Insight with Chris Van Vliet - Jeff Cobb on his AEW apperances, WWE interest, NJPW matches, Lucha Underground

Episode Date: August 27, 2020

Jeff Cobb sits down with Chris Van Vliet for an in depth conversation. He talks about his two appearances on AEW, his match with Jon Moxley, wrestling in the Olympics, who would win in an amateur match between him and Kurt Angle, his favorite matches in NJPW, working as The Monster Matanza Cueto in Lucha Underground, growing up in Hawaii, his love of the Backstreet Boys and much more!  Please support the show by supporting our sponsors: DIRECTV NFL SUNDAY TICKET- Use the promo code BLUEWIRE to get 15% off your subscription this season at http://NFLSundayTicket.tv BETONLINE- Head to http://betonline.ag and use the promo code BLUEWIRE for your free welcome bonus! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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And this is one that I got a lot of requests for over the last six-ish to nine-ish months. You may know Jeff Cobb from his appearance as Chris Jericho's hired gun on AEW. He might know him for the many things that he's done in New Japan. Or perhaps as the monster Matanza on Lucha Underground. Oh, sorry, spoiler alert for anyone who didn't realize that that was him under the mask. He actually talks about that in this interview, how there are still people that are like, oh my gosh, I had no idea that was you. It makes sense now.

And, you know, just talking about Lucha Underground really makes me miss it. It was something that was so, so special. And if you haven't had a chance to check this out, oh, man, look up some clips on YouTube. You are going to, oh, so good. And I think that we just have, it's obviously not coming back. We talk about that quite a bit in this interview, but we just got to be able to appreciate it for what it was. Hey, if you're not subscribed yet to the podcast, you're missing out. Yeah, take a second right now.

Reach in your pocket, subscribe or follow on whatever platform it is that you're listening on. And if that platform happens to be Apple Podcasts, please take a second to leave a review. It'd be so great. I read one out on every single episode, like this one from T-Man 484 in Australia. Titled this, Love It, such an informative podcast on the Art of the Squared Circle.

Great conversations and meaningful stories will keep you engaged and wanting more. You have a fan in me, Chris. Well, T-Man 484, T-Man-484. You've got a fan of me. Thank you for the very kind words. And if you love stories, if you love conversations, you're going to love this conversation with Jeff Cobb.

Because for as much as a monster that he is in the ring, he's such a laid-back guy outside of it. Maybe it's because he's Hawaiian. I don't know. He's just a really chill guy. We talk about his background as an Olympic wrestler. And since both he and Kurt Engel are Olympic athletes, I ask him who would win in an amateur wrestling match.

It's interesting. We talk a bunch about New Japan. We talk about the few appearances he had in AEW and why we didn't see more of them. He also says he has signed a contract with a major company. He's just waiting for them to formally announce this. So listen in here. See if maybe he gives some hints as to where that might be.

Hmm. Ladies and gentlemen, it's Jeff Cobb. Well, let's say Aloha to Jeff Cobb. Thank you so much for being part of this. My pleasure. Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, sneak it in there. We can start and end the interview with Aloha. I love it. It's saying hello and goodbye. Yeah, it's, um, hey, we're laid back, so whatever.

I, look, Hawaii is my favorite place on earth to visit. Again, mine, mine too. Yeah, well, that makes sense. That makes sense. You obviously got a lot more history there than me. Have you been back recently? August, end of August. I was there for about close to a week. So you're talking about last year. Oh, yeah, 2019. Sorry. Yeah, I haven't been back this year because of this craziness that's going on. So, yeah, try not to try to do my little part and not spread stuff everywhere I go. I'm sure people appreciate that. How is the crazy? of what's going on affected you in the wrestling world? A lot more free time.

So I got to do a lot more messing around at my house, finally finished the office that took me a year and a half to work on because I was home for like two or three days and gone and all that. So yeah, I got a lot of random stuff done around the house. It's great. So I'm enjoying that part. But, you know, wrestling is beginning, especially with New Japan. You know, you're back in the ring.

I guess it's next week. Yeah, it's next week for the New Japan Cup USA. How pumped you for that? I'm super excited. Well, I was in there last night or I don't even know what day it is right now. It's been too many. When you don't have to travel as often, like you forget the days and you kind of just let it go by, two nights ago, actually.

I was in the ring with Tonga Lua. It was fun. And now next week, next week, Friday, I get to, fight Kenta. This is going to be great. I like that it's a fight with Kenta. Oh, yeah. It's definitely, I mean, it's a fight with anybody.

So I like, yeah, Kent's going to kick me. I'm going to suplex him. We'll see which one, whose body breaks down first. I don't know. I would be betting on you with the suplexes. Heck yeah. Yeah.

With more free time on your hands, have you used this free time to watch more wrestling? Not as much as I'd like to. I've been doing a lot, like, just more workouts, again, doing more house projects that I've been putting on the side. I do, I have some random DVDs, like all Japan from the 90s and a couple other fun little, fun little things to reflect on. So, I mean, yeah, I don't watch it as much as, like, like, it's not on my TV 24-7, so. But there was times I'll get in a mood in a weird mood and just,

binge watch some random stuff. I saw you commenting on Raw Underground the other day, and you were basically saying, you know, there's some good in this because it's been getting a lot of negative reviews from people. Yeah, well, I mean, I don't know, it's weird because people are, you know, they're tired of

this, so they want something new, and then they give them something new, and they're not satisfied at that. I'm like, you know, and I'm not defending or anything, but I'm just saying, like, it's, I mean, because I've never had to do it. It's got to be tough writing for three hours of, I guess, live TV or whatever it is. And then, like, there's just so much pressure. Like, I get a lot of pressure just trying to make sure I catch my flight to the next show. And these guys have to sit in a room. And then, I mean,

I don't know if the stories are true, but like they write something and they get changed. And they write something that's changed and all that on the side. You know, I don't, I don't look at professional wrestling as too harsh. Or I'm not a big critic. as some people are. I mean, this is a business I love, so I don't want to critique it too much. I only know I can focus on what my stuff and the style of wrestling that I like,

that's how I try to portray it in my style and whatever show I'm doing or whatever match I'm doing. And I try not to focus too much on the, I just try to focus on myself and what I'm trying to portray. Well, look, I think there's positive and negative to everything. And I think that unfortunately in the wrestling world, people want to just focus on the

negative stuff when there might be some other positive stuff that is happening in the world of wrestling, too. Yeah, yeah. I like that take. Yeah, that's true, though. It's, I mean, it's like, I mean, if you go eat at a restaurant and have it a horrible experience, you're more likely to tell people about your horrible experience as opposed to, oh, man, it was great. So, yeah, I take everything in stride. And I like that, too. Yeah, you're so right. If you go and in Yelp and you see negative reviews, you're like, well, I get it. Like the person who had a bad experience, they probably left a negative review. The person that had a mediocre and okay and even a good experience, they'll just go, yeah, it was fine and probably not take the time. Exactly.

