NJPW Star "Happy" He Didn't Sign With WWE Last Year

A major New Japan Pro Wrestling star explains why he didn't go to WWE.

by Jamie Kennedy
Jeff Cobb
AEW

New Japan's Jeff Cobb is "happy" that he knocked back the chance to sign for WWE in 2021.

Cobb told Wrestling Perspective on YouTube that the company offered him a deal last year. He said he didn't want to "get too much into detail" about the ins and outs of the financial side, but did say that money has never been his main motivating factor as a pro wrestler.

Creative freedom, and the ability to express himself in killer matches, is what Jeff wants from the biz. He also knew he'd be restricted in WWE's system, and so decided against putting pen to paper on a deal with Vince McMahon's organisation.

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Cobb admitted that things might've been different had the company offered him a contract following his first tryout back in 2014. Jeff was at a different stage of his life and career back then, and he would've gobbled up the chance to work for a juggernaut like WWE.

Now, he's more interested in working over in Japan and keeping his options open elsewhere. Cobb did work a match for AEW (vs. Jon Moxley on Dynamite) back in 2020.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.