JC Mateo (formerly known as Jeff Cobb) recently reflected on his transition from New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) to WWE, revealing that he remained committed to NJPW even after agreeing to terms with WWE. “I still stayed with them for two more months after. Not under contract, but just as a — like a handshake agreement kind of thing, while my WWE contract was being finalized, and then it went into effect April 21st. My last New Japan Pro-Wrestling match was April 19th and as you can see from a lot of the internet things, May 10th was my official debut with WWE.”
Mateo emphasized that WWE had always been a long-term goal for him, even if his path was unconventional. “Like the majority of the professional wrestlers, their goal was WWE or WWF or whichever one you remember it as and so for me, I originally had a tryout in 2014. They said no at the time. So I just ventured off into other things, like independent wrestling and a couple of other companies that I signed with over time.”
When offered a WWE contract in 2020, Mateo chose not to rush into the opportunity. “I wanted everything to be right with what I wanted, for a contract…” he explained. Discussions resumed in late 2024. “So I waited and then we started talking again back in November of 2024, had a couple Zoom meetings and there were things that — concerns that I had and whatnot and they pretty much just said, ‘Okay. Whatever you want, let’s do it…’ and lo and behold, here I am a few months later.”
His WWE debut was met with a powerful crowd response, something he found deeply validating. “It’s pretty cool to hear a live reaction. Especially for somebody who that — for my case, I didn’t come up through the WWE system. I made a name for myself outside of WWE. So, it’s always scary when you’re gonna debut on WWE and you’re kind of like, ‘Oh man, I hope the people know who I am.’ Hearing that reaction firsthand was like, very — thank goodness their camera didn’t zoom in on my arms but the goosebumps, it was there for sure.”
Whether he keeps his ring name remains to be seen, but Mateo isn’t worried about recognition. “Regardless of if it’s the name or not, people already know because they said it on the original broadcast debut. The announcer was like, ‘Oh my God, that’s Jeff Cobb’ so whether if I keep Jeff Cobb or if I change my name, that clip will live in internet history so, people would know that, oh yeah, that’s Jeff Cobb.”
Source: kuamnews