrack and rest at an inn, or I’m gonna die or whatever. I was a little confused, so I have to give that one more of a fair shot because I want to play through. Actually, at some point, my brother did this, I would love to play through every single Final Fantasy and give like a proper review of them. But I’m gonna say right now, probably the original Final Fantasy.”
“Most underrated, it’s so hard because so many people regard this one as, you know what? Final Fantasy XVI, that game, I know it’s the newest one. I was gonna say IX, but that game is loved. Seriously, I still to this day, I know it just came out, but I feel like not enough people are talking about how absolutely incredible XVI was,” Cole said. “XVI is now is my second favorite Final Fantasy ever. I loved that game. Ben Starr, I know we brought him up, he did an unbelievable job. The character development was amazing. The summons, AKA the Eikons, were showcased in such an unbelievable way. It was a great love story. It made me cry. It’s like, just a beautiful, beautiful piece of art. So I’m gonna say, I’m gonna say XVI, even though it just came out. That deserves more love.”
You can check out all of the reveals from the Magic: The Gathering x Final Fantasy Showcase at PAX East, and the showcase begins at 11:30 AM EST. Cole will also be doing a Meet and Greet at Booth 16031 at 2:30 PM EST that will run until 3:30 PM EST. You can also catch what’s next for Cole in AEW every single Wednesday on AEW Dynamite, which airs on TBS at 8 PM EST.
What do you want to see next for Cole in AEW, and what do you think of his picks for least favorite and most underrated Final Fantasy games? Let us know your choices in the comments, and you can talk all things wrestling and gaming with me on Bluesky @knightofoa!
The post Adam Cole on Finding Himself Again in AEW, Most Underrated Final Fantasy, and Witcher’s Big Debate appeared first on ComicBook.com.
