JC Mateo and Tonga Loa Depart WWE As MFTs Shrink Yet Again
· BCPosted in: AEW, Sports, TV | Tagged: JC Mateo, Tonga Loa, wrestling
JC Mateo and Tonga Loa Depart WWE As MFTs Shrink Yet Again
JC Mateo and Tonga Loa have reportedly departed WWE, thinning Solo Sikoa's MFTs as the post-WrestleMania roster shakeup claims further casualties.
Published Sat, 02 May 2026 15:37:09 -0500
by Brad McMahon
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Article Summary
- JC Mateo and Tonga Loa have reportedly departed WWE, further shrinking Solo Sikoa's MFTs after WrestleMania.
- The JC Mateo and Tonga Loa exits surfaced as WWE kept advancing its Bloodline-adjacent MFT storyline on SmackDown.
- JC Mateo, formerly Jeff Cobb, joined WWE in 2025, while Tonga Loa returned in 2024 after a long NJPW run.
- The departures follow WWE's earlier roster cuts and arrive alongside the bigger New Day split with Kofi Kingston.
World Wrestling Entertainment's (WWE) post-WrestleMania roster shakeup continued on Saturday, with JC Mateo and Tonga Loa reportedly departing the company just as Solo Sikoa's MFTs are being narrowed on television. The news arrives in tandem with the considerably more seismic announcement that Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods of The New Day have also mutually parted ways with WWE, marking a remarkable Saturday of personnel news for the sports entertainment giant.
Cory Hays of BodySlam and Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful both reported that Mateo (per Sapp) and Loa (per Sapp) are among the latest WWE departures. The exits follow last week's initial wave of post-WrestleMania roster cuts, which saw the effective dismantling of The Wyatt Sicks, along with the departures of such names as Kairi Sane, Apollo Crews, Aleister Black, Zelina Vega, Alex Shelley, Chris Sabin, and Santos Escobar, among others.
The New Day exits are unquestionably the larger headline emerging from this latest wave, given the long WWE tenure of Kingston and Woods, as well as the group's status as one of the most decorated and beloved tag team acts in company history. However, the departures of Mateo and Loa carry their own distinct significance, as WWE is actively running a Bloodline-adjacent storyline featuring Sikoa, Talla Tonga, Jacob Fatu, Roman Reigns, and The Usos, with two recent MFT members now suddenly absent from that creative picture.
Neither Mateo nor Loa appeared on the May 1 episode of Friday Night SmackDown, despite the program devoting considerable airtime to MFT and Bloodline-related material. As detailed in Bleeding Cool's SmackDown recap, the spotlight instead
fell upon Sikoa and Tonga, who attacked both teams following Damian Priest and R-Truth's successful WWE Tag Team Championship defense against Fraxiom. Sikoa later threatened war with Reigns, The Usos, and Fatu, before the evening's main event saw The Usos face Sikoa and Tonga, only for Fatu to interrupt and lay waste to all four men. WWE's own recap framed the closing angle as Fatu sending a message to Reigns by taking out The Usos, Sikoa, and Tonga.
JC Mateo, known to the broader wrestling world as Jeff Cobb, signed with WWE in 2025 after departing New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) and was promptly inserted into Sikoa's MFTs. His international résumé is formidable, encompassing runs in NJPW, Ring of Honor (ROH), Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG), Lucha Underground, and All Elite Wrestling (AEW). According to Wikipedia, Cobb is a former NEVER Openweight Champion, NJPW World Television Champion, three-time IWGP Tag Team Champion, ROH World Television Champion, PWG World Champion, PWG World Tag Team Champion, the 2018 Battle of Los Angeles winner, and a former Lucha Underground Champion. Per Cagematch, his most recent televised appearance was the April 24 episode of SmackDown, in which he and Tama Tonga were defeated by Priest and R-Truth in a tag title match.
Tonga Loa returned to WWE in 2024, having previously worked for the company as Camacho, and joined Sikoa's Bloodline-adjacent group alongside his brother Tama Tonga. Prior to his WWE return, Loa enjoyed a lengthy NJPW tenure as Tanga Loa, teaming with his brother as the Guerrillas of Destiny. As listed by Wikipedia, he is a seven-time IWGP Tag Team Champion, three-time NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champion, 2020 World Tag League winner, one-time ROH World Tag Team Champion, one-time WWE Tag Team Champion, and former Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) Florida Tag Team Champion. According to Cagematch, his most recently documented match came on the April 13 episode of Monday Night Raw, where he, Mateo, and Sikoa lost a six-man tag bout to Jey Uso, Jimmy Uso, and LA Knight, with Loa taking the pinfall.
The television timing of these departures is curious, to say the least. WWE used Friday's SmackDown to advance the Bloodline and MFT story, yet the on-screen version of the group had already been visibly trimmed, with Sikoa and Talla Tonga shouldering the storyline weight while Mateo and Loa were nowhere to be seen. By night's end, Fatu had decimated Sikoa, Tonga, and The Usos alike, leaving the MFT side appearing diminished even before the reported departures became public knowledge.
This new wave of exits arrives only roughly a week after WWE's initial post-WrestleMania cuts, lending the timing an additional layer of intrigue. The New Day departures are being characterized as a mutual parting, while Mateo and Loa are being reported as departures from a faction that had, until very recently, been integral to major SmackDown storytelling. Bleeding Cool will continue to follow developments as further details emerge.
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