Yeah, exactly. You know, being from Hawaii, being an islander, I feel like so many islanders in the wrestling world are related. Do you have any sort of relation to anybody, even if it's a distant relative? No, unfortunately. You might be the only one. Yeah, I think I might be the only one. I know that a lot of the more of the Samoans and Tongians are more related as opposed to the Filipinos. So, yeah. I don't think I have any relatives that are wrestlers.

I mean, I just did the, or I did like about maybe a year and a half ago that 23 and me. And no pro wrestlers popped up on my extended family. Never. The rock, the rock was, I think Rock was in Honolulu as well. So, you know, I'm just thinking, could be some tie in there. I don't know. You know, I'm just going to go, yeah, we're related.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So yeah, Rock, if you're listening, if you want to loan me a couple bucks, that's cool too. Cobb might be the least Hawaiian name possible. And it's done enough vowels in there. Maybe, yeah, we just got to throw on a couple more things.

It'll be all right. Yeah, if you threw a couple of that. owls, then it would definitely be, look, it's not a Hawaiian last name. I think that people need to, you know, realize that. Your background is, it's a mix of a whole bunch of different things, right? Just like, my mom is full Filipino. My dad, my dad's side is a Japanese and Irish. So, yeah. And then, well, the 23 and me broke down is pretty much that era. So, like, European and Pacific Islander-ish, so. Yeah, nothing, nothing popped out. I was like, oh my gosh, that's, yeah.

Although I'm, I'm 0.1% I think Ethiopian. So. Point one, okay. Yeah, so I'm going to go try to buy some land over there and see. What are some Hawaiian words that us mainlanders completely butcher and saying correctly? Probably, well, I mean, earlier we kind of talked about that, like the UFC, but maybe I think two weeks ago and you correct you

was Bruce Buffer that does the the announces so like I was cooking dinner or I was prepping dinner and he announced this he butchered the word so bad I mean I get it like if you if you look at the certain thing

if you look at a word on paper you're going to pronounce it how you think it's pronounced but I would assume someone like that would be like hey man how do you pronounce where you're from kind of thing it just it shocked me I stopped when I was when I looked up and I was dying laughing, almost tears. I don't know if it was tears of joy or tears of sadness, but yeah, it was just a funny thing.

And, but yeah, like that, I've heard people mess up like Mahalo. So some people, I've heard a few people say, my halo throughout my life. It does look like Ma and Halo, I guess. But yeah, it's okay. Every time I've been to Hawaii, I feel like I'm saying it incorrectly. because everyone there is Hawaii. Well, so I don't know. I watch a lot of TV sometimes like more like South Park and that kind of stuff.

There's a great episode on South Park where Butters went to Hawaii to reclaim his birthright. And if you can watch that episode, it's exactly how it's portrayed there with mainlanders coming over. It's so funny, man. It's the perfect representation of what's going on. Okay, so should I be saying Hawaii or Hawaii? You know what? As long as you're saying it, that's all the matters, I think. Okay.

On that episode, people are like, Hawaii. That's yes. The Ws are Vs sometimes, but it depends. I like, I like, when if you're talking to me, I'm like, oh, yeah, I'm going to go to Hawaii next week. So kind of. All right. So we'll just say Hawaii then. Growing up in Hawaii, where, you know, was there a lot of access to

wrestling was there a lot of exposure to you for wrestling growing up yeah yeah um w w or i guess w f at the time i used to come at like once or twice a year um all the time uh throughout the years um i think they only go like once a year or something now um more towards the fall but i mean yeah when they would come to town i would always go uh i would always buy the wrestling figures um the wrestling magazines. We had, there was something on, I think it was global wrestling was on global wrestling federation. I think it was called was on ESPN at the time. And then I did see a little bit of NWA slash WCW growing up, but not as, not as much. I mean, I don't know if Hawaii is a WWF territory, but yeah, I did see, I did see a lot of WWF growing up. And I find the story fascinating that

you became an amateur wrestler thinking that amateur wrestling was actually WWF pro wrestling. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I think every time I talk about it, I'm like, man, I sound like a dumb kid,

but I mean, I didn't know. I didn't know anything about amateur wrestling until my, until I showed up that day. So I just assumed I saw a flyer one day saying wrestling. I was like, oh my gosh. I mean,

this is what I want to do. So, lo and behold, show up and it's definitely, like, there's no ring or anything like that. I was, thank goodness, I didn't bring like a robe or anything or a mask or I would have been kicked out and said, don't come back kind of thing. But yeah, I mean, yeah, I'm sure there's, I hope there's other people who have done that, not just me. And how old were you at this time? I was a freshman in high school.

Okay, so that's when I joined my wrestling team too. and I got in there and realized that all of the moves you see on TV in WWE are not moves you can do in amateur wrestling at all. Oh yeah, no I don't know. I did see in the I guess

I mean there's a few moves that I that can kind of translate back and forth but definitely not the well in high school you can't do all the slams so maybe not that but like international holds either like you can't do a full Nelson. Yeah, but you

you can do a half Nelson. You can do a half Nelson, yeah. I mean, I guess that's kind of like a Tas mission-ish without the joke. Yeah, yeah, ish. Yeah, you probably get a lot of comparisons to Tas. I do, I do. Just for the fact that we're both brown and we do a lot of suplexes. Yeah, I've gotten that. I've got some more joke, which is weird. I mean, I guess body structure size, we're about the same. We're both islanders. I'm not Samoan, so I guess I'm like Hawaiian

and Jeff as opposed to Samojo. So, yeah. So those two, and then, and then Kurt Engel sometimes. Oh, that's, those are all pretty great comparisons.

