Since Adam Cole debuted in AEW, it's been clear that Tony Khan has big things in store for him, and given the apparent length of his contract, that certainly makes sense. He was placed in a prominent role immediately after showing up at All Out last year, and while injury issues have prevented The Elite civil war from happening, Cole is still a huge part of the company's future.
The former NXT and independent scene standout is currently dealing with an injury that he sustained at AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door. Fans recently received good news on Cole's injuries, however, and his contract status will give them even more to cheer about.
While speaking on the Busted Open radio show, Khan was talking about the amount of disinformation that gets spread on Twitter. There's been a ton of speculation about Cole returning to WWE now that Vince McMahon is gone due to his excellent working relationship with Triple H. To that, TK said "some of the narratives I've seen every day for the last week are really amusing to me. Like, I've got people signed (in AEW) for five years. And people think just because the guy, the CEO, the chairman, the head of creative, those positions change in the competition, people I have five-year contracts with, are just magically gonna' switch teams? Good luck with that. Adam Cole is signed through 2027 now. I wouldn't expect to see him going anywhere anytime soon." Khan also noted that Malakhai Black has almost five years remaining on his contract as well while explaining that just because wrestlers had success elsewhere under a different regime doesn't mean they'll be leaving AEW at this juncture. Jump to the 30-minute mark in the episode to hear his full comments.
To Khan's point, one of the most common narratives, since Vince McMahon retired, has been about which former WWE wrestlers could return to the promotion now that Triple H is running creative. Given how long he worked alongside Cole while he was in NXT, he was one of the most frequent names that popped up. The same goes for Black, who had a tremendous run in the gold and black version of NXT as Aleister Black. Both were champions for the brand, and both reportedly had strong relationships with The Game.
As Kahn stated though, McMahon stepping down doesn't magically nuke the contractual status of AEW wrestlers. After negotiations with WWE stalled, Cole decided to jump ship and debut at All Out. He's stated in interviews that he made the choice literal days before that pay-per-view, and to date, that show is still one of the most important evenings in company history. At 33, Adam Cole is just entering his prime as a professional wrestler and seems poised for big things in AEW once he's able to return from his lingering injuries.
(If any portion of these quotes are used, please give credit to Busted Open and h/t ScreenRant.com for the transcription.)
Source: Busted Open