Jeff Cobb

Cobb in August 2022

###

Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.

**Jeffrey Cobb** (born July 11, 1982) is an American professional wrestler, currently signed to New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW), where he is a former two-time IWGP Tag Team Champion, while also being a former NEVER Openweight Champion.

He is also known for his work in Ring of Honor, where he is a former ROH World Television Champion. Cobb also worked for promotions on the American independent circuit, most notably Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG), where he is a former one-time PWG World Champion and also the winner of PWG's 2018 Battle of Los Angeles tournament and a former one-time World Tag Team Champion.

## Early life

Born in Honolulu, Hawaii, During his amateur wrestling career, Cobb trained for the Guam Amateur Wrestling Federation under his personal coach Neil Krantz. Cobb competed in both freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling and won the 2001 Oceania Freestyle Championships in the under 97 kg category and finished third in Greco-Roman wrestling as a senior. That year, he also became Oceania champion in Greco-Roman wrestling in the junior category. In 2003, his victory at the Oceania Championship in freestyle wrestling and his second place in Greco-Roman wrestling allowed him to represent Guam at the 2004 Summer Olympic Games in freestyle wrestling in the men's 84 kg class.

At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens Cobb received a continental berth from the Oceanian Championships in Dededo. He received two straight losses due to technical superiority and no classification points in a preliminary pool match against Cuba's Yoel Romero and Germany's Davyd Bichinashvili, finishing 21st overall out of 22 wrestlers. Cobb ended his amature wrestling career in 2007 and began transitioning to professional wrestling.

## Professional wrestling career

### Early career (2009–2014)

Cobb began professional wrestling in 2009 working for Action Zone Wrestling in Hawaii. He won the AZW Heavyweight Title a record setting three times. He made appearances for many independent promotions in Northern California such as All Pro Wrestling, Supreme Pro Wrestling, Pro Wrestling Bushido, Fighting Spirit Pro, Phoenix Pro Wrestling and PREMIER Wrestling; where he held their heavyweight championship for 427 days. In September 2014, he received a tryout at the WWE Performance Center.

### New Japan Pro-Wrestling (2017–present)

#### Early beginnings and NEVER Openweight Champion (2017-2020)

On November 6, 2017, Cobb was announced as a participant in New Japan Pro-Wrestling's 2017 World Tag League, where he would team with Michael Elgin. Cobb and Elgin did not get along behind the scenes with Elgin making disparaging remarks about his tag team partner in private messages that were made public while the tournament was still in progress. The two finished the tournament on December 9 with a record of four wins and three losses, failing to advance to the finals.

On June 11, 2018, it was announced that Cobb would return to New Japan Pro Wrestling for the Kizuna Road tour. On June 17, it was announced that Jeff Cobb would face Hirooki Goto for his NEVER Openweight Championship,  after he challenged Goto during the tour. He would unsuccessfully challenge Goto for his title during the tour. He would go on to lose the match. Cobb spent the bulk of late 2018 participating in the World Tag League tournament with partner Michael Elgin, winning eight matches, but failing to qualify for the finals.

On April 6, 2019, at G1 Supercard, Cobb defeated Will Ospreay in a Winner takes all match to win the NEVER Openweight Championship, where his ROH World Television Championship was also on the line. He lost the NEVER Openweight Champion to Taichi on May 3 at Wrestling Dontaku. From July 13 until August 11, Cobb took part in the 2019 G1 Climax, where he finished the tournament with a record of four wins and five losses, failing to advance to the finals of the tournament. From November 16 until December 8, Cobb and Mikey Nicholls took part in the 2019 World Tag League, failing to win the tournament with a record of nine wins and six losses.

In July 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, Cobb was unable to work for NJPW events in Japan, leading him to take part in *Lion's Break Collision*series. The following month, Cobb took part in the New Japan Cup USA, as part of the *NJPW Strong* series, losing to eventual winner KENTA in the semifinals on August 14. After KENTA won the tournament on August 21, Cobb attacked him, before challenging for his contract to face Jon Moxley for the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship. On September 11, at Fighting Spirit Unleashed, Cobb was defeated by KENTA. From September 19 until October 16, Cobb took part in the 2020 G1 Climax, finishing the tournament with a record of four wins and five losses, failling to advance to the finals of the tournament. It was also reported that Cobb had signed a contract with NJPW, officially joining the roster full time.

#### Heel Turn and United Empire **(2020-present)**

On November 15, Cobb was revealed as the newest member of The Empire, teaming with The Great O-Khan for the 2020 World Tag League, turning heel in the process. Cobb and O-Khan finished the tournament with a record of five wins and four losses, failling advance to the finals of the tournament.