Oh, definitely, man. Like, they're huge inspirations on my career. So. Well, I know Kurt Engel was someone that,

like, that was number one on your list of like dream matches, which I feel like is probably not going to happen now. Yeah, but I mean, you could create a wrestler online in the 2K games and just play that. Make sure I win guys, always me. I love the positivity here. Sure, we can't make this match happen in real life, but we'll just create the characters and make this thing happen.

Yeah, I mean, because, oh, man, like, I mean, just physically he gave his body to this business and the sport. So, I mean, I'm sure he was beat up before he started professional wrestling. and, you know, he always says he had a broken, freaking neck, and that's true. So, I mean, he's, he got, I mean, he was broken down. I mean, amateur wrestling is probably one of the, actually the toughest sport out there. And I think the wear and tear on that,

and then the wear and tear on pro wrestling, it just, it just takes the, it just beats you, beat you down, man. And, I mean, shoot, if I could have wrestled him five, six, five, ten years ago, man, it would have sucked. because I was not good back then, but he definitely could have, he would have made me look like a million bucks. What if we took 1996 Atlanta,

Kurt Angle versus 2004 Athens, Jeff Cobb? What would happen then? Kurt Angle. In an amateur match? Yeah. He was really good, man. He was really good. Plus, I think he was wrestling,

he wasn't wrestling, I don't think he was wrestling, I think he was wrestling heavyweight. And I don't think, I don't go saying 184, so I don't think, yeah, he would just mop the floor with me. But you say that. I can't picture you wrestling at 184. Oh, yeah, that was before I started lifting.

I was, yeah, I was just a wrestler at the time. I didn't really lift that much. I didn't, you know, I was, I'm a little bit, I'm not exactly like 6'4, so I'm a little bit shorter. So, yeah, I was, I was a smaller guy. So I was a 184, 104 wrestler. But I always had to cut because I was always hovering around. on like 200. I can't believe you were that successful in amateur wrestling without lifting weights.

Yeah, I didn't really lift until like I started going to, like, my freshman year in college was like 2003. So I was like, man, this is, this is a lot of all brand new to me. Wow. So after being in the Olympics in 2004, was there ever thought of doing it in 2008 as well? for there was a yeah I was doing all the qualifying tournaments up until then but then one of the last qualifying tournaments also landed on one of the last qualifying tournaments uh for our college nationals and I didn't I at that time like I was

kind of like burnt out from amateur wrestling like I just wanted to finish my college career and I was tired of the like the traveling and this like in that year I to do a couple tournaments and like one i had to fly a lot to new zealand from missouri i was like a good 24 hour total flight and i was like man my body's just yeah and i just kind of i just kind of just didn't do it anymore after i did two qualifying tournaments and i had one more to do and then i had a pretty good chance of going back but i was like yeah like i mean i just my i guess my heart wasn't into it. And that's the worst, that's the worst thing you can do is like just doing tournaments, just to do tournaments. Like, I mean, I felt like it kind of like held some younger guys

back because they couldn't beat me, but they were so into it. Like, they wanted to do it. They had the passion for it at the time. And like for me, I just felt a lot of that as my goal. And then did the goal instantly start shifting to like, all right, now pro wrestling, that's, that's going to be the focus now. Oh, yeah, definitely. I mean, that's always been my goal since I was, since I was a kid. Like, I, I mean, my, my fiance, the first time we went to visit my mom in Guam, like she had all these old, like boxes of all my old stuff. And when I was like, when I was younger, I used to have my own wrestling federation.

And actually, if you give me 20 seconds, I can grab my notebook right there. Please. Yes. This is going to be well worth it. Oh, I can't wait to see. see what we got here. Also, I appreciate that you're sitting on an exercise ball. Oh, yeah. It's good for your back. Wow. So, I mean, I don't, I never showed this to anybody, but then my fiance has been very good at making me to like, you know, there's people out there just like me as a, that were younger,

that were had fake wrestling leagues or whatever. And she's like, you shouldn't be ashamed of that. I was like, it's not that I'm ashamed. It's, I'm embarrassed. So, but there's a difference. But, yeah, Yeah, so like I would have, I mean, I'm not going to do the pay-per-view names that I gave him, but like notebooks of shows that I put on with certain guys. Because I would have like WWF or WWF at the time, like action figures, like Ninja Turtle figures would be involved in the, in my league and all that, and just random figures that I had. And they would just all wrestle them.

And, you know, so doing that kind of stuff, like, because I was like, I've always wanted to be a wrestler. And it's, yeah, so I would always do that. That was like my end all be on goal. How old were you when you made that? I know I started, like, in elementary school. And then it kind of went through, like, middle schoolish. Not in high school. I was a cool kid in high school, but this would be, this would still make you cool.

Yeah. No, yeah, I mean, I don't remember when I stopped. I know I definitely stopped, like, when I started amateur wrestling, because I just took up so much of my time. So I know it was probably for a good maybe, I don't know, 10-year run maybe. Wow. Well, look, there's a lot of people that still make e-feds. E-Feds are very popular.

And this is like a precursor to an e-fed. I guess action figures, I guess, yeah. Yeah. Oh, okay. Well, yeah. So I've had like maybe three, three notebooks, three or four notebooks filled with them and just, and then it just got too much where I had like, like a few, like maybe close to 100 figures. I was like, man, I can't, this is, this is turning. Now I relate to nowadays where I'm like, man, this is like a super indie fed card because there's like 16 matches on this.

So. Give me a, give me a few of the bookings here. Give me a couple of the matches. Oh, all right. Okay, I'm going to randomly open it. Okay. Let's see. Well, it kind of translated to like at the time.

I was like maybe like 97 or something, but like had Marty Genetti against Buff Bagwell for the U.S. championship. Who won? Buff Bagwell. And that's a good thing, especially nowadays after what he said a couple days. So yeah, Buff Bagu goes up. The thing I love about it is. this is you had a dream, you had a goal, and you were super specific with what you wanted to do, you chased after it, and look at you now. Yeah, I mean, I just feel like, you know, if you have a dream,

like, go for it. Like, what's the worst is going to happen? You don't achieve it. Um, like, my main thing was, I don't want to be like, you know, as a grandpa and be like, man, I'm telling my grandkids to chase their dreams. And that's not, you know, if I didn't do it myself. And then at the same time, like, I don't want to be like 50 or 60 or 70 and you're like, man, I should have done when I could have. I definitely can't do when I'm 60, but, you know, so give it the old, was it the old college try? Well, yeah, and that, in the phrase, like, shoot for the stars, and if you miss, you'll at least hit the moon. Like, that, that's what really, you know, that's what I mean, I feel like I'm hearing here. Yeah, I mean, definitely, like, I've always

wanted to do it. And, you know, like I said, worst case scenario, I don't make it true. Well, I mean, I mean, definitely, when I think back to what my goals were when I was, you know, like as a kid in middle school and high school is definitely different than what I have now. But, you know, at the same time, there are goals that, there's stuff that you can shoot for. And that's what you're aiming for, you know. So, I mean, yeah, I'm happy in my decisions. Well, you should be.

