Report: NJPW Knew Jeff Cobb Was Leaving For WWE Before His IWGP Tag Team Title Win

New Japan Pro-Wrestling star Jeff Cobb is on his way out of the promotion and the expectation is that he'll join WWE soon. Cobb's departure has caused NJPW to vacate the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship that Cobb and his partner Callum Newman won earlier this month, with Dave Meltzer sharing his belief yesterday that NJPW was caught off guard by the manner in which Cobb is leaving.

In contrast to that, a report from Fightful Select instead states that NJPW was aware of Cobb's departure before deciding to give him a title victory. Apart from the fact that NJPW has known Cobb is leaving for the past month, the report offered no additional details, such as any potential motivation for the company booking Cobb to win a title they knew he'd have to vacate.

Cobb has been a mainstay of NJPW since 2017, and he's become progressively more involved with the promotion as the years have gone on. WWE previously had interest in signing Cobb, but the wrestler decided to stay on with NJPW for another few years. Along with his NJPW appearances, Cobb has wrestled nine matches with AEW as part of the promotional partnership between the two companies, providing him with his first mainstream TV exposure in the United States.

In addition to Cobb, longtime NJPW stars Tetsuya Naito and Bushi are leaving the promotion. With Hiroshi Tanahashi set to retire early next year, and past stars like Kazuchika Okada and Will Ospreay having already departed, NJPW has a steep mountain to climb as they attempt to build up the next generation of top stars.