Adam Cole

Credit: All Elite Wrestling

Why Adam Cole is a bigger loss to WWE than Bryan Danielson

AEW hit the jackpot at All Out, but it’s the addition of the former NXT champion Adam Cole that will hit WWE the most going forward.

The dust has finally settled on AEW All Out 2021; a show many fans are declaring to be not just the company’s best ever show, but one of the top wrestling PPVs in recent memory.

Part of the reason for this was the show’s closing angle that featured the debuts of former NXT Champion Adam Cole and Bryan Danielson, FKA Daniel Bryan in WWE.

Both signings had been heavily speculated about over the past few weeks given their expiring contracts with the WWE, although this didn’t dilute the grandeur of the moments.

Certain AEW hardcore support have viewed these as hammer blows to Vince McMahon. Whilst they are indeed blows to the WWE product, there is big differences between both acquisitions.

Danielson vs Cole

Looking at Bryan firstly, you won’t get many people who won’t agree that he is one of the finest technical wrestlers of all time.

He’s also one of the very few stars in the past decade or so who have broke that infamous ‘indie’ glass ceiling in WWE, cumulating with his ground-breaking coronation at WrestleMania 30. He didn’t fit that stereotype bigger than life superstar the Fed were once known for, but he achieved phenomenal success regardless.

However, he is now 40 years old with a history of neck and concussion issues that would have ended the careers of many-an-other-man. He’s also been very vocal in recent years of settling down following the birth of his children to Brie Bella. It’s fair to say that Bryan may not have many wrestling years left in him.

Cole, on the other hand, is a completely different kettle of fish. Forget the fact that he has eight years on Danielson in terms of age, he’s also fresh off the back of the most successful NXT runs of all time. How we never saw Undisputed Era run rough shot over the main roster will remain a mystery for many years to come.

During his four years on the brand, he literally won everything. Many saw him as Triple H’s main project for what he wanted NXT to produce. To see the amount of investment WWE put into him during his short tenure, it must be a sour note to see him jump ship the minute his contract comes to an end.

WWE’s long term future

In the eyes of the fans as well, they surely will have foreseen a day where he was winning multiple WWE championships and becoming the modern day Shawn Michaels.

That’s not to say he won’t have similar success in AEW, which I have no doubt he will, and who knows; he may well return to WWE one day in the future as an even bigger star.

But looking purely from a business standout, WWE need to build new stars to propel them into the future, instead of merely relying of past nostalgia. As great as they both are, Adam Cole easily fits that criteria much more than Danielson does.

WWE’s loss is AEW’s ginormous gain!

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