| The Kingdom | |
|---|---|
 Mike Bennett (left) andMatt Taven (right) as the ROH World Tag Team Champions, along with former memberMaria Kanellis-Bennett (center) in 2015 | |
| Tag team | |
| Members | |
| Names |
|
| Former members | |
| Debut | July 12, 2014[1] |
| Years active | 2014–2015 2016–2019 2022–present |
The Kingdom is aprofessional wrestling tag team, and formerly astable, consisting ofMatt Taven andMike Bennett. They are signed toRing of Honor (ROH) andAll Elite Wrestling (AEW), where they were formerly known asUndisputed Kingdom.
The stable rose to prominence during the mid-2010s inRing of Honor (ROH) and also made appearances inImpact Wrestling andNew Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). Some majorchampionships held by the stable include theROH World Championship (two times),ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship (three times, inaugural),ROH World Tag Team Championship (three times),IWGP Tag Team Championship (one time),Impact World Tag Team Championship (one time),AEW International Championship (one time), andNWA World Historic Welterweight Championship (one time).
On July 12, 2014, The Kingdom officially made their debut as a stable inRing of Honor whenMatt Hardy, Bennett, and Cole facedWar Machine (Hanson andRaymond Rowe) along withMichael Elgin in a six-man tag team match which ended in a no contest.[2] On November 15, 2014, atGlory By Honor XIII,Matt Taven, who had joined the stable back in September, teamed with Bennett as they unsuccessfully challengedreDRagon (Bobby Fish andKyle O'Reilly) for theROH World Tag Team Championship.[3] AtBest in the World 2014 Cole lost the ROH World Championship toMichael Elgin. In July, Hardy opted out of his ROH contract and went back to TNA. After failing to regain the ROH World Championship from now champion Jay Briscoe atFinal Battle 2014, Cole announced he had suffered a shoulder injury which would require surgery.
On March 1, 2015, at the13th Anniversary Show, Bennett and Taven defeatedThe Addiction (Christopher Daniels andFrankie Kazarian) as well asKarl Anderson (who competed on his own due toDoc Gallows suffering travel issues) in a three-way tag team match.[4] On March 27, 2015, atSupercard of Honor IX, Bennett and Taven unsuccessfully challengedreDRagon (Bobby Fish andKyle O'Reilly) for theROH World Tag Team Championship.[5] Cole returned from his injury at War of the Worlds ‘15, where he lost toA.J. Styles. Cole then began having tension with Bennett and Taven and even teased a reunion with former Future Shock partner Kyle O’Reilly. On September 18 atAll Star Extravaganza VII, Bennett and Taven won their first-everROH World Tag Team Championship, when they defeated the then championsThe Addiction (Frankie Kazarian andChristopher Daniels) andThe Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson).[6] Later that night Cole betrayed O’Reilly during his world championship match againstJay Lethal remaining with The Kingdom and turning heel once again. Bennett and Taven lost the title to War Machine on December 18 atFinal Battle.[7] Bennett and Kanellis left ROH after the following day'sRing of Honor Wrestling taping, after failing to come to terms on a new contract with the promotion.[8] With Taven suffering alegitimate knee injury and subsequently turning on Cole (who would later join theBullet Club as its U.S. side's de facto leader), The Kingdom went on hiatus.
On the September 18, 2016 episode ofRing of Honor Wrestling, Taven returned and announced that The Kingdom would be competing in the tournament for the newROH 6-Man Tag Team Championship, but wouldn't announce his partners. On a match taped on October 1, 2016 for the October 23rd, 2016 episode ofRing of Honor Wrestling, Matt Taven revealedT. K. O'Ryan andVinny Marseglia as new members of The Kingdom and defeatedBullet Club (Adam Cole, Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) to advance to the semi-finals of theROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship Tournament. On the November 19 episode of ROH TV The Kingdom defeated Team CMLL (Hechicero, Okumura and Ultimo Guerrero) to advance to the finals at theFinal Battle 2016 PPV. On December 2, The Kingdom defeatedJay White,Kushida andLio Rush in the finals to become the inaugural ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Champions.[9]
On March 11, 2017, at Ring of Honor TV taping, Taven, Marseglia andSilas Young, who filled in for an injured T. K. O'Ryan, lost the ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship toBully Ray andThe Briscoes.
On May 10, 2017, during the second night of ROH/NJPW War Of The Worlds, Taven was unsuccessful at winning the ROH World Championship against Christopher Daniels.
