Despite WWE Rumours, Jeff Cobb Announces Retirement (WWE News)

After leaving NJPW, Jeff Cobb has announced his retirement.

by Andrew Pollard
Jeff Cobb
AEW

Despite reports that he was WWE-bound, Jeff Cobb has just announced his retirement.

Previously, it's been reported several times in recent months, by several notable sources, that Cobb was already listed on WWE's internal roster. Adding further fuel to these reports, the powerhouse finished up with New Japan Pro-Wrestling last month.

Now, though, Jeff has taken to X to announce his retirement:

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Amidst those WWE rumours, some fans are speculating that this retirement announcement might not be entirely legitimate. Likewise, some suggest this may be more of a case of Cobb taking a hiatus from the ring before turning up in WWE, with it more being a "retirement" from New Japan. Of course, the other school of thought is that, yes, this really is the end of Jeff Cobb's in-ring career, with 16 years of wrestling around the world guaranteed to take its toll on any performer.

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If this really is it for Jeff, it's been a heck of a run, with the 42-year-old spending the bulk of the past eight years working for NJPW, where he won the NEVER Openweight Title, the NJPW Television Title, and is a three-time IWGP Tag Team Champion. Elsewhere, Cobb also impressed for the likes of PWG, PROGRESS, and Ring of Honor, while certain fans will fondly look back on his time in the much-missed Lucha Underground, where Jeff worked under a mask as the monstrous Matanza.

Still, given the wrestling business being, well, the wrestling business, this retirement announcement could well be a work designed to make Jeff Cobb's WWE debut all the more shocking. But again, though, if Jeff really is hanging up his boots, congratulations on a stellar career, and all the best to him in that retirement.

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Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.

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