JC Mateo (Jeff Cobb) Says He Stayed With NJPW For Two Months On Handshake Deal While WWE Contract Was Being Finalized

The process of joining the company, the backend of his New Japan run, WWE being his goal, a name change and more discussed by J.C. Mateo.

Details about Mateo’s arrival to WWE.

It was at the 2025 Backlash Premium Live Event that Jeff Cobb made his WWE debut. Solo Sikoa brought him in to help Jacob Fatu retain the United States Championship over L.A. Knight, Drew McIntyre, and Damian Priest.

Before joining the company, Cobb, now going by J.C. Mateo, had been with New Japan Pro-Wrestling. His last match there was against Hiroshi Tanahashi on the Road to Wrestling Dontaku tour.

Mateo was interviewed by KUAM News and shared that he stayed with NJPW for two months on a handshake deal while his WWE contract was being finalized. That lines up with Fightful Select‘s reporting that in March, Mateo’s other alias, Jeff Cobb, showed up on WWE’s internal roster while he was competing in the New Japan Cup. Two months later, he debuted for 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 stated that WWE had always been his goal. He had a tryout in 2014 but was not signed so he ventured into other avenues.

“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.”

He reiterated the note that he had an offer from WWE in 2020 but felt it was not the right time. Talks with the company resumed in November 2024.

“I wanted everything to be right with what I wanted, for a contract (he said about the offer from WWE in 2020)… 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.”

He went on to speak about the reaction he received when cameras got a clear shot of his face at Backlash. Mateo said it gave him goosebumps.

“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.”

The interview was conducted before Mateo received his new on-screen name. He addressed if a name change was coming and brought up that on the Backlash broadcast, he was called Jeff Cobb so people already know his name.

“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.”

Mateo made his in-ring debut on the 5/16 Friday Night SmackDown. With an assist from Solo Sikoa, he picked up the victory over L.A. Knight.

If the quotes in this article are used, please credit KUAM News with an H/T to Fightful for the transcriptions.