AtFinal Battle 2017, Taven defeatedWill Ospreay.[10]
In January 2018, Taven started a rivalry withCody Rhodes when he attacked him, it all lead and culminated at theROH 16th Anniversary Show, where Taven was defeated by Cody.[11]
On May 9, 2018, atROH/NJPW War of the Worlds Tour, The Kingdom would regain the ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship by defeating SoCal Uncensored.[12] During a match for the ROH World Championship, Taven achieved a three count in the match, however the referee was not looking and the match ended with Jay Lethal winning the title. The Kingdom would lose the titles toBullet Club, later known as The Elite (Cody and the Young Bucks).
AtDeath Before Dishonor XVI, The Kingdom attacked Will Ospreay and Jay Lethal. After the assault, Taven pulled out of a bag a copy of the Ring Of Honor World Championship which was purple instead of black leather, saying he is the true Ring Of Honor World Champion.[13]
On November 2, 2018, The Kingdom would win the ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship for the third time, beating The Elite, holding them until March 16, 2019[14]
On March 15, 2019, at theROH 17th Anniversary Show, Taven challenge Lethal for the Ring of Honor World Championship, with the match ending in a 60-minute time-limit draw.[15]
The following month atG1 Supercard, Taven would defeat Lethal andMarty Scurll in a ladder match to win the ROH World Title, and with that becoming the second ROH Grand Slam winner.[16][17] His title win over the more popular Marty Scurll has been criticized,[18][19] usually calling him a "critical and financial flop".[20] During a 411Mania podcast, Jerome Cusson said his title win "actively hurt ROH" since it was not "a draw" and he "wasn't over".[21]
On September 27, 2019, atDeath Before Dishonor, Matt Taven was defeated by Rush for the ROH Championship, ending his reign at 174 days. After the match, O'Ryan and Marseglia were shown having been attacked backstage (to explain why neither of them had interfered on Taven's behalf to prevent the defeat, which they regularly had done in the past).[22]
On the ROH Death Before Dishonor Fallout TV episode, Marseglia attacked Taven in the ring, signalling the start of a storyline feud between the two former allies.[23][24]
On December 13, 2019 at ROH's Final Battle PPV, Marseglia scored an upset victory over Taven. After the match, Marseglia and Bateman attacked Taven, attempting to break Taven's ankles.[25]On the December 14, 2019 episode ofRing of Honor Wrestling, O'Ryan announced that The Kingdom had disbanded.[26]
On August 10, 2014, during theG1 Climax The Kingdom, represented by Cole and Bennett and accompanied byMaria Kanellis, made theirNew Japan Pro-Wrestling debuts, defeatingCaptain New Japan andJushin Thunder Liger.[27] The Kingdom, now represented by Bennett and Taven, returned to New Japan in November 2014, to take part in the2014 World Tag League.[28] They finished third in their block with a record of four wins and three losses.[29] Bennett and Taven returned to NJPW on April 5, 2015, atInvasion Attack 2015, where they defeatedBullet Club (Doc GallowsandKarl Anderson) to win theIWGP Tag Team Championship.[30][31] On July 5 atDominion 7.5 in Osaka-jo Hall, The Kingdom lost the IWGP Tag Team Championship back to Bullet Club in their first defense.[32] Bennett and Taven returned to NJPW in November to take part in the2015 World Tag League, where they finished with a record of two wins and four losses, failing to advance from their block.[33]
On October 27, 2021, Ring of Honor announced that it would go on a hiatus afterFinal Battle in December of that year. All personnel would be released from their contracts as part of plans to "reimagine" the company as a "fan-focused product".[34][35][36][37]
The Kingdom made theirAll Elite Wrestling (AEW) debut on the October 14, 2022, episode ofRampage, interruptingFTR (Cash Wheeler andDax Harwood) andShawn Spears' victory celebration.
The Kingdom made their return return to Ring of Honor - now AEW's sister promotion - atFinal Battle in December 2022, where he and Bennett lost toTop Flight. AtSupercard of Honor in March 2023, The Kingdom completed in a"Reach for the Sky" ladder match for the vacantROH World Tag Team Championship, which was won by theLucha Brothers.[38] In April 2023, The Kingdom began a feud withDarius Martin andAction Andretti.[39] In the same month The Kingdom defeated the duo.[40] On May 18, The Kingdom faced Andretti and Martin in aFight without Honor rematch, where they were defeated, ending their feud.[41]
Around this time,Roderick Strong aligned with them, while Maria quietly left the team and she later joined with Cole Karter andGriff Garrison as their manager.
