AEW suddenly drops a huge Adam Cole reference after All Out 2025

Adam Cole is once again on hiatus from AEW programming owing to health complications. Amidst his absence, the Tony Khan-led company has unexpectedly uploaded an old match from years ago featuring the former WWE superstar, in which he battled Jay White.

The Panama City Playboy was originally scheduled to defend his TNT Championship against Kyle Fletcher at All In : Texas this past July. However, ahead of the event it was announced that Cole would have to vacate the belt and pull out of the matchup due to his health issues. The Paragon member appeared during the pay-per-view itself to relinquish his title, thanking his fans for their constant support over the years and then tearfully embraced his long-time friends and teammates, Kyle O'Reilly and Roderick Strong.

Cole had noted at All In that he would be gone from AEW programming for an indefinite period of time. He is not the only former Bullet Club member currently on the shelf, however, as Jay White has also been out of action since this past March. With both stars on the mend, the official YouTube channel of Ring of Honor (another Tony Khan-owned promotion) has uploaded a singles match between The Switchblade and the former leader of The Undisputed Kingdom from ROH Unauthorized 2017. It was Cole that had emerged victorious in this bout.

Cole and White last shared the ring earlier this year in a Casino Gauntlet Match for a shot at the AEW World Championship. Both men missed out on last Saturday's All Out pay-per-view.

Adam Cole's AEW teammates recently battled The Death Riders

Kyle O'Reilly and Roderick Strong made it clear after All In : Texas that they would carry on Adam Cole's legacy moving forward in All Elite Wrestling. After Daniel Garcia joined The Death Riders earlier this month, The Violent Artist revealed that the former NXT Champion was ashamed of The Red Death, which prompted him and Roddy to challenge DG and Jon Moxley to a tag bout on the September 13 episode of AEW Collision. Unfortunately for the Paragon members, however, Garcia and Mox successfully scored the victory over Strong and O'Reilly.

Still from the closing moments of Paragon vs Death Riders on Collision [Image Credits: AEW's YouTube channel]

The Messiah of The Backbreaker afterwards battled The One True King on last week's September to Remember, but ended up falling short against the former World Champion.

Edited by Anurag Mukherjee