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Matt Taven and Mike Bennett | |
---|---|
Tag team | |
Members | Matt Taven Mike Bennett |
Name(s) | The Devil's Masked Men Matt Taven and Mike Bennett The Kingdom The OGK Undisputed Kingdom Honor No More |
Former member(s) | Maria Kanellis-Bennett (manager) |
Debut | October 9, 2014[1] |
Years active | 2014–2015 2020–present |
Matt Taven and Mike Bennett are together a professional wrestling tag team. They wrestle for All Elite Wrestling (AEW) and its sister promotion Ring of Honor (ROH), where they are part of the Undisputed Kingdom stable.
The duo first began teaming regularly in ROH in 2014 as part of the larger stable The Kingdom stable. Between 2014 and 2015, they won the ROH World Tag Team Championship and also, appeared on New Japan Pro Wrestling due to the partnership between the promotions, winning the IWGP Tag Team Championship. The team disbanded in 2015 after Bennett and Kanellis left ROH.
Since 2015, Taven became the leader of the stable The Kingdom until 2020, when he feuded with the other members. During the feud, Bennett made his return and the team was named The OGK ("The Original Kingdom"), winning the ROH World Tag Team Titles for a second time. After leaving ROH on 2021, they worked for Impact Wrestling with other wrestlers from ROH, creating the stable Honor No More. During their 10-month stint with Impact, they won the Impact World Tag Team Championship. In 2022, they signed with AEW and also worked for ROH, since AEW's Tony Khan bought the promotion. As part of AEW/ROH, they won the ROH Tag Team Championship a third time as the masked team The Devil's Masked Men, later revealing themselves as part of the Undisputed Kingdom.
On March 1, 2015, at the 13th Anniversary Show, Bennett and Taven defeated The Addiction (Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian) as well as Karl Anderson (who competed on his own due to Doc Gallows suffering travel issues) in a three-way tag team match.[2] On March 27, 2015, at Supercard of Honor IX, Bennett and Taven unsuccessfully challenged reDRagon (Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reilly) for the ROH World Tag Team Championship.[3] Cole returned from his injury at War of the Worlds ‘15, where he lost to A.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 at All Star Extravaganza VII, Bennett and Taven won their first-ever ROH World Tag Team Championship, when they defeated the then champions The Addiction (Frankie Kazarian and Christopher Daniels) and The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson).[4] Later that night Cole betrayed O’Reilly during his world championship match against Jay Lethal remaining with The Kingdom and turning heel once again. Bennett and Taven lost the title to War Machine on December 18 at Final Battle.[5] Bennett and Kanellis left ROH after the following day's Ring of Honor Wrestling taping, after failing to come to terms on a new contract with the promotion.[6]
In 2020, after Ring of Honor returned from hiatus due to COVID-19, Taven and Marseglia (now named Vincent) reignited their rivalry, with Vincent teaming with Bateman as The Righteous. On November 21, 2020, episode of Ring of Honor Wrestling, Mike Bennett made his return to Ring of Honor helping his former Kingdom partner Taven fight off Vincent and Bateman.[7][8] On December 10, at Final Battle, The OGK defeated The Righteous (Vincent and Bateman) in a grudge tag team match.[9][10]
On November 14, 2021, at Honor For All, The OGK defeated La Faccion Ingobernable (Dragon Lee and Kenny King) to become two-time ROH World Tag Team Champions.[11][12] On December 11, 2021, The OGK lost the ROH World Tag Team Championships to The Briscoe Brothers at Final Battle.[13]
Bennett and Taven, made their debut as a team in New Japan Pro Wrestling in November 2014, to take part in the 2014 World Tag League.[14] They finished third in their block with a record of four wins and three losses.[15] Bennett and Taven returned to NJPW on April 5, 2015, at Invasion Attack 2015, where they defeated Bullet Club (Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson) to win the IWGP Tag Team Championship.[16][17] On July 5 at Dominion 7.5 in Osaka-jo Hall, The Kingdom lost the IWGP Tag Team Championship back to Bullet Club in their first defense.[18] Bennett and Taven returned to NJPW in November to take part in the 2015 World Tag League, where they finished with a record of two wins and four losses, failing to advance from their block.[19]
On October 24, 2021, at NWA By Any Means Necessary, The OGK made their NWA debut defeating The Fixers (Jay Bradley and Wrecking Ball Legursky).[20]
The OGK made their NWA return at Hard Times 2 successfully defending the ROH World Tag Team Championships against Aron Stevens and JR Kratos.[21]
On February 12, 2022, at NWA PowerrrTrip, The OGK were defeated by The Fixers (Jay Bradley and Wrecking Ball Legursky) in the first round of the Crockett Cup tournament.[22]
On January 8, 2022, at Hard To Kill, The OGK made their Impact Wrestling debut along with PCO and Vinny Marseglia attacking Heath, Rhino and others following their match.[23] On August 26, 2022, Taven and Bennett defeated The Good Brothers (Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson) to win the Impact World Tag Team Championships.[24][25] This match aired on tape delay on the September 1 episode of Impact!.[26] On October 8, 2022, during the Impact! taping, The Kingdom lost the Impact World Tag Team Championships to Heath and Rhino.[27] On October 8, 2022, it was announced that Bennett, Kanellis and Taven had departed Impact Wrestling.[28]
In October 2022, Bennett, Kanellis, and Taven all signed with All Elite Wrestling (AEW), and began appearing both there and in ROH, which became AEW's sister promotion after being purchased by AEW Co-founder/CEO Tony Khan.[29] On the December 27, 2023 episode of Dynamite in Orlando, Florida, as The Devil's Masked Men, Bennett and Taven defeated MJF in a handicap match to win the ROH tag team titles for the third time.[30] The duo revealed themselves three days later, at Worlds End, attacking MJF after the match.[31] On August 17 episode of Collision, Bennett and Taven lost their ROH World Tag Team Championships to Dustin Rhodes and Sammy Guevara.[32] On the October 23 episode of Dynamite, Bennett, Taven, and the rest of the Undisputed Kingdom turned babyface and reginited their feud with MJF, who was now a heel.[33]
Bennett and Taven, as the Undisputed Kingdom, made their return to NJPW for the first time since 2015 on November 8, 2024 at Fighting Spirit Unleashed, where they were defeated by Shingo Takagi and Yota Tsuji.[34]