Ring of Honor's Matt Taven Talks The Kingdom's Longevity, Plans for Madison Square Garden Show

Matt Taven, Ring of Honor World Six-Man Tag Champion and leader of the faction The Kingdom, recently spoke with Comicbook.com about the upcoming Ring of Honor schedule and his career aspirations for 2019.

The Kingdom originally formed in July 2014 with then-Ring of Honor World Champion Adam Cole aligning with Matt Hardy, Mike Bennett and Maria Kanellis. Taven joined the group shortly after, and together the group held multiple titles in both Ring of Honor and New Japan. The group appeared to be done for when Hardy, Bennett and Kanellis all left ROH while Cole aligned himself with Bullet Club and Taven dealt with a knee injury, but in September 2016 the faction came roaring back with Taven as the leader and TK O'Ryan and Vinny Marseglia as the new additions. Together the three have won ROH's Six-Man Tag Titles a record three times while boosting Taven to main event status to feud with the likes of Jay Lethal and Dalton Castle over the Ring of Honor World Championship.

"I think it's the realism of it that makes it so lasting," Taven said when asked about how the group has managed to last for nearly five years. "This is a real bond of guys that stays till this day. I still keep in touch with Adam, and Mike, and when it was time to kinda to reinvent things, it was a no-brainer to add Vinny and TK to the mix. Because they were guys that were in the same vein as Adam and Mike, just guys that were real-life friends that traveled together, that talked about wrestling all the time, and that wanted each other to succeed, and were there to carry each other and help each other when needed.

"So, it's that genuine friendship bond, and also trust that we have with one another, that's made The Kingdom last five years, which is nuts," he continued. "It just blew my mind that you said that."

Ring of Honor will partner up with New Japan for the G1 Supercard event at Madison Square Garden in New York City on April 6. The show sold out in 16 minutes after tickets went on sale despite the fact that no matches had been announced.

When asked what he'd like to do at MSG, Taven pitched a bout with Lethal to prove who the true ROH World Champion is. While Lethal is currently in his second reign with the title, Taven has been carrying around a purple version of the championship claiming it to be the real title.

"I've said this before, and I believe that I am the Ring of Honor World Champion, and there's plenty of people that think that Melvin Jay Lethal as actually the Ring of Honor World Champion," Taven said. "I've gone long enough saying that I could care less about Jay Lethal, because, you know, he's only fooling himself by walking around with that belt. But if he would shut the Melvins up out there, I would love for me and Jay Lethal to square off, one-on-one, in Madison Square Garden, both titles on the line, and we can finally find out who is the undisputed Ring of Honor World Champion."

You can watch Matt wrestle next Sunday, February 10, live from Miami, FL by streaming "Bound By Honor" LIVE worldwide as an HonorClub member via the ROH App on all Apple and Android platforms, Roku, and ROHHonorClub.com

Photo: RING OF HONOR/James Musselwhite