{"id":3416,"date":"2025-04-14T09:00:07","date_gmt":"2025-04-14T09:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nichesitetool.com\/?p=3416"},"modified":"2025-04-15T06:45:51","modified_gmt":"2025-04-15T06:45:51","slug":"major-wrestling-star-suddenly-quits-wwe-rival-days-before-wrestlemania-41","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.nichesitetool.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/14\/major-wrestling-star-suddenly-quits-wwe-rival-days-before-wrestlemania-41\/","title":{"rendered":"Major wrestling star \u2018suddenly\u2019 quits WWE rival days before WrestleMania 41"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n\t\t\"Lee\t<\/div>
Jeff Cobb has been granted his release by New Japan Pro Wrestling (Picture: AEW\/Lee South)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Wrestling star Jeff Cobb could be finally joining WWE<\/a> after New Japan<\/a> Pro Wrestling confirmed his departure the week of WrestleMania 41<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The 42-year-old wrestler, who has has made his name all over the world in NJPW, Ring of Honor (ROH) and Lucha Underground as well as a sporadic appearances for AEW, has been heavily rumoured to be heading to the sports entertainment juggernaut for weeks.<\/p>\n

Now, that looks to be close to happening after New Japan announced they have granted his release request, and his final match will take place later this week.<\/p>\n

In a statement on their official website, the company – who have a working agreement with WWE rivals All Elite Wrestling<\/a>, said: ‘New Japan Pro-Wrestling has come to terms with the departure of Jeff Cobb at his request.’<\/p>\n

They added: ‘New Japan Pro-Wrestling profoundly apologises for the sudden nature of this news and joins fans in wishing Cobb the best in all his future endeavours.’<\/p>\n

The iconic wrestling promotion noted Cobb has been stripped of his IWGP Tag Team Championship, which he held with Callum Newman.<\/p>\n

\n
\n\t\t\"Lee\t<\/div>
The wrestling star has made his name all over the world (Picture: AEW\/Lee South)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n
\n\t\t\"TOKYO,\t<\/div>
Cobb will perform in his farewell match this weekend (Picture: Etsuo Hara\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

New Japan added: ‘Cobb’s final match in NJPW will take place in Korakuen Hall on April 19 against Hiroshi Tanahashi.’<\/p>\n

His final match with the company will fall on WrestleMania weekend, which will see WWE take over Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on April 19 and 20.<\/p>\n

While Cobb will be in Japan for his farewell bout, there’s a chance he could make his debut soon after this week’s festivities, with WWE running Raw and NXT shows in Sin City early next week.<\/p>\n

According to a recent Fightful<\/a> report, WWE has been keeping their eye on the heavyweight star, and he has even been listed on the internal roster.<\/p>\n

There has been plenty of speculation that Cobb is on the move, and last month he heavily implied a change could be on the horizon after losing a match.<\/p>\n

\n
\n\t\t\"SEATTLE,\t<\/div>
Cobb is following the likes of Rey Fenix into WWE (Picture: Eric Johnson\/WWE via Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n
\n\t\t\"GLASGOW,\t<\/div>
Fenix’s brother Penta has proven how outside stars can catch on with WWE fans (Picture: Andrew Timms\/WWE via Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

‘So where does that leave Jeff Cobb? It seems I can\u2019t win when all the marbles are down. G1, New Japan Cup. Long gone are the days when I went 8-0 in the G1. Now I can\u2019t even break .500,’ he said in an in-character promo.<\/p>\n

‘Where does that leave Jeff Cobb? Maybe it\u2019s time to take my bags and go somewhere else. I don\u2019t know. I don\u2019t know.’<\/p>\n

Cobb would be the latest big free agent to make the jump to WWE after AEW star Rey Fenix – real life brother of new Raw favourite Penta<\/a> – joined the SmackDown roster.<\/p>\n

As well as the Lucha Brothers, Ricky Saints – formerly known as Ricky Starks<\/a> – is now with the company on NXT, and there have been vignettes heavily hinting at the return of Aleister Black over the past few weeks.<\/p>\n

Former WWE star Miro is also expected to re-sign after leaving AEW, while the women’s roster has seen the arrival of big names like Giulia and Stephanie Vaquer earlier this year.<\/p>\n

Got a story?<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk<\/a> entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff<\/a> page – we\u2019d love to hear from you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jeff Cobb has been granted his release by New Japan Pro Wrestling (Picture: AEW\/Lee South) Wrestling star Jeff Cobb could be finally joining WWE after New Japan Pro Wrestling confirmed his departure the week of WrestleMania 41. The 42-year-old wrestler, who has has made his […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3418,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[10],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.nichesitetool.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3416"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.nichesitetool.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.nichesitetool.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.nichesitetool.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.nichesitetool.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3416"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.nichesitetool.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3416\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3423,"href":"http:\/\/www.nichesitetool.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3416\/revisions\/3423"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.nichesitetool.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3418"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.nichesitetool.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3416"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.nichesitetool.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3416"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.nichesitetool.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3416"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}