Jeff Cobb has revealed that WWE made multiple attempts to sign him before he finally agreed to a contract in 2025, and that one of those earlier approaches nearly fell apart because of an unprofessional conversation with a company executive.
Speaking on the INSIGHT with Chris Van Vliet podcast, Cobb recalled that WWE tried to recruit him on more than one occasion prior to his eventual arrival. During the second attempt, he was approached about joining NXT and had a Zoom call with Canyon Ceman, who at the time served as WWE’s Senior Director of Talent Development. According to Cobb, Ceman’s conduct and remarks during that call were unprofessional enough that they initially discouraged him from moving forward with signing.
Cobb did not detail every specific remark made during the call, but he made clear that the experience left a negative impression at the time, contributing to his decision to hold off on committing to WWE during that round of negotiations. Despite that setback, WWE’s interest in Cobb persisted, and he eventually signed with the company in 2025, going on to appear on SmackDown.
Rumored Pairing With Bronson Reed
In the same interview, Cobb also addressed speculation that had circulated prior to his WWE debut about a potential tag team pairing with Bronson Reed. He discussed those rumors while reflecting on his time on SmackDown, where he ultimately became associated with The MFTs alongside Solo Sikoa’s faction rather than forming a tag team with Reed. Cobb spoke positively about his MFT teammates during the conversation, reflecting on his overall WWE tenure within that group.
Cobb’s comments offer a rare, detailed look at the behind-the-scenes recruitment process that preceded his WWE signing, illustrating that his path to the company was neither immediate nor without friction. The account also sheds light on Ceman’s prior role within WWE’s talent development pipeline, a position that put him in direct contact with outside talent being considered for NXT contracts. Cobb’s remarks were made specifically in the context of his own signing history and his time working alongside Sikoa’s faction on SmackDown, rather than as a broader commentary on WWE’s recruitment practices as a whole.
The full details of what was said during the Ceman call, along with any further context on the tag-team rumors with Reed, were discussed by Cobb directly on the INSIGHT podcast, as reported separately by F4W Online and Wrestling Headlines.
