The Kingdom — Matt Taven, Mike Bennett and Maria Kanellis — made their surprise AEW debut on the Oct. 14 episode of AEW Rampage, immediately confronting FTR. It wasn’t confirmed at the time if the trio had signed with AEW, but Sean Ross Sapp reported on Fightful Select that the three are now locked in on multi-year contracts. The faction was originally founded in 2013 when then-ROH World Champion Adam Cole formed a group with Matt Hardy, Bennett and Kanellis. Taven would join the group the following September and the team of Taven & Bennett would go on to hold tag team championship gold in Ring of Honor, New Japan and Impact Wrestling.
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The three were previously in Impact Wrestling as members of the Honor No More faction, though their run ended shortly after they dropped the Impact World Tag Team Championships to Heath (Slater) and Rhino in early October. While Kanellis hasn’t wrestled since her WWE run ended, she has talked openly about helping companies in booking their women’s divisions. It’s possible she’ll now be able to provide that guidance backstage in AEW.
Will Adam Cole Join The Kingdom in AEW?
Adam Cole has been out of action with a concussion since the Forbidden Door pay-per-view back in June, and once he returns a big question will be whether or not he reunites with his old faction. Bobby Fish has since left AEW, Kyle O’Reilly is out of action after getting neck fusion surgery and the trio betrayed the Young Bucks shortly before their absence from television, so the Undisputed Elite faction is no longer on the table.
“I’m doing okay,” Cole said in July regarding his concussion. “I’m definitely on the path, on the track to recovery, for sure. I have a great team around me that’s helping me, making sure that I’m taken care of to the best of my ability. AEW has been fantastic, as far as making sure I get the right care that I deserve. I feel like I’m progressing, and moving forward, every single week. I was pretty banged up. Again, for 14 years being in the pro wrestling industry, I think the most time I ever had off — as far as traveling and being on the road — was one month. I’ve been going, going, going nonstop. Eventually, our bodies kinda catch up to us, and I had a couple of things that were kind of lingering. And with what happened at Forbidden Door [concussion], but I feel good. I feel very confident I’ll be back in the ring soon. I’m excited to be back.I miss it so much already. But yes, I’m feeling good.”
