Adam Cole Austin Jenkins ( July 5 , 1989 ) is an American professional wrestler , better known by his ring name Adam Cole . He competes for several independent promotions , including Combat Zone Wrestling , Maryland Championship Wrestling , Northeast Wrestling and Ring of Honor . Career . Training and Combat Zone Wrestling ( 2008 – present ) . Jenkins was trained at the Combat Zone Wrestling ( CZW ) Wrestling Academy by Jon Dahmer and DJ Hyde . He became an official student at the Academy on November 14 , 2007 , while he was still a senior in high school . He made his CZW debut at No Pun Intended as " Adam Cole " on June 21 , 2008 , when he teamed with The Reason in a loss to GNC ( Joe Gacy and Alex Colon ) . His next appearance was on September 13 at the Chri $ Ca $ h Memorial Show , when he defeated Tyler Veritas in a CZW Wrestling Academy showcase match . Cole then began to feud with GNC , facing them in several matches with different partners . On October 11 , GNC and EMO defeated Cole , L . J . Cruz and HDTV in a six - man tag team match . [ 9 ] At the following show , Night of Infamy 7 : Greed , GNC defeated Cole and HDTV in a regular tag team match . Cole gained his first win over GNC at Cage Of Death 10 : Ultraviolent Anniversary when he , Veritas , and Cruz defeated GNC and EMO in a six - man tag team match . In 2009 , Cole teamed regularly with Tyler Veritas . At X : Decade of Destruction – 10th Anniversary in February , Cole and Veritas won a tag team gauntlet match , outlasting the teams of The S . A . T . , L . J . Cruz and Izzy Kensington , 2 . 0 , All Money Is Legal , and GNC . At the following show in March , they won a four - way match against the team of Jagged and Cole Calloway , GNC , and Team AnDrew ( Andy Sumner and Drew Gulak ) . After Cole took a hiatus from CZW , he returned at A Tangled Web 2 on August 8 , where he and Veritas won another four - way match against BLKOUT , Team Macktion ( TJ Mack and Kirby Mack ) and the Spanish Armada ( L . J . Cruz and Alex Colon ) . At Down With The Sickness Forever , Cole and Veritas challenged for The Best Around ( TJ Cannon and Bruce Maxwell ) for the CZW World Tag Team Championship , but were unsuccessful . For the remainder of 2009 , Cole and Veritas began focusing on singles competition , as they both entered the tournament to determine the inaugural CZW Wired TV Champion . Cole defeated Alex Colon and Rich Swann en route to the final at Cage of Death 11 , where he lost to Veritas . At Walking on Pins and Needles in March 2010 , Cole wrestled Sabian to a 15 - minute time - limit draw . [ 19 ] Later in 2010 , Cole began challenging for the CZW World Junior Heavyweight Championship , and on April 10 , at Swinging For The Fences , Cole faced defending champion Sabian in a match that ended in a 20 - minute time - limit draw . On May 8 , 2010 Cole won the CZW World Junior Heavyweight Championship by defeating defending champion Sabian and Ruckus in a three - way match at Fist Fight . Cole went on to successfully defend the championship against Ryan Slater in both June and August and Blk Jeez in September . At It ' s Always Bloody in Philadelphia on October 9 , Cole turned into a heel ( villainous character ) by attacking long - time tag team partner Veritas . Later that night , Cole successfully defended his CZW World Junior Heavyweight Championship against AR Fox . In November , Cole toured Germany with CZW , and retained his championship against Zack Sabre , Jr . at Live In Germany in Oberhausen . The following month , Cole gained Mia Yim as a manager , and she helped him to retain the Junior Heavyweight Championship in two separate matches at Cage Of Death XII . At Twelve : Anniversary in February 2011 , Cole qualified for the Best of the Best X tournament by defeating Pinkie Sanchez . [ 29 ] On April 9 , at Best of the Best X Cole qualified for the final of the tournament by defeating Kyle O ' Reilly and Johnny Gargano in a three - way match in the first round and Sabre in the semi - final . He faced Sami Callihan in the final , and was victorious , winning the Best of the Best X tournament . Cole then developed an alliance with his trainer DJ Hyde , with Hyde helping Cole to retain his championship against Fox in May . Further title defenses against Jonatham Gresham , Chuck Taylor , and AJ Curcio throughout the year . On November 12 , Cole lost the CZW World Junior Heavyweight Championship to Callihan despite both Hyde and Yim interfering on his behalf , ending his reign at 553 days , the longest reign in the championship ' s history . At An Excellent Adventure in January 2012 , Cole unsuccessfully challenged