Kyle O’Reilly‘s arrival in All Elite Wrestling shocked the system, as many fans are still buzzing about the reunion of the Undisputed Era in Tony Khan’s promotion.
By joining forces with Adam Cole and Bobby Fish again, O’Reilly brought the former NXT trio back together; in doing so, AEW Dynamite: Holiday Bash delivered an unforgettable moment.
During an appearance on the Throwing Down podcast with Renee Paquette and Miesha Tate, Cole shared his thoughts on O’Reilly’s AEW debut and called it “surreal.” When asked whether he thought the reunion of the Undisputed Era would happen in AEW, the former NXT Champion explained that part of him thought it wouldn’t happen because the group had its run in WWE.
“You know what’s crazy, to say this, is like yes and no,” said Cole. “The reason no is because again, you think about all the stuff that we did for those four years in NXT and how awesome that time was together with those guys. And I thought okay cool, you know, we had that moment together, and that was a really, really fun time period. Now imagining doing that elsewhere is really surreal to think.”
On the other hand, Cole noted that, for the duration of his career as a wrestler, he and O’Reilly have almost always worked together, so this outcome felt like it was “meant to be.”
“…I have not not worked in the same company as Kyle O’Reilly since 2009, literally since 2009,” said Cole. “I started wrestling in 2008. Me and him have worked together, either against each other as opponents or as a group or a tag team since 2009. So that small period where Kyle was not in AEW, that was the only three or four months or whatever where I hadn’t been in the same company as Kyle. So it feels right. At this point, I’m just convinced that wherever is, I’m gonna end up. Or yeah it’s just meant to be. So to answer the question, yes, it’s beyond cool. I love Kyle O’Reilly to death.”
Given their history together, it’s easy to imagine how Cole might have convinced O’Reilly to follow him to AEW. But the SuperKliq standout described how he took a backseat during O’Reilly’s deliberation about his future leading up to his departure from WWE. Cole stated that he wanted his friend to make the right choice for himself, and he believes that’s exactly what O’Reilly did.
“Kyle’s a great guy, and it’s a big reason I love him so much,” said Cole. “And Kyle had a very similar story to me in that he had a wonderful experience at NXT. He has nothing bad to say about anybody there. He had a great time, he grew a lot as a wrestler, just like I grew a lot as wrestler in my time there. So he was weighing the pros and cons and kind of thinking like, you know, ‘What would be good for me, what would be best for me?’
“And I kinda let him make his own decision because the last thing I wanted to do in any way shape or form was try to talk him into doing something. Because Kyle’s very good at making the right call and making the right decision, and I knew he was gonna do what was best for him and his family. And as he was weighing the options out and we were talking, again I was just kinda there as a soundboard. And Kyle just decided on his own what he wanted to do, and I think he made the right call, and I’m very excited he’s here.”
The reunited Undisputed Era will make its AEW in-ring debut Wednesday night on AEW Dynamite when the trio faces Orange Cassidy and the Best Friends.
RELATED: Tony Khan: Reuniting Kyle O’Reilly, Adam Cole And Bobby Fish In AEW Is Absolutely A Dream Come True
