Adam Cole's first full calendar year in AEW hasn't gone quite as planned.

After making an incredible surprise debut at All Out 2021 sandwiched between Kenny Omega's win over Christian Cage and the even more surprising debut of Bryan Danielson, Cole began the year with all signs pointing north, as he entered into a feud with “Hangman” Adam Page for the AEW World Championship twice and then won the Owen Hart Foundation Men's Tournament over Samoa Joe at Double or Nothing. While more than a few fans talked down his efforts in Tony Khan's company, suggesting that Cole was better off with the Undisputed Era in NXT under Triple H and Shawn Michaels, he only lost four matches during his first six months with the company and secured 16 wins for his troubles.

Had Cole not missed the majority of June with a shoulder injury and then suffered a concussion during his match with Jay White, Kazuchika Okada, and “Hangman” at Forbidden Door, the leader of the Undisputed Elite very well might be heading towards a marquee match at All Out 2022 but alas, it just wasn't meant to be; Cole has been on AEW television exactly once since Forbidden Door, when he and his formerly Undisputed buddies Kyle O'Reilly and Bobby Fish tried to Pillmanize the Young Bucks in order to eliminate them from the AEW World Trios Championship Tournament before it could even begin.

Will Cole be back in the ring in the not-too-distant future? Presumably yes, maybe even at All Out 2022, but when that day comes, he'll be stepping back into the spotlight in a much different AEW than he left.

Is the Undisputed Elite dead in AEW?

As you may or may not have heard, Fish is done in AEW, as his contract expired with the promotion earlier in the week, and the two sides did not agree on a new deal before the deadline.

Surprising? Eh, maybe a little bit; Fish initially debuted for AEW on October 6th, 2021, and was only with the company for 10 months, but that's what both Fightful Select and The Wrestling Observer reported on the matter, so it's pretty safe to say it's true.

Though Fish's run in AEW started off intriguingly enough and got even more interesting when both Cole and O'Reilly followed him over from NXT, cracks began to show through the otherwise picturesque facade as the months proceeded. First came Fish's decision to kick out of CM Punk's GTS finisher on the three count of their match all the way back on October 27th, 2021. While that feels like a lifetime ago, and some may have even forgotten that match occurred, it reportedly drew heat in the back and put Fish on bad footing less than a month into his run.

Fish had a run-in with Punk once more during his AEW World Championship Unification Match on the penultimate edition of AEW before All Out, where the “The Infamous” made fun of his one-time foe's kicking technique and told him to leave the moves to “the professionals” via a weird series of live tweets. This, when coupled with his glowing endorsement for Triple H when he returned to power atop WWE, left more than a few fans wondering what exactly was going on in the mind of O'Reilly's tag team partner.

Speaking of O'Reilly, he too has been missing from AEW television for quite some time, as his most recent appearance on Dynamite was also the Undisputed Elite's turn on the Young Bucks. This, apparently, is because “The Martial Artist's” neck injury was a good bit worse than fans may have assumed, as, according to the man himself on Instagram, O'Reilly just underwent a spinal fusion surgery and will be out of action indefinitely as a result. While no timetable has been suggested for his return, Trent Beretta had a similar fusion procedure back in the spring of 2021, and he was out of action from the end of April through the middle of December, so at best, O'Reilly will at least miss the remainder of the calendar year and could be out until Double or Nothing 2023.

Will TK hold Cole out of action until O'Reilly is able to return? No, probably not. Will he look to find a new third member of the Undisputed Elite and simply use the duo as a tag team until O'Reilly can return to action for a right proper trios war with the OG Elite? Unless Roderick Strong is finally granted his release, that's probably a no too.

No, when Adam Cole does return, he'll be down two friends, up three new enemies in addition to his feud with Page, and will have to navigate a promotion that has changed a ton in a little under three months. Fortunately, Cole is a professional wrestler and a darn good one at that, so he'll likely be able to navigate the trouble and come out on top one way or another, especially if Khan really leans into putting him over.

Maybe Cole rejoins the Bullet Club, and he rejoins the promotion with the Bone Soldiers' premier tag team enforcers, The Good Brothers? Or maybe Cole instead tries to smooth things over with The Elite and comes out to save Omega, the Jacksons, Dark Order, and “Hangman” after their bout at All Out if, say, another team like La Faccion Ingobernable tries to attack them? Could Khan pull a 2020 and book Cole and Page as the most unlikeliest of tag teams, effectively allowing them to compete as part of The Elite without having to come into direct contact with the Big 3?

Needless to say, Khan has options to make this work, and while it may not be seamless right out of the gate, with four more years left on Cole's contract, there will be plenty of time to wait things out until his longest-time rival, O'Reilly, returns to the ring.