Devon Moore for the CZW World Heavyweight Championship . Cole ' s alliance with Hyde ended at the Best of the Best 11 internet pay - per - view , when Hyde gained a new protégé in Tony Nese who Cole went on to defeat in a match . [ 38 ] Cole and Hyde began feuding briefly , with Hyde attacking Cole in May , and Cole attacking Hyde the following month . In November 2012 , Cole went on to feud with Sami Callihan , claiming that he would always be regarded as a better wrestler than Callihan . At Cage of Death 14 : Shattered Dreams the following month , Cole defeated Callihan in a No Hold Barred match . On April 13 , 2013 , Cole defeated Callihan in what billed as the " final encounter " between the longtime rivals . Other Promotions ( 2009 - Present ) . On August 7 , 2009 , Carelle defeated Qenann Creed to win the MCW Rage Television Championship . He held the championship for over four months , before losing it to Ryan McBride on December 26 . After changing his ring name to Adam Cole , he regained the championship from McBride two months later on February 27 , 2010 . Cole held it until July 31 , when he and Tyler Hilton were defeated by Cobian and Tommy Dreamer , which meant that Cobian won the championship . On November 7 , 2009 , Cole defeated VSK to win WXW C4 ' s Hybrid Championship in Allentown , Pennsylvania . He lost the championship to Dave Rose on March 6 , 2010 , after a five - month reign . On November 20 and 21 , 2009 , Cole defeated four opponents ( DJ Hyde , Ryan McBride , " Mighty " Quinn Nash and Eric Enders ) to win Ground Breaking Wrestling ' s 1st annual 16 - man Battle of Gettysburg tournament . With his victory , he earned a title shot against champion Greg Excellent in April 2010 but lost . Cole began competing for the Evolve promotion in 2010 . In his debut match for the promotion on May 1 at Evolve 3 : Rise Or Fall , he lost to Sami Callihan . At Evolve 4 , Cole defeated Johnny Gargano to improve his record to one win and one loss . Following his victory he challenged Jimmy Jacobs to a match at the next show . At EVOLVE 5 : Danielson vs . Sawa , Cole lost to Jacobs . Cole appeared at Dragon Gate USA ( DGUSA ) ' s Open the Freedom Gate pay - per - view taping on November 28 , 2009 on the pre - show , where he wrestled Kyle O ' Reilly in a losing effort . On July 24 , 2010 , Cole appeared at DGUSA ' s Enter the Dragon 2010 pay - per - view taping in a four - way match against Chuck Taylor , Arik Cannon , and Ricochet , which was won by Taylor . On August 28 , 2010 , Cole appeared at Chikara ' s Young Lions Cup tournament . He defeated Kyle O ' Reilly in the quarter - finals , but was eliminated from the semi - final ( a six - man elimination match ) by Obariyon . On April 30 , 2011 , Cole participated in East Coast Wrestling Association ' s 2011 Super 8 Tournament . He defeated Sami Callihan and Austin Aries en route to the final , where he lost to Tommaso Ciampa . On November 30 , 2012 , he won the Premiere Wrestling Xperience ' s Heavyweight Championship . Cole lost the title in February 2013 In the first weekend of February 2013 , Cole partook in a WWE tryout at their developmental area in Florida . Ring of Honor ( 2009 – present ) . Cole made his Ring of Honor ( ROH ) debut on February 28 , 2009 , when he lost to John Kerman in a dark match at the Ring of Honor Wrestling tapings . At the Ring of Honor Wrestling tapings the following night , Cole appeared in a dark match again , teaming with Ninja Brown against John Kerman and Corey Abbott . The match ended in a no contest when the Dark City Fight Club ( Kory Chavis and Jon Davis ) attacked the match participants . He appeared again on the July 26 , 2010 , episode of Ring of Honor Wrestling , teaming with Nick Westgate in a loss to the Kings of Wrestling ( Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli ) . On August 23 , 2010 , ROH announced that Cole had signed a contract with the company . At the August 2 tapings of Ring of Honor Wrestling , Cole was defeated by Mike Bennett . Cole began to ally himself with fellow ROH newcomer Kyle O ' Reilly , with the pair forming a tag team . At the October 2 Ring of Honor Wrestling tapings they defeated the team of Grizzly Redwood and Mike Sydal . They lost to Steve Corino and Kevin Steen on October 15 , and the All Night Express of Kenny King and Rhett Titus at a show on [ [ October 16 ] ] . They defeated the Bravado Brothers ( Harlem and Lance ) on the November 8 episode of Ring of Honor Wrestling . On November 12 , Cole participated in the 2010 edition of the Survival of the Fittest tournament . He defeated Steve Corino in the first round , but was the