This is from the observer recently. It's just a matter if time before Cole's in wwe
"But it is true that WWE has a strong interest in him, more than almost anyone on the indie scene. But that’s a story for next year’s Mania season as a lot can happen between now and then.
Unlike others who they were looking at to have on the roster, WWE has seen Cole as an NXT headliner to start out with. Cole had a tryout and did well, a few years ago and it was thought by almost everyone in NXT that he was a lock for a job. But the decision was made to pass on him. There was a lot of second guessing because at roughly the same time Cole and Adam Scherr (Braun Strowman) got tryouts and everyone who saw the tryouts figured Cole was a lock to be signed and Scherr was so awful and blew up so fast and showed nothing and the feeling was he didn’t have a prayer of being signed. But Paul Levesque saw Scherr and his size as a project and he was signed. Cole wasn’t signed, but every indication was that he was almost universally praised.
William Regal did an interview in the U.K. months back talking about someone who was very good and that they had interest in, but passed on, thinking he facially looked too young. He noted one of the key things Paul Levesque wants is that people look like they can beat someone up in a real fight. The idea was that Levesque said the guy was good, but in his case, let him age a few years so he doesn’t look like a teenager and gets a more older, tougher, adult look and looks tougher and gets a little bigger, and let him get experience at the top of the cards on the indies since he was already an indie star. In a few years, he’ll be ready and everyone will be better off in the long run. Then he can come in and be pushed while having already had years of experience as a headliner.
It was never actually said this person was Cole, but the belief in the industry is that is who they were talking about. Also the belief is that they came to the conclusion that person was ready and looked the way they wanted him to and were interested, but he was under contract. But obviously based on booking, New Japan has interest in Cole for the long-term, which puts him in a great position when his deal is up. At that point, who knows where TNA would fit in."