Former WWE star recalls getting chopped until his chest "turned purple"

Wrestlers are known to have some rather intense initiations when they first get into the business. A former WWE Superstar has revealed what they went through on their first day at wrestling school.

The star in question is Adam Cole, the former NXT Triple Crown Champion, who recently headlined AEW's All In event at Wembley Stadium for the World Championship against MJF.

Both Cole and MJF recently appeared on First We Feast's Truth or Dab show, where host Sean Evans asked Adam if he had any stories of hazing when he first got in to wrestling. Here's what Cole had to say:

“So when I first started training, I trained with a company called Combat Zone Wrestling in South Philadelphia. It was known notoriously for being this ultra-violent promotion, so I’m talking fire, thumbtacks, light tubes, the worst of the worst. My first day at wrestling school – I was still a senior in high school by the way – I was duct-taped to a turnbuckle with my shirt off and about 30 grown men chopped me, not only until my chest bled but until it turned purple.” [1:37-2:05]

Cole went on to have a successful run in CZW, but he did have to hide his purple chest from his family as his first day at wrestling school happened the day before Thanksgiving.

“That was quite the initiation, and the next day was Thanksgiving so I had to hide that from my parents. I let them know ‘yeah, yeah wrestling went great, wrestling went great.’ So that was a pretty tough ‘welcome to the pro wrestling industry’ moment for me.” [2:06-2:16]

Adam Cole left WWE in 2021

It's been nearly two years since Adam Cole first walked out on to an AEW stage, so much so that some people might have forgotten that he had a very successful run in WWE.

Cole debuted for WWE in 2017, attacking Drew McIntyre who had just won the NXT Championship. He immediately formed the Undisputed Era faction with his old friends Kyle O'Reilly and Bobby Fish, before adding Roderick Strong to the faction later on down the line.

He went on to become the first-ever NXT North American Champion in 2018 (and won the NXT Tag Team Championship on the same night) and, a year later, began a 396-day reign as the NXT Champion, which to this day is still the longest reign with the title in WWE history.

Did you enjoy Adam Cole's run in WWE? Let us know in the comments section below.