You know, things are going pretty well in your career. When you first started getting into pro wrestling, what did you have to unlearn from amateur wrestling? Well, like, I guess in amateur wrestling, you don't show that you're hurt or tired. And then starting pro wrestling, you definitely have to make that 180 switch. And I was like, oh, okay. That was definitely a weird thing for me.

Like, definitely the physicality of it was fine because I remember my first day of training, my trainer was like, hey, we're all going to do 500 squats. I was like, all right, cool. And we're just like bus, this is like me right out of college wrestling too. So I was like, all right, cool. $4.99, $500. I mean, yeah, my legs would burn. I was like, cool.

And I was next to that. So, I mean, like that kind of stuff is the physical side of it was fine. The sports entertainment side definitely wasn't my forte. I feel like also in pro wrestling, everything being done on the left side is a big adjustment for amateur wrestlers. Oh, yeah. So that's another thing, too, like, I know amateur wrestling, you're not shooting, you're not going for one side only, like, whatever's open, you're going to take it.

So that was definitely a weird transition to it. It was like, stop, like, you know, I remember, like, some of my buddies were like, stop grabbing that, like, go to the other side. I was like, yeah, but that one's closer. But look at you now, and things are going, you know, pretty great in your career. know you've signed somewhere. When will we hear about where you've signed? Well, so my main thing was I wanted the company to announce it just because I'd rather have them do it and I think it's a better platform for them to do it as opposed to me just jumping

and say it. Hey, look at it. I sign here. Like I'd rather them announce it and then I could, then I can go on my little social media thing and do all that kind of stuff. But unfortunately, it was supposed to be around March, but then this craziness happened. So that kind of went on the backburn, which is totally fine. Like, I get it. But yeah, I still definitely hold true to that. Like, I would prefer the company to announce it before I say anything. And so that's why I've been kind of quiet and people just assume stuff and all that.

It was great. Like, I love it. Like, you know, when people would just assume and tag me on Facebook or Twitter or something, I just kind of go with it. I'm like, all right, cool. Yeah, depending on where you look, you've signed with every company. company in the world. Yeah. It was funny because I didn't realize that this happened, but I can't remember who said, it may have been, it may have been like Lance Archer or something, but he was like, yeah, you know,

in the, in the span of three weeks, you wrestle in Atlanta for three different major companies. Because we did, we'd had a ring of honor. Then the following week, I did a New Japan show there. And then a week and a half later, I was doing AEW. So, yeah, it was weird. It was weird, but, you know, I was like, well, I know the Atlanta airport like the back of my hand now. Not as a giant airport. That's one of those airports where you have to take a train to get to your plane. Yeah, that's pretty. That would be, I know I did an international flight once where I ended up in international

arrivals, which is, I think terminal E is at the very end. Right. And then connecting flight was in B. So I'd get on that train for like five or six stops. Yeah. Huge. Man, it's crazy. So is this going to be an announcement or are you just going to

show up somewhere and then we'll all go, ah, that's where Jeff Cobb is. Well, so for a while, I was having so much fun with it because, like, I would, I was on Ring of Honor and then I did the AEW shot or the two shows there. And then I showed up back on like a AED or a Ring of Honor show. And then people are always like, well, he signed here. And he, but he was like, that's cool, but that's not really what happened. But yeah, okay, if you want to think that, totally fine. But now, especially with this going on, like, I don't have that chance to play around with people anymore. and just show up and then people can be like, oh my gosh, she's signed here now.

But yeah, so I mean, especially with the limited amount of shows that are going on, or especially the bigger shows. So, I mean, yeah, I'm just going to wait for the company to announce it. And hopefully people forget that I haven't announced that I signed something. But you are signed to New Japan, and you do stuff exclusively in Japan for New Japan, right? Yeah, for Japan, I only do New Japan stuff. Yes, okay. So there's not a secret, everyone.

He's not, you know, that's not a secret. Yeah, or I mean, unless, I guess, because they have their partnership with Ring of Honor, when Ring of Honor goes there, then I'll do the Ring of Honor shows. And yeah, but yeah, in Japan, I'm exclusive to New Japan. Unless it's a pepper lunch eating contest, then I'm definitely going to,

then I'm going to have to separate my ties with them and go there and do that. Man, I love pepper lunch. Pepper Lunch? Yeah, so, I can't remember the War Machine. What are their names now? I always forget. The Viking Raiders?

Yeah, so I can't remember their name. They had so many names chase. I always call them what I have them in my phone as. Which makes sense, yeah. Yeah, so my first tour, they took me to this place called Pepper Lunch. It's pretty much like a fast food steak place, but has really quality steaks. It's like a little, like a cast iron hot plate.

And they heat that sucker up and they've, whatever steak you decide to get, whether it's a ribby or New York, they throw it on there and whatever you want, like with it, like some vegetables or some rice and they'll bring it out to you within five minutes. And the sucker still cooking on the skillet when they bring it out to you. And it's just a quick place to get a good steak. and yeah so when Viking Raiders took me there we went

I don't even know how many times I've eaten there like probably over a hundred times so I definitely I ate there during the G1 at least because we're in Tokyo a lot so I want to say at least 12 times so that's a great place

they popped up actually in like New York in L.A. Oh, I'm going to I just moved to L.A., so I'm going to have to go look for this. Yeah, I forgot where it was. Someone told me, it may have been Brody King, or somebody have told me that they ate there once.

And I was like, oh, okay, cool. So I have to go out. Well, I don't know if they're open right now, but. Oh, that's true. Well, if they have outdoor, no, if it's takeout or outdoor dining, it should be fine. Oh, yeah, we're good at then, right?

