WWE Backlash 2025 opened with a banger of a match as Jacob Fatu successfully defended the WWE United States Championship against LA Knight, Damian Priest, and Drew McIntyre. One of the big moments of the match featured Jeff Cobb’s arrival. He seems to be Solo Sikoa’s newest hit man, and he is a big addition to the WWE roster.
News about Jeff Cobb’s leap to WWE has persisted for weeks. Fightful Select reported in March that WWE had “their eyes on top free agent talent.” Weeks later, Cobb was released from his New Japan Pro Wrestling contract, furthering the speculation that he was set to join WWE. Even though he posted red herrings on social media hours before Backlash, he made the show in time to have a huge impact.
No, Jeff Cobb is not related to Roman Reigns but he's still a beast
Now, before anyone asks. No, Jeff Cobb is not released to Roman Reigns and the Anoa’i family. Cobb was born in Honolulu, Hawaii and considers himself a Guam national. He represented Guam in the 2004 Summer Olympics in Freestyle Wrestling. He’d finish 21 out of 22 wrestlers, even dropping a match to future MMA standout, Yoel Romero.
WWE will have some work cut out for them to explain how Cobb fits into the Bloodline angle. In many ways, this is no longer an angle about The Bloodline, but more about the budding feud between Jacob Fatu and Solo Sikoa.
Speaking of Fatu, he and Cobb have a storied history. They’ve teamed together and stood apart from each other on multiple occasions. According to Cagematch, they’ve had four matches against each other, with Fatu having the lead at 2-1-1. They last battled in a one-on-one match at DEFY Marauders in 2021 in a match that ended as a no contest. In 2018 they had a series of battles for the APW Universal Heavyweight Title and those matches are worth a rewatch.
Cobb is a standout performer, with actual wrestling ability that translates well to the sports entertainment world. He has several power moves that will make fans gasp with how he pulls them off with ease. With them, he’s captured several championships along the way, including the IWGP Tag Team Championship, NEVER Openweight Championship, NJPW World Television Championship, the Lucha Underground Championship and more.
Fans did point out that Cobb is turning 43 in July, calling out the hypocrisy of age when it comes to wrestlers in the men’s division compared to the women’s division. Still, he’s going to be a fun watch with potential matches against the likes of Jacob Fatu and Bronson Reed on the horizon.