JC Mateo and Tonga Loa are no longer with WWE.
Both were quietly moved to the alumni section on the WWE website, signaling the end of their respective WWE runs. The departures were confirmed by Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful Select and Cory Hays of Bodyslam.
JC Mateo’s WWE Run
JC Mateo, real name Jeffrey Cobb, joined WWE less than a year ago. He made his WWE debut on May 10, 2025 at Backlash, where he assisted Jacob Fatu in retaining the WWE United States Championship and aligned himself with The Bloodline faction.
The following week on SmackDown, he was given the new ring name JC Mateo and won his debut match against LA Knight. The faction was rebranded the MFT on the July 4 episode of SmackDown.
Mateo’s biggest moment in WWE came on the March 20, 2026 episode of SmackDown, when he defended the WWE Tag Team Championship alongside Tama Tonga on behalf of stable leader Solo Sikoa. The pair lost the titles to Damian Priest and R-Truth that night.
Cobb’s career outside WWE includes runs in Lucha Underground as the masked character Matanza Cueto, where he was a one-time Lucha Underground Champion. In Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, he was a one-time PWG World Champion, one-time PWG World Tag Team Champion, and the winner of the 2018 Battle of Los Angeles. He represented Guam at the 2004 Summer Olympics in freestyle wrestling.
Cobb’s most notable run came with New Japan Pro-Wrestling from 2017 to 2025, where he was a member of United Empire. He held the NEVER Openweight Championship once, the NJPW World Television Championship once, and the IWGP Tag Team Championship three times.
Tonga Loa’s WWE Run
Tonga Loa, real name Tevita Fifita, returned to WWE at Backlash France on May 4, 2024, after a nearly ten-year absence from the company. His original WWE run from 2009 to 2014 was as the Mexican character Camacho.
Upon his return, Fifita’s ring name was tweaked from Tanga Loa to Tonga Loa. He aligned with his brother Tama Tonga and The Bloodline, eventually transitioning into the MFT stable.
Loa and his brother Tama Tonga went by the team name The Tongans in WWE. He won the WWE Tag Team Championship once on August 23, 2024, after Solo Sikoa had Jacob Fatu relinquish his share of the title to Loa so that Fatu could be Sikoa’s personal enforcer. Loa and Tonga lost the titles to Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin) on the October 25, 2024 episode of SmackDown after interference from Jey Uso, ending their reign at 84 days.
Loa is the son of WWE Hall of Famer Haku. As Tanga Loa in NJPW, he and his brother Tama Tonga held the IWGP Tag Team Championship a record seven times as Guerrillas of Destiny. He was also a one-time ROH World Tag Team Champion and a three-time NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champion.
Mateo and Loa are part of a larger wave of WWE departures that has accelerated in 2026 following WrestleMania 42. The same alumni section update that included them also moved Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods, both of whom Fightful Select reported mutually decided to part ways with WWE.
JC Mateo is among a new group of WWE departures, @FightfulSelect and @Cory_Hays407 from Bodyslam have learned. pic.twitter.com/wLQzdARhpI
— Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.com (@SeanRossSapp) May 2, 2026
