Big news from the Land of the Rising Sun and the Unanswered Booking Emails—Jeff Cobb, the walking slab of human granite, is officially saying “Sayonara” to New Japan Pro Wrestling. And rumor has it, he’s WWE-bound. That’s right. The company that once gave us “The Gobbledy Gooker” is now reportedly acquiring a legitimate threat to door frames everywhere.
NJPW confirmed Cobb’s departure with a somber press release (translated from polite Japanese to wrestling heartbreak) that essentially said: “We’re really sorry about this. Our bad. Good luck, Big Guy.” The announcement came just days after Cobb won the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championships at Sakura Genesis, which is like getting promoted right before handing in your two weeks.
And now? The titles are vacated—because Jeff’s packing up his suplexes and heading to the land of pyros, promo classes, and part-time legends. His former tag partner Callum Newman, whose nickname might as well be “Collateral Damage,” will now team with Great-O-Khan in a Hail Mary shot at getting the belts back at Wrestling Redzone on April 26. Their opponents? The very serious-sounding Bishamon—Hirooki Goto and YOSHI-HASHI, a team that sounds like a samurai law firm.
Meanwhile, Newman’s apparently feeling spicy. Not content with just leading the United Empire, he told NJPW brass he wants to be the IWGP World Heavyweight Champion too. Go big or go back to the dojo, I guess. He’ll face Goto again at Wrestling Dontaku on May 4 in the main event. Spoiler alert: Goto probably won’t bring snacks.
As for Cobb, he’s not quite out the door just yet. He’ll have a farewell match on April 19 at Korakuen Hall, where he’ll square off against NJPW President Hiroshi Tanahashi, also known as The Ace of Hair and Hope. A fitting goodbye for a man who hits like a truck and sweats charisma.