On December 6, The Empire (Cobb and Great O-Khan) faced *Los Ingobernables de Japón* (Shingo Takagi and SANADA) in their last round robin match of the 2020 World Tag League in a winning effort, after Cobb pinned Takagi. After the match, Cobb posed over Takagi with his NEVER Openweight Championship belt. On December 11, Cobb grabbed Takagi's NEVER Openweight Championship belt. Takagi attempted to get the title back, only for Cobb to lay him out with the *Tour of the Islands*. Afterwards, in a backstage interview, Cobb challenged Takagi to a title match, which Takagi accepted for Wrestle Kingdom. At Wrestle Kingdom 15, Cobb unsuccessfully challenged Shingo Takagi for the NEVER Openweight Championship. In March 2021, Cobb took part in the 2021 New Japan Cup, losing in the second round to eventual semifinalist EVIL on March 11.

On April 4, after Will Ospreay won the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship against Kota Ibushi, Cobb attacked Ibushi and layed Ibushi with the the *Tour of the Islands* following his match. On April 29 at Wrestling Satsuma no Kuni, Ibushi challenged Cobb to a match vowing revenge for Cobb's attack which he acceped. Afterwards, Ibushi was sidelined with an foot injury until the end of May, leading Cobb to criticize Ibushi's absence of NJPW events on May 4 on the second night of Wrestling Dontaku, while also tauting him at the event, after using the "Cobbgoye" in his match in which he pinned BUSHI. Ibushi made his return from injury on May 22 teaming with Master Wato in a losing effort against Cobb and his United Empire stablemate Great-O-Khan. On June 7, at Dominion 6.6 in Osaka-jo Hall, Ibushi defeated Cobb.

During the Summer Struggle tour, Cobb and Kazuchika Okada faced each other in consecutive tag team matches, where Cobb teamed with his United Empire stablemate Great-O-Khan and Okada with his CHAOS stablemate Sho. Cobb would pick the win for his team during those matches, while also claiming that Okada was still a "young boy" (rookie). Cobb's comments rightly infuriated Okada, leading him to ask NJPW to book him in a match against Cobb. Leading to their match, on July 24, Okada picked up his first victory over Cobb in a tag team match, where he teamed with his CHAOS stablemate Toru Yano and Cobb with Great-O-Khan. At Wrestle Grand Slam in Tokyo Dome, Okada faced Cobb in a winning effort. Afterwards, in a post-match interview, Cobb reminded that he would settle the score with Okada. This led to on July 27 at Summer Struggle, Cobb attacking Okada following his match, laying him out with the *Tour of the Islands*, before challenging him to a rematch. This led to on September 4 at Wrestle Grand Slam in MetLife Dome, Cobb defeating Okada in a rematch. From September 19 to October 20, Cobb took part in the 2021 G1 Climax, where he won all of his eight round robin stage matches, including two big wins by defeating former IWGP Heavyweight Champion EVIL and reigning IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi and was leading his block heading to the final day, but failed to advance to the finals due to losing to Kazuchika Okada in their head-to-head match. During the tournament, Cobb broke the record for the most consecutive wins in the tournament's history with 8 victories.

In March 2022, Cobb took part in the 2022 New Japan Cup, losing in the quarterfinals to Tetsuya Naito. On April 9 at Hyper Battle, Cobb and Great-O-Khan defeated Hirooki Goto and Yoshi-Hashi to win the IWGP Tag Team Championship. They lost the titles to Bullet Club (Bad Luck Fale and Chase Owens) on May 1 at Wrestling Dontaku, only to regain them on June 12 Dominion 6.12 in Osaka-jo Hall. They lost the titles to FTR (Cash Wheeler and Dax Harwood) on June 26 at Forbidden Door, in a winner takes all match also for the ROH World Tag Team Championship, which involved Roppongi Vice (Beretta and Rocky Romero). From July 16 to August 16, Cobb took part in the 2022 G1 Climax, finishing the tournament with a record of three wins and three losses, failing to advance to the semifinals. In March 2023, Cobb took part in the 2023 New Japan Cup, losing in the second round to EVIL. From July 16 to August 9, Cobb took part in the 2023 G1 Climax, where he won four out of his seven-round robin stage matches, including one over eventual winner Tetsuya Naito, leading his block heading to the final day, where he wrestled Shane Haste to a double count out and thus missed the quarterfinals of the tournament by a single point. After Naito won the tournament on August 13, Cobb challenged him to a match, but with nothing on the line, due to NJPW not awarding Naito a contract for his title match for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship at Wrestle Kingdom 18. Despite not getting a match for Naito's opportunity, Cobb still asserted his claim to challenge Naito for his title match. Meanwhile, after Naito questioned the point of wrestling with no stakes, and even threatening to "lie down in five seconds", NJPW announced that Cobb would face Naito for his contract at Destruction in Kobe on September 24. At the event, Cobb unsuccessfully challenged Naito for his IWGP World Heavyweight Championship number one contender's contract.