It's just crazy to think about things in those terms. Wow. Man, I was going to say next time I'm in Japan, I'll have to go there because I was planning to go. I was planning to go to the Superdome show, but you know, I've got to figure out if that's happening or how it's happening. Yeah,

I'm still keeping my fingers crossed because I know they just announced G1 for the normally scheduled time that there was supposed to be this year. They haven't told us yet if we are able to go and to keep my fingers crossed because, I mean, that G1 last year was amazing. My first G-1 is You never forget your first That was great

So I definitely wanted to improve on it from last year But I get it with the current situation I can't get mad at anybody or any company It's just how the way it is Hey it's Chris popping in for just a second I'm so excited about this Sundays are coming back in the NFL And with NFL Sunday Ticket.com.

TV, you can stream every live at-market NFL game every Sunday afternoon on your favorite devices plus Red Zone and DirecTV Fantasy Zone channels. You'll never miss your favorite teams and favorite players. So no matter where you live, NFL Sunday Ticket.tv is your key to the most glorious Sundays every. Just use the promo code Blue Wire at checkout and you'll get 15% off your subscription. So visit NFL Sunday Ticket.com. TV, that promo code, is Blue Wire. Do you have to adapt your style when you're in Japan versus when you wrestle in America?

Yeah, there's definitely differences of styles. Like, I know when, like, the handful of indies that I do, there's that, there's definitely, like, if you sit back and you actually look at it, there's an indie style. If you look at it, if you sit and watch a WWE show, there's a WWE style. Ring of Honor has their style.

Japan has their style. Mexico has their style. Everybody has their different styles. And it's good to be adaptable to be able to basically know who and what you're, like if you're in Japan, try to adapt it and learn how to wrestle

a new Japan style because that's or not necessarily in New Japan style, but a Japanese style. Because I think there's been a few people that I've seen that are stuck in this mentality and they come over and they do that and the fans have no idea how to react to it because they're not used to seeing that. So yeah, it's definitely, I mean, just be adaptable, I guess. But yeah, there's a style in Japan that's, it's so good and I love it. I love that style over there. What do you do more or less of when you're wrestling for New Japan? Um, definitely

definitely a little bit more selling. And I've kind of translated it more some of the shows I do in America or in the U.S. or wherever I'm at. I try to do that style because I like that style. Like it's such a believable style. And it's, and there's a reason for that. And I like, I like that system.

I like that setup. I like that style. So that's what I'm trying to gear how I am now. towards that. I think when people saw you in AEW, they assumed like that was going to be home for you. You know, Jeff Cobb is all elite. And we saw you twice and, you know, that was it. Was that the plan all along? Well, you know, Chris Jirk was a smart guy and he's not going to keep paying me if he hired me to pretty much beat the crap out of Moxley. And he ended up beating me. So, you know, Jerk was smart business man. he's not going to keep paying me for something I didn't accomplish.

But you never know if he feels the urge to hire another hired gun back. You know, price is always right for me. Jericho's a billionaire, man. I get, you know, pay me. I'll be there. Wow, I didn't realize Jericho's a billionaire now. Wow, amazing. I mean, Fossey's doing good, right?

Fossey's doing good. Talk of Jericho's doing good. I'm sure he sold five million bottles. of the bubble. So he's got to make great residuals out of that. So much of the bubble. Jeez. He's a genius.

He's an absolute genius when it, not just wrestling. I mean, he's great in wrestling, but he's a genius when it comes to business and marketing. Yeah, I mean,

just he's been in the wrestling business for a while and he's, you know, he didn't just, he wasn't just in the business to be in the business. You know, he learned,

he learned different aspects of this, of what we're in, in professional wrestling. And he definitely honed his craft over the time and he's reaping the benefits for the smart man well look there's lots of people that have been in the business a long time that aren't doing the things that jericho is doing so the fact that you got to be hired by him work under him for a little while i mean that's pretty special yeah speaking to which he hasn't sent me my uh my w-2s yet so i'm proud of

jeez you might be getting into trouble with the irs then yeah let's just edit that part out probably. Is that, are things completely done with Lucha Underground? For me, yes. I got my release

after the season four. As far as, because I've heard, I've heard weird rumbling. I remember reading something and somebody tagged me in saying, like, season five is coming or something.

I mean, I'm not going to tell anybody, like, hold your breath. Basically, don't hold your breath for that. Like, I don't,

I don't know. I haven't heard any rumblings, but, I mean, last I heard, too, like our main writer was Krista Joseph, and I think he went to WWE. Yeah. So I don't, yeah, I don't know who they would use for that. And, like, all their majority of their guys are in WWE now, so I don't think. Yeah, I don't think there's anyone even available. Yeah.

I mean, I mean, there was that partnership with AAA. So maybe, I mean, all the guys down there could be, yeah. But I don't know, like me personally, like, that was a chapter in my book that's done. We're moving on to the next chapter. That was a pretty great chapter, though. Yeah, I had a blast. I mean, there, I mean, yeah, there's a lot of hiccups and snafu. We were on a lot of angry talent, but.

Towards hand, yeah. But when we were there in filming and doing it, like, everybody had a blast. So, I mean, yeah, I definitely look back on on those days. is really fun. Like, it's good memories. Just the business side of it was a little weird, but what we made there was definitely, definitely magic. Are there people that still have no idea that you are Matanza?

Yeah, yeah. I get that a lot. So to this day, like, some random, random tweets are like, oh, that was you? I was like, oh, God, here we go. And a lot of the, like, the meeting greets or whatever at the merch table or whatever other people come up and then they bring me like, do I just found out this was, you're like, oh, well, five years too late, but whatever. Come on in outside. But yeah, I get the weird ones. It's weird. It's like, literally been close to five years now.

Yeah. I was surprised to see that the original plan actually wasn't to make you Matanza. The original plan was Jeff Cobb was going to be in Luch Underground. Yeah, I was going to be like a, it's funny, we come like a little circle back to it. But like there, I remember they were saying, yeah, we want to. you like a like a tas-like character. Like, firm, cool. Which is, I was like, oh, well, that's not a stretch. But all right, let's do it.

Yeah. So it was going to be Hernandez, right? That's what I was told. Yeah. He would have been the Monster Mertanza. Wow. Well, I think that no one plays it better than you. Well, thank you.

But when you go to that final season and you realize that your character is going to be killed off, which, you know, doesn't happen in any other wrestling world other than Lucha Underground. How does that conversation happen? Well, first, you have to say spoiler alert, because some people haven't seen it. Five years too late to quote you. Well, well, that was in 2000. They aired that in 2019, 18, I believe.

