Jeff Cobb

Jeff Cobb
Cobb in 2017
Birth name Jeffrey Cobb
Born July 11, 1982 (1982-07-11) (age 36)[1]
Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s) Jeff Cobb
Matanza
Matanza Cueto
Billed height 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)[2]
Billed weight 263 lb (119 kg)[2]
Trained by Oliver John
Sabaki
Debut June 4, 2009

Jeffrey Cobb (born July 11, 1982) is an American professional wrestler and former amateur wrestler, He is best known for his time spent in Lucha Underground, where he worked under a mask and the ring name Matanza Cueto (or simply Matanza). He also works under his real name for promotions on the independent circuit, most notably Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG), where he is a former World Tag Team Champion with partner Matthew Riddle (as The Chosen Bros). In September 2018, Cobb won PWG's annual Battle of Los Angeles tournament. He is currently signed to Ring of Honor, where he is the current ROH World Television Champion.

As an amateur wrestler, Cobb represented Guam at the 2004 Summer Olympics, where he became the nation's flag bearer in the opening ceremony and competed in the men's light heavyweight freestyle category.[3] Cobb transitioned to professional wrestling in 2009.[4]

Amateur wrestling career

Jeffrey Cobb
Personal information
Nickname(s) Mr. Athletic
Nationality  Guam
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Weight 84 kg (185 lb)
Sport
Sport Wrestling
Style Freestyle
Club Guam Amateur Wrestling
Federation
Coach Neil Krantz

During his amateur wrestling career, Cobb trained for the Guam Amateur Wrestling Federation under his personal coach Neil Krantz. Cobb qualified for the Guamanian squad in the men's 84 kg class at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens by receiving a continental berth from the Oceanian Championships in Dededo.[5] He received two straight losses due to technical superiority and no classification points in a preliminary pool match against Cuba's Yoel Romero and Germany's Davyd Bichinashvili, finishing 21st overall out of 22 wrestlers.[6]

Professional wrestling career

Early career (2009–2014)

Cobb began professional wrestling in 2009 working for Action Zone Wrestling in Hawaii. He won the AZW Heavyweight Title twice. He made appearances for many independent promotions in Northern California such as All Pro Wrestling, Supreme Pro Wrestling, Pro Wrestling Bushido, Phoenix Pro Wrestling and PREMIER Wrestling; where he held their heavyweight championship for 427 days.

Lucha Underground (2015–2018)

Cobb signed to Lucha Underground in 2015.[7] He debuted for the promotion on March 22, 2016 under a mask and the ring name "The Monster" Matanza Cueto,[8] the storyline brother of Dario Cueto, winning the Lucha Underground Championship in his first match.[9] Matanza remained undefeated until April 9, 2016, when he was pinned by Rey Mysterio in an Aztec Warfare match, losing the Lucha Underground Championship in the process.[10]

In March 2018, it was announced that Cobb was released from the final three years of his contract with the promotion.[11]

Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (2016–present)

On May 20, 2016, Cobb made his debut for Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG), losing to Chris Hero.[12] On September 2, Cobb entered the 2016 Battle of Los Angeles, from which he was eliminated in the first round by Ricochet.[13] On December 16, 2016, Cobb and Matthew Riddle defeated The Young Bucks.[14] Cobb and Riddle were later known in PWG as "The Chosen Bros." On February 18, 2017, Cobb and Riddle would defeat the Unbreakable F'n Machines (Brian Cage and Michael Elgin). On March 18, 2017, the team would beat OI4K (Dave Crist and Jake Crist). On April 21, 2017, Cobb, in singles action, would defeat Keith Lee. On May 19, 2017, The Chosen Bros defeated reDRagon (Kyle O'Reilly and Bobby Fish). On October 20, The Chosen Bros defeated the Lucha Brothers (Rey Fenix and Penta el Zero M) to win the PWG World Tag Team Championship.[15] They retained the titles until April 20, 2018, when they lost them against The Rascalz (Zachary Wentz and Dezmond Xavier). On September 15-16, 2018, he went on to win the 2018 Battle of Los Angeles, beating Darby Allin in the first round, Rey Horus in the second round, Trevor Lee in the third round, and Shingo Takagi and Bandido in the final.

Progress Wrestling (2017–present)

On May 27, 2017, Cobb made his Progress Wrestling debut by defeating Nathan Cruz in the first round of the Super Strong Style 16 Tournament 2017. The following day, Cobb lost his second round match to Matthew Riddle. On May 29, Cobb received his first shot at the Progress World Championship, losing to Pete Dunne.

