Jeff Cobb has revealed a funny backstage mix-up from his WWE run: he was told he would wear face paint “like you did in Japan” — except, as Cobb points out, he never wore paint in Japan at all.
Speaking to SOTO619 in a new interview, Cobb discussed the differences between wrestling under face paint in WWE as JC Mateo and wrestling under a mask in Lucha Underground. His verdict was clear: the paint was far more annoying.
Jeff Cobb (Credits: Fightful)
Jeff Cobb WWE Face Paint Story: Told to Wear Paint Like in Japan
During Cobb’s time in WWE, he featured as part of the MFT faction alongside Tama Tonga, Talla Tonga and others, with the group wrestling under face paint. Cobb says he was told he would wear “the paint like you did in Japan” — a claim that left him puzzled.
“I never wore paint in Japan,” Cobb said. “I think they got me confused with somebody else.” It is the kind of backstage confusion that sounds almost too strange to be true, but Cobb tells it with the amused resignation of a veteran who has seen it all.
The practical problems, he explained, were worse than the mix-up itself. He had never done the paint before, and he had to source the paint himself. Worse still, the paint took forever to remove after matches. He had to use wipes to get it off — and then discovered that the wipes he was using had been recalled.
By contrast, the mask was simpler, if not exactly comfortable. “With the mask, I could put it on. I couldn’t breathe, but I could put it on, and then when I’m done, I could take it off,” Cobb said. The paint, on the other hand, lingered long after the match was over.
Paint vs Mask: Why Cobb Picked the Mask
Cobb’s comparison highlights a side of wrestling fans rarely think about: the unglamorous work that goes into a look. A mask is uncomfortable but instant — on before the entrance, off after the match. Face paint is a whole production, from application to the long, messy removal, with the added risk of skin irritation, smudging under the lights, and, in Cobb’s case, recalled wipes.
It also speaks to how quickly a wrestler’s presentation can be decided for them. Cobb arrived in WWE with a long, respected career behind him, yet found himself in a faction look built on a mistaken premise about his own history. He went along with it, paint and all, because that is what the job sometimes requires.
Elsewhere in interviews, Cobb has spoken about the lessons he learned from his time in WWE, reflecting on a run that placed him in a prominent faction but never quite felt like his own. The paint story fits that picture: a talented performer adapting to a creative direction that did not quite match who he was.
For fans, though, it is simply a great anecdote — and a reminder that behind every polished entrance is a performer dealing with very human hassles. In Cobb’s case, that meant hunting down paint he had never worn, scrubbing it off with recalled wipes, and wondering the whole time who, exactly, WWE thought he was in Japan.
Also Read: Mark Davis & Jake Doyle Squash Young Bucks on AEW Dynamite, Earn Tag Title Shot
Source: Fightful — read the full story there.