## Personal life

Cobb is of Filipino descent on his mother's side. His mother, Elaine was born in Guam to Filipino immigrants. Cobb's parents later moved to Hawaii, where he was born, but moved back to Guam when he was 11. As an amateur wrestler, Cobb represented Guam at the 2004 Summer Olympics, where he became the nation's flag bearer in the opening ceremony and competed in the men's light heavyweight freestyle category.

## In wrestling

* **Finishing moves**
	+ *Rainmaker-style* *Tour of the Islands* (Wrist-lock transitioned into a reverse-spin scoop powerslam) – parodied from Kazuchika Okada
	+ *Tour of the Islands* (Reverse-spin scoop powerslam)
* **Signature moves**
	+ Chokeslam
	+ *Cobbgoye* (Double wristlock transitioned into a knee strike to a seated opponent) – parodied from Kota Ibushi
	+ Dropkick
	+ Elbow smash
	+ European uppercut, sometimes while running or to a cornered opponent
	+ *F-5000* (Fireman's carry facebuster)
	+ *Gachimuchi-sault* (Standing moonsault) – 2019–present
	+ Headbutt
	+ *Hawaiian Clutch* (Bridging Cradle Pin) - parodied form Zack Sabre Jr.
	+ Knife edge chop
	+ Lariat
	+ Multiple suplex variations
		- *Spin Cycle/Athletic-Plex* (Spinning leg hook belly-to-back suplex)
		- *Bam-Bam's* (Triple rolling gutwrench)
		- Belly to back, sometimes while running
		- Belly to belly, sometimes while overheading
		- Capture
		- Delayed vertical
		- German, sometimes while deadlifting
		- Gutwrench
		- Pop-Up Modified Gutwrench
	+ Oklahoma stampede
	+ Pop-up sitout powerbomb
	+ Reverse piledriver
	+ Running brainbuster
	+ *Slamfest* (Standing moonsault followed by a standing shooting star press)
* **With Great O-Khan**
	+ *Imperial Drop* (Flapjack (Cobb)/Jumping Cutter (O-Khan) Combination)
* **Nicknames**
	+ **"Eater of World"**
	+ **"Hawaiian Hulk"**
	+ "Mr. Athletic"
	+ "The Hatchet"
	+ **"The Imperial Unit"**
* **Entrance themes**
	+ **"Eater of World"** by Yonosuke Kitamura

## Championships and accomplishments

* **New Japan Pro-Wrestling**
	+ NEVER Openweight Championship (1 time)
	+ IWGP Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Great-O-Khan
* ***Pro Wrestling Illustrated***
	+ Ranked No. 50 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2016
* **Ring of Honor**
	+ ROH World Television Championship (1 time)
	+ Move of the Year (2018) for Tour of the Islands
* ***Tokyo Sports***
	+ Tag Team of the Year (2022) – with Great O-Khan

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Jeff Cobb . CageMatch.
2. ↑ 【『World Tag』出場チーム決定!】 "新顔"が続々登場! ジュース&キャラハン組! エルガン&ジェフ・コブ組！バレッタ&チャッキーT組! 復活のヘナーレは真壁とタッグ結成!  (in Japanese). *New Japan Pro-Wrestling* (2017-11-06). Retrieved on 2017-11-06.
3. ↑ Radican, Sean 2017-12-06. Michael Elgin accused of mishandling sexual assault claim against former student, several independent companies cancel Elgin from their upcoming events . *Pro Wrestling Torch*. Retrieved on 2017-12-07.
4. ↑ 鉄拳Presents World Tag League 2017  (in Japanese). *New Japan Pro-Wrestling*. Retrieved on 2017-12-09.
5. ↑ NJPW. Goto defeats Elgin and regains his NEVER Openweight Championship!! Next No.1 contender for Goto is Jeff cobb!! | NEW JAPAN PRO-WRESTLING  (in en-US).
6. ↑ Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) 500 for 2016 . *The Internet Wrestling Database*. Retrieved on 2016-09-01.
7. ↑ MOVE OF THE YEAR: JEFF COBB'S TOUR OF THE ISLANDS . *Ring of Honor*.