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (2017–present)

On November 6, 2017, Cobb was announced as a participant in New Japan Pro-Wrestling's 2017 World Tag League, where he would team with Michael Elgin.[16] Cobb and Elgin did not get along behind the scenes with Elgin making disparaging remarks about his tag team partner in private messages that were made public while the tournament was still in progress.[17] The two finished the tournament on December 9 with a record of four wins and three losses, failing to advance to the finals.[18]

On June 11 2018, it was announced that Cobb will return to New Japan Pro Wrestling for Kizuna Road shows. On June 17, it was announced that Jeff Cobb will face Hirooki Goto for his NEVER Openweight Championship.[19] He would go on to lose the match.

Ring of Honor (2018-present)

On July 21, 2018, Cobb made his Ring of Honor debut by attacking Eli Isom and FR Josie at a television taping. At Death Before Dishonor XVI on September 28, Cobb confronted Punishment Martinez following his defense of the ROH World Television Championship. At a television taping the following night, Cobb, in his first official match, defeated Martinez to win the ROH World Television Championship.

Professional wrestling style and persona

Cobb uses a very dominant style of wrestling, as Cobb and Matanza Cueto, including several slams and suplexes. His finishing manouver is called the Tour of the Islands, a spinning powerslam.

Championships and accomplishments

References

  1. ↑ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill. "Jeffrey Cobb". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
  2. 1 2 "Jeff Cobb". CageMatch.
  3. ↑ "2004 Athens: Flag Bearers for the Opening Ceremony". Olympics. 13 August 2004. Retrieved 11 September 2013.
  4. ↑ "Cobb goes pro in wrestling: Wrestles in Hawaii under moniker 'Mr. Athletic'". Pacific Daily News. 26 December 2011. Retrieved 24 September 2013.
  5. ↑ "Oceanian Championships: 2004-05-29 Dededo (GUM) – Men's Freestyle 84kg". International Wrestling Database. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
  6. ↑ "Men's Freestyle 84kg". Athens 2004. BBC Sport. 15 August 2004. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
  7. ↑ Nick Paglino (7 February 2015). "Notable Indy Names Heading to Lucha Underground". Wrestlezone. Retrieved 21 April 2015.
  8. ↑ Meltzer, Dave (December 21, 2015). "December 21, 2015 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Conor McGregor wins UFC Featherweight title, Roman Reigns WWE Champion". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Campbell, California: 56. ISSN 1083-9593.
  9. 1 2 "Lucha Underground TV taping results 12/12: Aztec Warfare match". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved December 13, 2015.
  10. ↑ "Big Lucha Underground Aztec Warfare 3 spoiler". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved April 10, 2016.
  11. ↑ "Lucha Underground Season 4; Top Star Sacrificed to the Gods & New Champions Crowned".
  12. ↑ "5/20 PWG "Prince" Results – TNA Hvt. & X Division champions in action, Elgin wrestles twice, Strong vs. Callihan main event, Hero, Scurll, Cole". Pro Wrestling Torch. May 20, 2016. Retrieved May 21, 2016.
  13. ↑ Meltzer, Dave (September 3, 2016). "PWG Battle of Los Angeles night one results: BOLA begins". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved September 9, 2016.
  14. ↑ Meltzer, Dave (September 3, 2016). "PWG MYSTERY VORTEX LIVE RESULTS: CHRIS HERO ADDRESSES HIS SITUATION". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved January 11, 2017.
  15. 1 2 Meltzer, Dave (October 21, 2017). "PWG All Star Weekend 13 night one results: Tag title main event". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved October 21, 2017.
  16. ↑ "【『World Tag』出場チーム決定!】 "新顔"が続々登場! ジュース&キャラハン組! エルガン&ジェフ・コブ組！バレッタ&チャッキーT組! 復活のヘナーレは真壁とタッグ結成!". New Japan Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). November 6, 2017. Retrieved November 6, 2017.
  17. ↑ Radican, Sean (December 6, 2017). "Michael Elgin accused of mishandling sexual assault claim against former student, several independent companies cancel Elgin from their upcoming events". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved December 7, 2017.
  18. ↑ "鉄拳Presents World Tag League 2017". New Japan Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved December 9, 2017.
  19. ↑ NJPW. "Goto defeats Elgin and regains his NEVER Openweight Championship!! Next No.1 contender for Goto is Jeff cobb!! | NEW JAPAN PRO-WRESTLING". NJPW. Retrieved 2018-06-17.
  20. ↑ "Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) 500 for 2016". The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved September 1, 2016.
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