Sorry, spoiler alert, everyone. Okay. But, yeah, I mean, well, because I know I was at a weird, a weird place with them just for the fact that we weren't between season three and season four there was like i think there was like 20 something months of no work but we're still stuck in this weird contract so it was weird and i was just really frustrated because like in pro wrestling you only like you can't do like there's very few people that can do professional wrestling and be at a high level for 20 plus years sure um there's only a handful of them like a lot of people's windows are what five to 10 years

Here's give or take. And I was feeling like, you know, I was hitting a good stride. And I was like, you know, I can only do Indies now because I'm stuck under this contract. Like there's great companies out there that I was getting like, people are just like, hey, you should come here. I was like, why can't? Because I stuck in this contract. So, yeah, so that season four was a little bit weird because a lot of people were upset about

being off for 20 plus months with no pay. and but you can't go anywhere else kind of thing. So it's weird. But then they threw everything together and rushed season four out or to tape it. I don't know, I can think it was like maybe three weeks, three weeks worth of taping, squished into that. So it was really hectic. And I mean, it's definitely like, again, I love seeing the people that I worked with,

but it didn't feel like a real luch underground kind of. Because it just felt rushed and it felt like it was just like, all right, we'll throw the season together kind of thing. Like, yeah, that's kind of, did you know at the start of that season? What was going to happen to your character? No, they told me about maybe halfway through. Wow. Yeah. I mean, I heard stuff, but it wasn't confirmed until about maybe like a week or two after we started filming, which is totally fine.

I get it, you know, like if I'm not going to be there, you know. I mean, but at the same time, they could always. put that and put somebody else under that costume, I guess. Well, at the same time, it's Lucha Underground. You know, you might not really be gone. You never know. You never know. In pro wrestling, you never say never.

Right. And I mean, in pro wrestling, for sure, but then one layer on top of that is in the world of Lucha Underground, like, yeah, did it really happen? Maybe you could come back as like some other version of yourself or something. Yeah, I pitched a few ideas. It's just, it didn't fit into their taping skis. which I thought was going to be perfect for it, but it's okay. I'll probably try and film it for me just to be fun with it.

Did Indies ever try to book you as Matanza? Like a handful of Lucha companies. Okay. Not necessarily like, I mean, I had maybe like a very, like maybe from what I can remember, like maybe two or three companies saying, hey, can you use that? but for the most part it's always like lucha company were hitting me up and I was like man I'm too slow to do lucha

well that character is too slow to do lucha so it's like yeah or to do like a traditional lucha match especially like for TV it's perfect but for an indie or independent uh lucha show I don't think it would have worked out as good when you were metanz I feel like you had to almost hold back what you were capable of like you weren't doing the full range of what jeff Cobb could do

Yeah, like I would more, it's, I guess it kind of was like a, like a Jason Borghies kind of character or Michael Michael. And then, then like a shark attack and then kind of go back to Jason or Michael again and just relax, relax, and then truck attack kind of thing. So it was, it was definitely fun. It was different. So, yeah. So if that was, if that was the description of Matanza, what's the description of how Jeff Cobb rustles now,

just lots of shark attacks? Um, yes. A lot of shark attacks, um, parentheses, suplexes. So, lots, I feel like we should, you know, Brock Lesnar has the suplex count. You should have a suplex count on your matches. Yeah, but he only does one. That's, you're right. Yeah, he only does one type of suplex. Yeah. But I mean, I get it. Like, you know, that's a big dude to be doing the germ suplex, man. So, and I'm not one to knock Brock Leser either, man. I, I mean, I, I mean, and he like hoke hogan after a while only did a few moves rock whizzer only all he needs to do is grab you and throw you and suplex you

well he's a beast you know so are you sure thank you appreciate that is there anyone that you feel like it would be difficult to suplex oh um you know what I don't know because I've always like people there was a stretch when I was on the right before I signed with ring of honor or all these indie companies I don't know if they're in cahoots but they were booking me with big dudes and I seeing if I could suplex. I was like man like I'm much more I can do other stuff besides suplex big dudes or carry big dudes so but yeah like um I don't think there's been somebody that I haven't made of a suplex yet so well the interesting thing about your style and your size is you're booked like a big man yeah well i mean compared to some people nowadays i

am a big man so this is true yeah but you're booked like especially in lucha but i guess everywhere you've worked you're booked like your six four and three hundred pounds yeah i'm not too far from six four so six three and a half you know somewhere around there yeah i mean i mean i guess uh for all in purpose and tens it's um like five 10ish on a good day when i stretch um if i don't i'm slouching a little i'm like uh i'm a little bit shorter but yeah like realistically like five 10ish and um two 55 it takes um big dude yeah i'm not that small guys geez no i never said it Please don't hurt me. I'm glad that we're doing this virtually right now.

Or you just unplug my phone. I'm out of here. No. You already had enough problems with the connection. I saw in another interview that you did that you said that WWE didn't want you. Was there ever conversations that you guys had? Sorry, I dropped some. Well, I hope that wasn't taken out of context,

but that was in 2014. when I did my tryout with them. That's when I meant that they didn't want me. I mean, I get it. At the time, they were doing, like, if you looked at that roster back then, they had like one of everything almost. Like, I don't know if they were trying to collect them or not.

Like, was that Shorty G or Chad Gable or Chazbet or his road? Chad Gable was there, so they had an Olympian already. it was the finest Conan Reeves was there so they already had an Hawaiian guy so maybe they already hit their they filled their quotas for what they needed and that so I was like alright go I get it

I'm not mad at them like definitely didn't go on online and bash them because they're like no it's they didn't want you oh well go do other stuff and then let them come after you again so yeah yeah they did I mean but yeah they they were gonna send well they asked me if I wanted to do Um, is it tough enough? There was one that came back like in 2014 or 15 or something of that.

Yeah. And I just didn't, I didn't want to do reality TV. Like, I want to be a wrestler. That's, that's what I am. I'm a professional wrestler. But a lot of people might have seen that as their ticket to get that WWB contract. Yeah.

