“Hunter wants you,” reveals released WWE Superstar

A released WWE Superstar spoke about what made him join the Stamford-based promotion.

Jeff Cobb, known as JC Mateo in World Wrestling Entertainment, had a surprisingly short stint in the company. He debuted at Backlash 2025, helping Jacob Fatu retain the United States Championship in a Fatal Four-Way Match against LA Knight, Damian Priest, and Drew McIntyre.

Mateo joined Solo Sikoa’s version of The Bloodline, which was later repackaged as the MFTs. He remained with the group until his release on May 2 earlier this year. Cobb had come close to joining the global juggernaut in the past, but it only came to fruition in 2025.

The 44-year-old recently appeared on INSIGHT with Chris Van Vliet and discussed how he finally joined WWE. Cobb felt like he had hit his plateau in New Japan Pro Wrestling. He recalled his tryout with the global juggernaut in 2014 that did not materialize into him joining the company. Cobb believed the Stamford-based promotion already had other stars with backgrounds similar to his.

“I just felt like I kind of hit a plateau in New Japan, and they’ve always been great to me. So I always give them props, and that’s one of the reasons why I went back because they have always been good to me, but I don’t know. I felt like it was weird because when I did the try-out in 2014. At that moment, if you look at the roster, they were collecting like one of everything. So they had a Hawaiian guy, Noah Kekoa [Kona Reeves], was on there, and then they had an Olympic [athlete], Chad Gable was already still in NXT at the time. So they had one Olympian already. They had one Hawaiian guy already,” he said. [H/T: ChrisVanVliet.com]

Jeff Cobb revealed that Triple H wanted to sign him with WWE

Several years later, Jeff Cobb had a phone call with William Regal, who informed him that Triple H was interested in signing him. Cobb believed it was his now-or-never moment, and added that WWE was always the promotion he wanted to work for.

“Fast forward a couple years later, there’s like five guys from China, five guys from India. So yeah, at the time I was like, it’s weird. They actually want me. Then I remember having a phone call with Mr. Regal and he was like, ‘Hunter wants you, Hunter wants you.’ I was like this can’t be true. Then he said, ‘Yeah I want to set you up with a meeting with him.’ I was like this can’t be true either. Then it was like a Zoom call with Hunter. I was like okay maybe this could be true. Then it’s like, yeah you’re not getting any younger. It could be now or never. And at the same time, I was like, okay, if they didn’t want me in 2014, I was like, I’m a little more than 10 years older now, and then this could be my last chance to go. So, and it’s always been like, say what you want. But when I was growing up as a kid, WWF is what got me into wrestling. Seeing Hulk Hogan on TV was a larger-than-life superstar. Because of Hulk Hogan, I was hooked. That’s where I’ve always wanted to work, was WWE.”

Jeff Cobb has returned to NJPW following his release from WWE.

Edited by Parth Pujara