Jeff Cobb is one of the most sought after free agents in wrestling, and AEW is doing what they can to secure his services for the long term.
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After appearing on AEW Dynamite for the past two weeks on a per-appearance deal, AEW has reportedly offered Cobb a contract according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. This is no surprise as AEW, and Cody Rhodes in particular, has been wanting to sign Cobb since his ROH contract expired at the start of the year.
Cobb was brought in two weeks ago as a hire by Chris Jericho to take out Jon Moxley in advance of their title match at AEW Revolution next Saturday. Cobb worked his first AEW match this week, losing to Moxley on Wednesday night.
While Rhodes and AEW continue to push for a signing, Cobb has still only agreed for working a handful of dates, which includes some yet to occur events, so we haven’t seen the last of him in AEW either way.
Cobb likes to work both NJPW and ROH as well, in particular Japan which is an incredibly lucrative market for him. In recognition of that, AEW’s contract offer reportedly allows Cobb to continue to work for NJPW, as they have done for Moxley and Jericho and others in the past.
“That’s (a contractual deal) still in gestation. Jeff works with New Japan, ROH and now he works for AEW,” Rhodes said during a recent media call. “I’m a big fan of Jeff Cobb because I like shooters in wrestling. I don’t try to consider myself one with my limited amateur background but I think he’s one. He’s a tank and is a special athlete. So I think it’s in gestation. I would hope he maybe pursues a longer thing with AEW but I don’t want it to impede on anything that he’s doing in his soul if that makes sense. If he wants to travel the globe and do other things, then have it.”
He continued, saying, “We do have Jeff for more than just the Atlanta show but I’d love to see Jeff in more of a long-term deal with us. He’s a special talent.”
Rhodes went on to note that AEW structures their contracts specifically for each talent to recognize the different opportunities that each performer may have in the business.
There’s no official word at the length of the AEW contract offered or for how much money, but we will continue to provide updates as they become available.
