History of Jeff Cobb in Timeline

By Popular Timelines Editorial Team · Updated: January 1, 1970

July 11, 1982

Jeffrey Cobb (born July 11, 1982) is an American professional wrestler and former amateur wrestler. He is signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is a member of Unbound Co..

2009

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. He began his professional wrestling career in 2009 on the independent circuit, performing for various promotions around the Hawaiian and West Coast independent scenes. In 2015, he began working for Lucha Underground as Matanza Cueto, the kayfabe brother of owner Dario Cueto, where he is a former one-time Lucha Underground Champion. In 2016, he began working for Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG), where he became a former one-time PWG World Champion, one-time PWG World Tag Team Champion and is also the winner of the 2018 Battle of Los Angeles.

2009

Cobb began professional wrestling in 2009 training and working for Action Zone Wrestling in Hawaii. He was given the name "Mr. Athletic". He won the AZW Heavyweight Title a record setting three times. He made appearances for many independent promotions in Northern California such as All Pro Wrestling, Supreme Pro Wrestling, Pro Wrestling Bushido, Fighting Spirit Pro, Phoenix Pro Wrestling and PREMIER Wrestling, where he held their heavyweight championship for 427 days. In September 2014, he received a tryout at the WWE Performance Center.

2015

Cobb signed to Lucha Underground in 2015. He debuted for the promotion on March 22, 2016, under a mask and the ring name "The Monster" Matanza Cueto, the storyline brother of Dario Cueto, winning the Lucha Underground Championship in his first match. 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.

May 20, 2016

On May 20, 2016, Cobb made his debut for Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG), losing to Chris Hero. On September 2, Cobb entered the 2016 Battle of Los Angeles, from which he was eliminated in the first round by Ricochet.

2017

He began predominantly working for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) in 2017 and signed with the company in 2019, where he became a member of the United Empire in 2020. He is a former one-time NEVER Openweight Champion, one-time NJPW World Television Champion, and a three-time IWGP Tag Team Champion. Through NJPW's working relationship, he also made appearances for All Elite Wrestling (AEW) and Ring of Honor (ROH) where he is a former one-time ROH Television Champion. He departed NJPW in 2025 and signed with WWE that same year as JC Mateo, becoming part of the MFT's stable upon debut until his departure in May 2026. He returned to NJPW that August as a member of Unbound Company.

February 18, 2017

At Mystery Vortex on December 16, Cobb and Matt Riddle defeated The Young Bucks. 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. 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, defeating 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.

May 27, 2017

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 Matt Riddle. On May 29, Cobb received his first shot at the Progress World Championship, losing to Pete Dunne.

November 06, 2017

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. 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. The two finished the tournament on December 9 with a record of four wins and three losses, failing to advance to the finals. On June 11, 2018, it was announced that Cobb would return to New Japan Pro-Wrestling for Kizuna Road shows. On June 17, it was announced that Jeff Cobb would face Hirooki Goto for his NEVER Openweight Championship. He would go on to lose the match. Cobb spent the bulk of late 2018 participating in the World Tag League tournament with partner Michael Elgin, winning eight matches, but failing to qualify for the finals. On April 6, 2019, Cobb won the NEVER Openweight Championship in a Winner takes all match against Will Ospreay at G1 Supercard. Cobb's ROH World Television Championship was also on the line. Cobb would eventually lose the NEVER Openweight Championship to Taichi in the first night of Wrestling Dontaku 2019. Cobb then competed in his first 2019 G1 Climax Tournament where he finished with 8 points thus failing to advance to the finals. On November 6, 2019, Cobb was announced to be in one of the teams in the 2019 World Tag League Tournament with tag partner Mikey Nicholls where they finished with 16 points failing to advance to the finals.

2018

His character was killed off in the fourth season, which aired in 2018. On April 29, 2019, it was reported that Cobb was seeking legal action to be released from his Lucha Underground contract. This came after similar motions from others on the show, including King Cuerno and Joey Ryan. On May 1, it was confirmed that Cobb was released from the company.

July 21, 2018

On July 21, 2018, Cobb made his Ring of Honor (ROH) debut at a television taping (aired August 21) by attacking Eli Isom and FR Josie during their ROH Top Prospect Tournament first round match, causing it to end in a no contest. 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. Cobb then would win both of his matches during the two-day Glory By Honor XVI event in October, all three of his matches during the Global Wars 2018 tour in November, and defeated Adam Page at Final Battle on December 14 to round out the year.