I mean, I'm not, I'm not knocking anybody that's gone that route because there's been a bunch of people that have gone through and have made it and good for them but that for me personally that's just not me yeah well have you have you had any other conversations with wwee since i mean it was six years ago um yeah actually uh the beginning of this year um but yeah i just i didn't feel it was my time to go there yet hmm because there's some because there's like a couple of things that i wanted to accomplish even before i thought about going there so what are, I mean, what are some things that are still on the bucket list for you to do? Well, definitely, well, just from like a, from wrestling in New Japan a lot, like I definitely

want to do more Tokyo domes. I've only done one Tokyo Dome match, but we were on the pre-show, if you will. I mean, people still count it, but like, selfishly, I want to be on the, on the main card in a match out there. So that's definitely. one of my goals. I like their never open weight division because I think they have some great wrestlers there. Like when I won the belt and then Orit went after that where there was guys like guys like myself, Goto, Tai Chi, Kenta ended up having it.

And so, and Osprey had it. Nowshingo has it. Like, you know, those kind of things like all these guys. can go. They're so, like, I love wrestling all, everybody that's mentioned, because they're so good. But yeah, I definitely want to win that championship back. And then,

I mean, again, selfishly, I, uh, like, who doesn't want to go for the the IWGP heavyweight championship? But I feel like, I feel like this, uh, their U.S. championship that they have,

like I feel like I could help that division out a little bit. So, and be a champion that can defend it in America. So I definitely want to, definitely want to have a crack at that. Is there anyone in New Japan that you haven't been able to have a match with that you really, really want to? Like a singles match kind of thing?

Yeah. Well, the G1 definitely gave me a lot of guys that, like, I got to wrestle Naito, which is really cool in itself. And then, but I haven't had to have. a one-on-one match with guys like uh like i've had tag matches against tanahashi but to have a singles match with him would be amazing like because he's he's the ace he he earned that nickname the ace you know um guys like him um again selfishly i'd be dumb to not say guys like okada um you know uh depth like well i beat evil already now he's the heavyway champion so i you know but it might another

rematch with that guy. Yeah, if you beat him, makes sense. Yeah. And also, too, like I mentioned, Tomahashi, Koda Bushi, why wouldn't you want to have a match with someone like him, you know? But yeah, for me, personally, I'd love to wrestle people that I've never, anybody on that roster. And I got to give me like a minute to figure out who I haven't wrestled yet in a single match. Yeah, I definitely would love those three that's off my list. Yeah, pretty much all those matches or dream matches, I would think. Oh, yeah, definitely. Your style is so perfect for New Japan.

When did, like, if we take this back, when did the conversation start happening with New Japan for you guys to click and make this happen? Well, originally it was, I want to say it was like PWG's Battle of Los Angeles. I think it was 2017. I know Tiger or Tori came by.

There was actually a lot of people that show in that small recita building. Like William Rego was there. Brian Kendrick came, showed up. I don't remember if that was the same time, but I know it was that year that Alberta Dario and Page came by. Just randomly were backstage, just hanging out, which is weird.

But yeah, I met Tiger or Tori there, and I started, like, chit-chatting with him. And then he was asking me about my Olympic background. And he's like, I mean, everybody's got a taggartory impersonation. But he's like, but he was like sitting right behind me and he's like, hey, man, you're asked to Olympics, man? Yes, sir. And then I knew we started talking from there.

And then, yeah, I ended up, they told me I was coming over for the 2017 tag week. and then the rest is history. Yeah, and everything that you've accomplished since. You've wrested pretty much everywhere since. Yeah. Yeah, I'm very happy. I learned a fascinating fact about you while watching an interview with Alicia Toot

that you're a Backstreet Boys fan. Yeah, so I remember, because I was in high school when this whole boy band craze started coming out where it was like Backstreet Boys, Insig, 98 degrees, all these guys. I was like, no. Backstreet Boys was the first and they got the better songs. So I definitely put them as number one for the boy bands.

It is fascinating to know that Jeff Cobb listens to Backstreet Boys. Yeah, at that, we're not at that time, but I want to say around college time, I had every Backstree Boys CD. Wow. Have you been to a Backstree Boys concert? I've never been. They were in Vegas. They did a, I don't know if it was a residency or a couple shows in Vegas.

And I was in here, I was out of town. I think I was in Japan for that. I was so upset about that. But it's okay. It's okay. I don't know. I don't know if my fiancee wouldn't like that if I dragged her to a backstream voice concert. What?

It's usually the other way around. No, she, like her favorite band is a tool. Oh, tools fantastic. Yeah. You know who goes on stage and introduces Tool? Justin Roberts. Really? Yeah.

Oh. Justin Roberts, before he signed with AEW, was on tour with Tool, and he was like the person who would warm up the crowd and introduce Tool. Hey, that's cool. Isn't that insane? Man, I should have been bugging him for some tickets or something. You can still bug him for some tickets, I'm sure. Well, I, like, okay, so I don't know, like, tool.

I don't know anybody in the band, like, facial. I can't be like, oh shit, that's so-and-so or whatever, whatever. I didn't realize this until maybe like his third or fourth. But I guess Adam Jones goes to PWG a lot. And I had no clue. There was a picture with me, and he was in the background just talking to somebody. And my fiance saw it. And I was like, holy, I don't know if I can curse on your, but I was like,

holy shit. Yeah, it's the internet. Holy shit. Like, did you know he goes to these shows? I was like, no, I honestly didn't because I honestly, like, I mean, I'm just an idiot. I don't, I don't know how people, like, I'm kind of stuck in my little bubble of what I do. But I know, I know, I know too. I think they're a phenomenal band.

I just don't know how they, you know, I've never met them, so I don't, I never met them, so I don't know. And then, then all of a sudden, like, he's following me on Twitter and Instagram. I'm following his stuff, and I'm seeing all his cool things. I'm like, oh, this is awesome. So, yeah, I definitely found a newfound respect for Adam Jones, too, and I apologize. I was like, I'll definitely get your front-go ticket when PWG comes back on me, on me. Well, it sounds like when quarantine, you know, ends,

you'll be dragging your fiance to Backstreet Boys concert, and she'll be dragging you to a Tool concert. Totally fine. Yeah. So what's the go-to Backstreet Boys song? Well, everybody always goes with the stuff that they've heard on MTV, but there's one song that didn't mean. make it as big as like I wanted that way or whatever, but it was called the one.

Oh, of course. I'll be the one. There you go. Like not many people know it. Sorry, everyone. It's such a good song. I think it's a catchy song. There was one, I remember, I think Nick Carter sang it.

