One of the original members of the Will Ospreay-led faction, United Empire has expressed his willingness to appear in this year’s WWE Royal Rumble.
In an interview, the former two-time IWGP Tag Team Champion and ROH World Television Champion, Jeff Cobb declared that he was “totally down” for a shocking appearance in the 30-man over-the-top battle royal.
Cobb recently spoke to WrestlingNewsCo. During the conversation, he was asked if he would ever be interested in showing up at the Rumble match, to which he replied:
“You know what? You never say never. But it all depends on if the stars lined up and all that stuff. Again, if they wanted me for some odd reason, then they’d have to go through the right avenues. I don’t think they could contact me directly because I don’t think that’s legal. I don’t know how those things work. But yeah, if for some odd reason, they were like, ‘Hey, we wanna put Jeff in the Royal Rumble,’ I’m not good at Royal Rumbles. I don’t want to run down to the ring either. But yeah, if the stars aligned, I’d be totally down to do it.”
Despite a fifteen-year run in the business, and performing for promotions worldwide, Cobb is yet to wrestle for WWE.
Cobb is currently signed to NJPW but has recently appeared for AEW and ROH. He joined Will Ospreay and the Great O-Kahn in United Empire shortly after the faction’s inception in 2020. Cobb was revealed to be O-Kahn’s mystery tag team partner during the NJPW annual World Tag League tournament.
As a team, Cobb and O-Khan became two-time IWGP Tag Team Champions. The United Empire duo lost the titles to FTR at AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door. More recently he teamed with fellow stablemate Aaron Henare against IWGP World Heavyweight Champion, Kazichuka Okada and IWGP United States Champion Kenny Omega at New Year’s Dash.
WWE Royal Rumble Is Known For Surprise Entrants
Speculation surrounding the Royal Rumble’s surprise participants is rife. Names such as John Cena, The Rock, and even NJPW’s Jay White have all been mentioned as possible shock entrants.
The Royal Rumble takes place on Saturday 28th January at Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. The event streams live exclusively on Peacock in the United States and WWE Network everywhere else!
H/T 411 Mania