second person eliminated from the final , a six - man elimination match . The following night in Toronto , Cole and O ' Reilly defeated the Bravado Brothers . Cole made his ROH pay - per - view debut on December 18 at Final Battle 2010 , where he and O ' Reilly were defeated by the All Night Express . On April 1 and 2 at Chapter One and Two of Honor Takes Center Stage , Cole and O ' Reilly faced The Briscoe Brothers ( Jay and Mark ) and the Kings of Wrestling in two losing efforts , despite putting on strong performances . On July 8 , Cole and O ' Reilly defeated the Bravado Brothers to earn a future shot at the ROH World Tag Team Championship . On July 25 , ROH announced that Cole had re - signed with the promotion . At the August 13 tapings of Ring of Honor Wrestling , the tag team of Cole and O ' Reilly was named Future Shock . At the January 7 , 2012 , tapings of Ring of Honor Wrestling , Future Shock disbanded and Cole formed a new partnership with Eddie Edwards , opposite Kyle O ' Reilly and Davey Richards . On March 4 at the 10th Anniversary Show , Cole and Edwards defeated O ' Reilly and Richards in a main event tag team match , with Cole pinning Richards , the reigning ROH World Champion , for the win . On June 24 at Best in the World 2012 : Hostage Crisis , Cole defeated O ' Reilly in a " Hybrid Rules " match . Afterwards , Cole tried to make peace with his former partner , but the offer was turned down . On June 29 , 2012 , Cole won his first championship in ROH , defeating Roderick Strong to become the ROH World Television Champion in Baltimore , Maryland at a taping of Ring of Honor Wrestling . On September 15 at Death Before Dishonor X : State of Emergency , Cole successfully defended the title against Mike Mondo , before being confronted by Matt Hardy . At the following internet pay - per - view , Glory By Honor XI : The Unbreakable Hope on October 13 , Cole successfully defended his title against Eddie Edwards . On December 16 at Final Battle 2012 : Doomsday , Cole was defeated by Hardy in a non - title match . [ 83 ] At the following iPPV , 11th Anniversary Show on March 2 , 2013 , Cole lost the World Television Championship to Matt Taven , ending his reign at 246 days . On May 4 at Border Wars 2013 , Cole unsuccessfully challenged Jay Briscoe for the ROH World Championship . On May 30 , ROH announced that Cole had re - signed with the promotion . Pro Wrestling Guerrilla ( 2011 – present ) . Cole made his debut in Pro Wrestling Guerrilla ( PWG ) on October 22 , 2011 , alongside regular tag team partner O ' Reilly as Future Shock , unsuccessfully challenging The Young Bucks ( Matt and Nick Jackson ) for the PWG World Tag Team Championship . Future Shock were defeated by the RockNES Monsters ( Johnny Goodtime and Johnny Yuma ) , at Fear on December 10 . On April 21 , 2012 , Future Shock entered the annual Dynamite Duumvirate Tag Team Title Tournament ( DDT4 ) , where they made it to the semifinals , before losing to the eventual tournament winners , the Super Smash Bros . ( Player Uno and Stupefied ) . On July 21 at PWG ' s ninth anniversary event , Future Shock unsuccessfully challenged the Super Smash Bros . for the PWG World Tag Team Championship in a three - way ladder match , which also included The Young Bucks . On September 1 , Cole entered the 2012 Battle of Los Angeles , now working under his " Panama City Playboy " heel persona . After upsetting El Generico in his first round match , Cole advanced to the following day ' s quarterfinals , where he defeated Eddie Edwards . After a win over Sami Callihan in the semifinals , Cole defeated Michael Elgin in the finals to win the 2012 Battle of Los Angeles and become the number one contender to the PWG World Championship . Following his win , Cole attacked the reigning champion , Kevin Steen , and left with his title belt . On December 1 , Cole defeated Steen in a Guerrilla Warfare match to become the new PWG World Champion . On January 12 , 2013 , Cole reunited with Kyle O ' Reilly to enter the 2013 Dynamite Duumvirate Tag Team Title Tournament . After defeating the DojoBros ( Eddie Edwards and Roderick Strong ) in their first round match , Future Shock was eliminated from the tournament in the semifinals by El Generico and Kevin Steen . On March 23 , Cole made his first successful defense of the PWG World Championship against Drake Younge . On June 15 , Cole defeated longtime rival , the WWE bound Sami Callihan six falls to five in a 60 - minute Iron Man match for the PWG World Championship . Personal life . Cole cites Shawn Michaels as his inspiration . He enjoys scuba diving . He also has a younger brother .