The OGK

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The OGK
The Kingdom & Maria.jpg
Bennet (left) and Taven (right)
Stable
MembersMatt Taven
Mike Bennett
Maria Kanellis-Bennett (valet)
Name(s)Matt Taven and Mike Bennett
The Kingdom
The OGK
Honor No More
DebutOctober 9, 2014[1]
Years active2014–2015
2020–present

The OGK is a professional wrestling tag team consisting of Matt Taven and Mike Bennett. They are known for their work in Ring of Honor (ROH) and New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). Taven and Bennett were part of the stable The Kingdom in 2014. Between 2014 and 2015, they won the ROH World Tag Team Championship and the IWGP Tag Team Championship once. However, the team disbanded after Bennett left ROH.

During the following years, Taven joined TK O'Ryan and Vinny Marseglia, forming a new encarnation of The Kingdom, while Bennett worked for TNA and WWE. In 2020, Taven feuded with his partners, leading to reunite with Bennett. Both worked as The OGK (The Original Kingdom) and won the ROH World Tag Team Championship one more time. After ROH came to hiatus in 2021, they began to work in Impact Wrestling as part of the stable Honor No More.

History[]

Ring of Honor[]

The Kingdom (2014–2015)[]

Main article: The Kingdom (professional wrestling)

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]

The OGK (2020–2021)[]

In 2020, after Ring of Honor returned from hiatus due to COVID-19, Taven and Marseglia reignited their rivalry, with Marseglia teaming with Bateman. On November 21, 2020, episode of Ring of Honor Wrestling, Mike Bennett made his return to Ring of Honor helping his former Kingdom partner Matt 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]

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (2014–2015)[]

Matt Taven (left) and Michael Bennett (center) with Maria Kanellis (right) as the IWGP Tag Team Champions in July 2015

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]

National Wrestling Alliance (2021–2022)[]

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]

Impact Wrestling (2022–present)[]

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]

Championships and accomplishments[]

References[]

  1. ^ "The OGK - Cagematch Profile".
  2. ^ "ROH 13th Anniversary: Winner Takes All results".
  3. ^ "reDRagon vs Kingdom - ROH Wrestling".
  4. ^ a b Caldwell, James (2015-09-18). "Caldwell's ROH ASE PPV report 9/18: Complete "virtual-time" coverage of All-Star Extravaganza - Jay Lethal defends two titles, ANX, more". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 2015-09-19.
  5. ^ Meltzer, Dave (December 18, 2015). "ROH Final Battle 2015 live results: Jay Lethal vs. AJ Styles, Roderick Strong vs. Bobby Fish". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved December 19, 2015.
  6. ^ Johnson, Mike (December 20, 2015). "Two stars depart Ring of Honor". Pro Wrestling Insider. Retrieved December 20, 2015.
  7. ^ "Mike Bennett Returns To Ring of Honor".
  8. ^ Johnson, Mike (September 16, 2020). "UNITED WRESTLING NETWORK DEBUT PPV NOTES, LINEUP FOR EPISODE 2 | PWInsider.com". www.pwinsider.com. Retrieved September 16, 2020.
  9. ^ "Matt Taven And Mike Bennett Tease ROH Singles And Tag Pursuits Post-Final Battle".
  10. ^ "ROH Final Battle 2020: Wrestling Inc".
  11. ^ "The OGK Wins ROH World Tag Team Titles at Honor For All".
  12. ^ "ROH Honor For All Results: Bandido Vs. Flamita, New Tag Team Champions Crowned".
  13. ^ "Ring Of Honor: Final Battle 2021 Results (12/11) – RoH's Final PPV Before Hiatus".
  14. ^ "『World Tag League 2014』出場チーム＆公式戦が決定！ 棚橋はヨシタツとタッグ結成！ 桜庭、AJ、柴田、ROH、NWAも参戦!". New Japan Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). 2014-11-11. Archived from the original on 2014-11-12. Retrieved 2014-12-05.
  15. ^ "World Tag League 2014". New Japan Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2014-12-10. Retrieved 2014-12-05.
  16. ^ a b "Invasion Attack 2015". New Japan Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). Archived from the original on April 9, 2015. Retrieved April 5, 2015.
  17. ^ "Show results - 4/5 NJPW "Invasion Attack" in Tokyo, Japan: A.J. Styles defends IWGP World Title in main event, ROH tag teams win both Tag Titles, Bullet Club in action, more". Pro Wrestling Torch. April 5, 2015. Retrieved April 5, 2015.
  18. ^ Meltzer, Dave (July 4, 2015). "New Japan Dominion live coverage from Osaka Jo Hall - Styles vs. Okada for IWGP title, Nakamura vs. Goto for IC title and notes on biggest event since the Tokyo Dome, plus all G-1 main events". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved July 5, 2015.
  19. ^ "NJPW World Tag League Results & Standings". Pro Wrestling Torch. Archived from the original on December 9, 2015. Retrieved December 6, 2015.
  20. ^ "NWA Powerrr Results (11/2): Part One Of NWA By Any Means Necessary, The OGK Appear".
  21. ^ "Trevor Murdoch vs. Mike Knox, Melina vs. Kamille, Foley, Mickie, Aldis & More: Complete NWA Hard Times 2 PPV Report".
  22. ^ "NWA PowerrrTrip Results (2/12/22): Two Titles Change Hands".
  23. ^ "IMPACT Wrestling Hard To Kill 2022 Results (01/08) – Mickie/Deonna In A Texas Death Match".
  24. ^ "IWGP Tag Team Championship History".
  25. ^ "ROH World Tag Team Championship History".
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