WWE Offered Jeff Cobb “Whatever He Wanted” To Sign Him

WWE made sure they signed Jeff Cobb.

At Backlash, Jeff Cobb finally made his long-awaited WWE debut as he helped Jacob Fatu to retain the United States Championship.

With a Fatal-Four-Way match involving Fatu, Damian Priest, LA Knight, and Drew McIntyre in full swing, Cobb appeared from nowhere to flatten Knight with a clothesline. Despite the look of confusion on Fatu’s face, he quickly followed up to retain the title.

On the following episode of SmackDown, Cobb was given the name JC Mateo, and he beat LA Knight in his in-ring debut.

Jeff Cobb’s Goal Was Always WWE

In a new interview with KUAM News, Cobb gave more details on how his WWE deal came together and just when he decided he wanted to sign with the company.

The star explained that he wanted to sign with the company after a failed try-out back in 2014. However, when in talks with the sports entertainment giant in 2020, he turned down the chance to leave NJPW as he wanted “everything to be right.”

But fast forward to November 2024, and WWE was apparently determined to get a deal done, no matter what. Cobb recalled being told “whatever you want” in regard to an agreement.

“Okay. Whatever you want, let’s do it…’ and lo and behold, here I am a few months later.”

Cobb added that he continued to work for NJPW under a handshake agreement while his WWE contract was finalised.

Looking back on his debut at Backlash, Cobb admitted the moment he burst from the crowd was “scary,” but the reaction quickly put him at ease.

“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.”

It’s been reported that WWE initially pitched the name “JC Matanza” before eventually settling on JC Mateo. The moniker would have been a nod to his ring name while with Lucha Underground.

H/t to WrestlingNews.Co