Dave Meltzer Believes NJPW Was 'Blindsided' By Jeff Cobb Leaving

It has been confirmed that Jeff Cobb is leaving NJPW, with the promotion announcing that the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship has been vacated due to his departure. The belief throughout the wrestling world is that Cobb is soon headed to WWE. Writing in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer stated that NJPW knew Cobb was on his way out, but they were "blindsided" by how it happened.

Less than two weeks ago, on April 5, the company booked Cobb to win the tag title alongside partner Callum Newman, despite Cobb not being under contract. On top of that, Meltzer stated that Cobb was slated to challenge Hirooki Goto for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship to cap off NJPW's next major show, Wrestling Dontaku, on May 3 and 4. The match had not yet been publicly announced, but the build was already in progress. Cobb has now been replaced in the bout by Newman.

Based on the sequence of events, Meltzer speculated that WWE's offer to Cobb came together quickly and requires him to arrive in the promotion very soon. Otherwise, NJPW would've had time to book Cobb and Newman into a loss to drop the tag championship rather than vacating. Due to a recent video posted online by The Rock, with the wrestler wearing an NJPW shirt, Meltzer believes it's possible that Cobb will be introduced as an ally of The Rock's in the coming days.

Cobb has one final NJPW match scheduled before he wraps up — a singles bout against Hiroshi Tanahashi at Korakuen Hall this Saturday. Based on that timing, it's unlikely he will appear at WrestleMania, but Meltzer cited WWE sources stating that Cobb is expected to debut with the promotion soon.