I think it was a solo song. It's called I Need You Tonight. That's a great love song, man. I do not know that one. But I remember a song when I was younger, when Perfect Fan, when I heard Perfect Fan, When I heard perfect fan for the first time, that really got to me. Was that, uh, is that about moms? Yes.

Yeah, mom, you always were the perfect fan. I think it was Brian. Geez, we're getting deep into the weeds here with Backstreet Boys. I think your, I think your viewership just clicked on zero. Or our viewership just went through the roof. Oh my God. Chris and Jeff Com like Backstreet Boys. Heck yeah.

They're good, man. I wanted that way. It was like my go-to karaoke song. Number one, just because everybody knows it. But number two, it's like, if you're not good at it, you can, like, go off the stage and be like, yeah, but it's the backstreet boys. Like, come on.

Like, you know, it can kind of be a bit of a joke. Well, I kind of feel like you can do those songs like with, like, so because I'm Filipino, we definitely love Journey because the new lead singer for Journey is Filipino. Arnie Paneda, shout out. Please, you know, contact me. Let's do, let's do some business. But no, yeah, like, I feel like Journey is one of,

those songs or one of those bands or that you go to karaoke and like don't stop believing. Oh, you definitely like everybody will start. Like if you choose that song, everybody's going to start singing along with you. So like I definitely feel like journeys like that. But I don't, there's a handful of people that can get that high in the in the tone and the pitches and the everything. Like, yeah, those are two. Yeah. So I've tried it before and I was like, I suck. So But then I do the same thing like you down. I'm like, well, you know, it's this journey. Who can get that high?

Also, I don't know if anyone expects you to be good when you're singing karaoke. Oh, yeah. No, I've been, I've seen guys like, like, I'm going to give him a shout of where Rocky Romero can sing. So, I mean, all it, like is a Rupongy 3K and all these, all these interest music are him singing. Oh, I didn't know that. What? Yeah, that's him, man. He's talented, man.

He's a good, talented dude. that guy's talented and everything he does. Oh, definitely, definitely. Are you just saying this because he's like kind of your boss too? Oh, no. Don't forget to book me on the next shows. But no, yeah, not at all. Not at all.

No, I definitely, like, I remember the first time he debuted the Rupongy 3K song with a show and yo, and then they're, I was like, oh, this is a cool beat. And then, like, they started singing. I was like, and then when he came back, I was like, dude, rock, was that you? he's like, yeah, man, that's, that was good. So, yeah, he's talented, man. You know, speaking of New Japan, I love that there's the New Japan Cup USA because it's introducing a lot of American fans to New Japan,

who, you know, I think a lot of American fans are still, yeah, they've seen little bits and pieces here and there, but now they can go on the New Japan app and watch full shows. Yeah, I think it's cool, because it's definitely giving, it's definitely giving more eyes, especially in this period where a lot of people are stuck at home and have nothing to do. So they're watching a lot more, whether it be streaming devices and whatnot. And they're getting to see stuff that are, like, because I know, like, you can go on YouTube,

but you can't really see the newer items. But then now that you're seeing some of the new stuff and then you're like, oh, because everybody, I just, you know, I'm thinking people are, I don't know, people like in, like North Carolina. or something. They're used to seeing a certain style of wrestling. And then they're like, okay, well, that's just Japanese wrestling. But then they see American stars that they've seen in North Carolina

wrestling that are doing New Japan stuff. And they're like, oh, wait a minute. Okay, okay. And then so I feel like it's getting good eyes on New Japan and the New Japan style and whatnot. And it's great. Like, I think it's definitely what we needed now, I think. Yeah, New Japan Strong has introduced an.

entirely new audience to seeing what you guys do. Yeah, and it's great. And I'm enjoying being in front of a new audience as well. Because I know the people in Japan are definitely tuning in. So now the people in America are getting a chance to see more of it, it's going to, I think it's great. Well, this is an interview I want to do for a long time. So thank you for making this happen. Yeah, thank you. Thank you. No problem. No, we had some technical difficulties along the way, but nobody needs to see that or know about that. But thank you for being here for this. Congrats to you on everything.

And I'm super excited to see when this announcement does get made. I will pre-congratulate you on, you know, on this signing. And I guess we'll find out where it is soon. Well, thank you. Well, I mean, I probably, I think I did it once as a joke. And then I realize like, man, I sound like every other guy that gets signed somewhere where they're like, oh, it's time for. a new

a new goal like what kind of goal should it be should it be elite or should it be for entertainment but I'm definitely going to do it with honor and make an impact somewhere I'm like what am I doing I was like I put that tweet out I was so hyped up with that

that I hit my phone but yeah so I made that tweet and I instantly regretted making that tweet but yeah I'm not going to do that anymore when it happens the company went out it, then I'll make some cool stuff about it. Or we'll just see you. We'll just see you show up somewhere.

And then the announcement can be made. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Again, Jeff Cobb. Thank you so much. My pleasure, man. Thank you again. Thank you for having me on, man.

This is awesome. Yeah, I'm glad it finally worked out. And we'll end this the same way we begin. Aloha. Aloha. How cool is he? Actually, let us know how cool he is. Take a screenshot.

Tag me. I'm at Chris Van Vleet. Tag Jeff. He is at Real Jeff Cobb on Twitter. Man, I'm just so curious where he signed. Where do you think it is? I feel like I have an idea. I just don't want to say because I don't want to be wrong.

At the same time, I also don't want to say and be right. And then people think that he told me, which he did not. He did not tell me. I just have an idea. Just have a feeling. So when this is announced, I'll be like, ah, yes, that's exactly where I thought. I think wherever he goes, though, he's going to do such big things. He's a tremendously gifted athlete with incredible intensity in the ring.

So a huge thank you to him for hanging out with us for this conversation. I hope you learned a lot about him there. I know I did. And a huge thank you to you as well. Thank you for making this show one of the biggest wrestling podcasts on the planet. I'm super grateful to you for that. Please take a second to subscribe, leave a review if you haven't. And if we have any Doctor Who fans listening right now, I'm not a huge fan, but I'm not

not a fan. I just only seen a few episodes, but I love this quote. You're going to love it too. Courage isn't just a matter of not being frightened, you know. It's about being afraid and doing what you have to anyway. And before we go, did somebody say playoffs? Yeah, the NBA and NHL are playing for the girls. gold and our partners at BetOnline have got you covered. Get in on all the action, including a new

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