Starting from the September 27, 2023, episode ofDynamite,AEW World andROH World Tag Team ChampionMJF was the target of a masked individual known as The Devil and his associates, The Devil's Masked Men. On the December 27 atDynamite: New Year's Smash, The Devil's Masked Men won the ROH World Tag Team Championship by defeating MJF in a 2-on-1 handicap match. Three days later atWorlds End, MJF was once again attacked by The Devil's Masked Men following his AEW World Championship loss toSamoa Joe.Adam Cole, who was one half of Better Than You Bay Bay with MJF, had accompanied MJF to the ring for the match and was held back by The Devil's Masked Men whilst MJF shouted at them not to "fucking hit [Cole]". The lights went out and when they turned on it was revealed that The Devil had been Cole all along and he had reformed The Kingdom as its leader with Taven, Bennett (who together were revealed as the ROH World Tag Team Champions), Strong, andWardlow. On the January 3, 2024, episode ofDynamite, Cole announced that the stable had changed its name to the "Undisputed Kingdom" (using a similar name toThe Undisputed Era, Cole and Strong's previous faction from their time in WWE NXT).
On March 3, 2024 atRevolution, Wardlow defeatedChris Jericho,Powerhouse Hobbs,Lance Archer,Hook,Brian Cage,Magnus, andDante Martin in an All-StarScramble match where he will receive a AEW World Championship match. Later in the show, Strong defeatedOrange Cassidy for theAEW International Championship. After the match, Strong, Taven and Bennett was confronted by a returningKyle O'Reilly, who refused an offer to join the Undisputed Kingdom.[42] On May 26, Strong lost the International Championship toWill Ospreay atDouble or Nothing.[43] On August 17 episode of Collision, Bennett and Taven lost their ROH World Tag Team Championships toDustin Rhodes andSammy Guevara.[44] On the October 23 episode ofDynamite, the stable turned babyface and reignited their feud with MJF, who is now a heel. On December 28 atWorlds End,Kyle O'Reilly (another Undisputed Era member) joined the group after coming to the aid of Cole from an MJF attack.[45][46]On April 6, 2025 atDynasty, Cole defeatedDaniel Garcia to win theAEW TNT Championship.[47]
On the April 9 episode ofDynamite following Dynasty, Cole addressed winning the AEW TNT Championship in a backstage segment alongside Strong and O'Reilly and formed their own group known as "The Paragon", leaving the Undisputed Kingdom in the process.[48][49]
After a brief absence from television, Bennett and Taven made their return as "The Kingdom" on the April 24 episode ofRing of Honor Wrestling, teaming with Spanish Announce Project (Angélico andSerpentico) in a losing effort against The Premier Athletes (Ariya Daivari andTony Nese) andThe Righteous (Dutch andVincent).[50]
Bennett and Taven, as the Undisputed Kingdom, made their return to NJPW for the first time since 2015 on November 8, 2024 atFighting Spirit Unleashed, where they were defeated byShingo Takagi andYota Tsuji.[51]
| I-II | Leader(s) |
|---|---|
| * | Founding member(s) |
| M | Manager |
| Members | Joined |
|---|---|
| Mike Bennett | July 12, 2014* –December 19, 2015 November 21, 2020 |
| Matt Taven (I)[a] | September 27, 2014 –December 14, 2019 November 21, 2020 |
| Members | Joined | Left |
|---|---|---|
| Matt Hardy | July 12, 2014* | July 1, 2015 |
| T.K. O'Ryan | October 1, 2016 | December 14, 2019 |
| Vinny Marseglia | October 1, 2016 | September 28, 2019 |
| Maria Kanellis-Bennett (M) | July 12, 2014* | December 19, 2015 |
| November 21, 2020 | August 12, 2023 | |
| Wardlow[b] | December 30, 2023 | April 21, 2024 |
| Adam Cole (II)[c] | July 12, 2014* | April 16, 2016 |
| December 30, 2023 | April 9, 2025 | |
| Roderick Strong | December 30, 2023 | April 9, 2025 |
| Kyle O'Reilly | December 28, 2024 | April 9, 2025 |
| Affiliate | Members | Tenure | Type | Promotion (s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bennett and Taven | Mike Bennett Matt Taven | 2014–2015 2020–present | Tag team | AEW ROH NJPW |
