3 months ago
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HENARE had an offer from WWE, according to Jeff Cobb.
NJPW star HENARE suffered a head wound at NJPW The New Beginning in Osaka, as he sustained a head wound during the cage match between United Empire and Bullet Club War Dogs. HENARE was out of action for three months until he returned in May. He is now competing in the NJPW G1 Climax 34 tournament. However, Jeff Cobb recently revealed that HENARE received an offer from WWE.
Speaking with Tokyo Sports, Cobb noted that he heard that HENARE got a good offer from WWE. He stated that HENARE then went to the NJPW office and told them that he wanted to stay. (H/t Jeremy Lambert of Fightful)
“I heard that you had a good offer from WW,” he said. “But you went to the New Japan office with your WWE contract in hand and said to the president, ‘I want to stay here.’ You’re not the only one who wants to stay and change this industry. I feel the same way.
“It takes a lot of guts to tell that indiscriminate organization, ‘Don’t mess with me,’ and to stay in the best organization in the world and prove yourself against the best wrestlers. I respect you. The fight is over. Let’s go find a good kava bar.”
HENARE has been with NJPW since 2016, and he trained in the NJPW Doko. Since 2021, he has been a member of United Empire. He is the reigning NEVER Openweight Champion. He beat Shingo Takagi to win the gold at the New Japan Soul event on June 16.
Jeff Cobb Nearly Signed With WWE
Jeff Cobb previously revealed that he almost signed with WWE in 2021. Speaking with Steve Fall for WrestlingNewsCo, he recalled having talks with the company.
“It just so happened, right before the pandemic in 2020, I started getting phone calls,” Cobb said. “William Regal would call me. Brian Kendrick would call me. ‘Hey, is it cool if we pass your number to [WWE Senior Director of Talent Development] Canyon Ceman?’ I’m always open to talk to people, and entertain talks. This was around the time New Japan and I were figuring out a contract situation. At the same time, AEW offered me a contract as well. This is the first time where I ever felt like, ‘Oh my Gosh.’ I was the new girl in high school and all the guys want to be with me. It was really cool. I got really close, maybe in the summer of 2021, I was FaceTiming Canyon Ceman a couple of times, maybe June or July, and it got pretty close. I got to hear what they offer and at the end of the day, I chose what I was doing as opposed to going after the money and people were giving me a lot of grief for that.
“Looking back, I think I made a good choice because if I went there, six months later, I could have been released and crawling back to another company for a job. New Japan definitely took care of me during the pandemic when they didn’t have to. We still got paid. If they’re loyal to me, I’m going to be loyal to them.”
