Name(s) The Kingdom Years active 2014–2015
2016–present | Debut July 12, 2014 | |
Members Matt Taven
TK O'Ryan
Vinny Marseglia Former
member(s) Michael Bennett (leader)
Adam Cole
Matt Hardy
Maria Kanellis (valet) Promotions 2CW
Beyond
HOH
ICW
NEW
NJPW
PCW
ROH
RPW
Smash
TRP
XWA | ||
The Kingdom is a villainous professional wrestling stable, best known for wrestling in Ring of Honor (ROH) and New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW), currently consisting of Matt Taven, TK O'Ryan and Vinny Marseglia.
Contents
Ring of Honor (2014–present)
On June 22, 2014, at Best in the World 2014, Matt Hardy and Michael Bennett accompanied by Maria Kanellis and Nick Searcy were defeated in a no disqualification match against The Briscoes (Jay and Mark Briscoe). On July 12, 2014, The Kingdom officially made their debut as a stable in Ring of Honor when Hardy, Bennett, and Adam Cole faced War Machine (Hanson and Raymond Rowe) along with Michael Elgin in a six-man tag team match which ended in a no contest. On November 15, 2014, at Glory By Honor XIII, Matt Taven, who had joined the stable back in September, teamed with Bennett as they unsuccessfully challenged reDRagon (Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reilly) for the ROH World Tag Team Championship.
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 in a three-way tag team match. 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. 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). They lost the title to War Machine on December 18 at Final Battle. 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. With Taven suffering a legitimate knee injury and subsequently turning on Cole (who would later join the Bullet Club as the de facto American leader), The Kingdom went on hiatus.
On the September 18th, 2016 episode of Ring of Honor Wrestling, Taven returned and announced that The Kingdom will be competing in the tournament for the new ROH 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 of Ring of Honor Wrestling, Matt Taven revealed TK O'Ryan and Vinny Marseglia as new members of The Kingdom and defeated Bullet Club to advance to the semi-finals of the ROH 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 the Final Battle 2016 PPV. On December 2, The Kingdom defeated Jay White, Kushida and Lio Rush in the finals to become the inaugural ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Champions. On March 11, 2017, at Ring of Honor TV taping, Taven, Marseglia and Silas Young, who filled in for an injured TK O'Ryan, lost the ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship to Bully Ray and The Briscoes.
New Japan Pro Wrestling (2014–2015)
On August 10, 2014, during the G1 Climax The Kingdom, represented by Cole and Bennett and accompanied by Maria Kanellis, made their New Japan Pro Wrestling debuts, defeating Captain New Japan and Jushin Thunder Liger. The Kingdom, now represented by Bennett and Taven, returned to New Japan in November 2014, to take part in the 2014 World Tag League. They finished third in their block with a record of four wins and three losses. 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. 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. 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.