In a move that’s either 3D chess or booking while blindfolded, New Japan Pro-Wrestling reportedly knew Jeff Cobb was leaving for WWE—and still handed him the IWGP Tag Team Titles anyway.
Yes, Cobb, the human boulder with a suplex fetish, won tag gold with Callum Newman earlier this month—after already giving NJPW his two-week notice (plus maybe a courtesy bow, because it’s Japan). And then, less than a TikTok trend later, the belts were vacated faster than Karl Anderson vacates storylines.
Initial takes claimed NJPW was blindsided by Cobb’s exit, but Fightful Select threw a polite-but-firm forearm into that narrative, reporting that NJPW absolutely knew Cobb was WWE-bound before the title win. No reason was given for why they still went ahead with the decision, but if we had to guess: either “optimism” or “denial is a river in Tokyo.”
The question on everyone’s minds: Why put a championship on someone whose WWE gym bag was probably already packed? Was it a reward? A goodbye gift? A desperate attempt to put Callum Newman on the map before his tag partner vanishes into the Sports Entertainment Multiverse?
This marks a huge shift for NJPW, who not only loses Cobb—a reliable hoss since 2017—but is also waving sayonara to Tetsuya Naito and Bushi. With Tanahashi preparing for his retirement tour and Okada and Ospreay already yeeting themselves into other companies, the once-bulletproof NJPW top tier is looking… well, like it needs a few emergency Young Lions promoted yesterday.
Meanwhile, Cobb, who’s flirted with WWE interest before, now looks primed to leap straight into their system with more momentum than a Cobb German Suplex. He’s already got U.S. exposure via AEW crossover matches, and now he may be WWE-bound with a full résumé and a recently vacated title to prove it.
NJPW’s going to need a serious reboot if they want to keep up. Or maybe just start chaining wrestlers to the ring after title wins. Just a thought.