January 2019

On October 19, Cobb defeated Walter at Smokey and the Bandido to win the PWG World Championship. He then successfully defended it against Trevor Lee at Hand of Doom in January 2019. He would also successfully defend his title against Jonathan Gresham and BOLA runner up Bandido during his reign. He then competed in his 4th Battle of Los Angeles but fell in the second round to David Starr. He would go on to drop the title after 421 days in a rematch with eventual tournament winner Bandido later that year.

January 01, 2020

2019 began with Cobb winning a four-way match at Honor Reigns Supreme, and then winning all three of his matches (two of them being tag team matches) during the Road to G1 Supercard tour. At ROH/NJPW War of the Worlds Night 2, Cobb would lose the World Television Championship to Shane Taylor. After Cobb's contract expired on January 1, 2020, it was reported that Cobb would still wrestle for ROH, albeit on a per-show basis. In October 2020, his profile was moved to the alumni section.

February 12, 2020

Cobb made his debut for All Elite Wrestling (AEW) on the February 12, 2020 episode of Dynamite, attacking Jon Moxley alongside The Inner Circle. He wrestled his AEW debut match on the following week's episode of Dynamite, losing to Moxley.

August 2020

In August 2020, Cobb competed in the New Japan Cup USA where he defeated Tanga Loa in the first round before losing to Kenta in the semi-finals. Cobb was also announced to be competing in the 2020 G1 Climax tournament where he again finished with 8 points, failing to advance to the finals. It was also reported that Cobb had signed a contract with New Japan, officially joining the roster full time. He would join Will Ospreay's United Empire stable (then known as the Empire) at the November 15 show, teaming with Great-O-Khan in the annual World Tag League thus turning heel in the process, though finishing the tournament with 10 points, failing to advance to the finals. At Wrestle Kingdom 15 in Tokyo Dome he challenged Shingo Takagi for the NEVER Openweight Championship but lost the match.

November 12, 2021

On November 12, 2021, it was announced that Cobb would debut for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) seven days later at Arena México, where he and TJP defeated Atlantis Jr. and Volador Jr. They also defeated El Terrible and Euforia on November 20 and Terrible and Hechicero the next night.

2022

After signing with NJPW, Cobb continued to make several appearances for AEW from 2022 to 2024 through a working relationship. Cobb and his tag team partner Great-O-Khan would notably lose their IWGP Tag Team Championships to the ROH World Tag Team Champions FTR at Forbidden Door in 2022 in a three-way tag team Winner Takes All match, also involving Roppongi Vice. On the March 29, 2023 episode of Dynamite, Cobb unsuccessfully challenged Kenny Omega for the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship. Cobb's last apperance for AEW took place on June 30, 2024 at Forbidden Door, where he teamed with The Learning Tree (Chris Jericho and Big Bill) in a losing effort against Samoa Joe, Hook, and Katsuyori Shibata.

December 10, 2022

On December 10, 2022 at Final Battle, Cobb returned to ROH, defeating Máscara Dorada on the pre-show.

May 10, 2025

On May 10, 2025, Cobb made his WWE debut at Backlash, where he assisted Jacob Fatu in retaining his WWE United States Championship, establishing himself as a heel and joining The Bloodline. The following week on SmackDown, he was given the new ring name, JC Mateo, and won his debut match against LA Knight. On the July 4 episode of SmackDown, the Bloodline was rebranded to the "MFT". On the March 20, 2026 episode of SmackDown, Mateo defended the WWE Tag Team Championship with stablemate Tama Tonga on behalf of stable leader Solo Sikoa, but the duo lost the titles to Damian Priest and R-Truth. They failed to regain the titles on the April 24 episode of SmackDown, in what was Mateo's final match in WWE. On May 2, Mateo was released from WWE, ending his tenure with the company at less than a year.

August 16, 2026

Cobb made his return to NJPW on August 16, 2026 on the final night of the G1 Climax, where he was introduced by Gedo as the newest member of Unbound Co. and attacked his former United Empire stablemate Callum Newman, establishing himself as a face.