The AEW roster has now officially been increased by three.
Having debuted for the promotion earlier this month, Matt Taven, Mike Bennett and Maria Kanellis are now reportedly contracted to All Elite Wrestling. While prior AEW appearances took place when this trio were free agents, Fightful Select states how the triumvirate have now penned multi-year deals with Tony Khan's promotion.
Taven, Bennett and Kanellis - collectively known as the Kingdom - made their AEW bow on the 14 October episode of AEW Rampage from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. There, these new arrivals laid out the challenge to FTR and the Ring of Honor Tag Team Titles held by Cash Wheeler and Dax Harwood. Interestingly, this Fightful report also notes how FTR had actually pushed to get the Kingdom involved in AEW/ROH.
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In terms of interest from elsewhere, WWE were believed to be keen on Matt Taven, whilst Fightful adds how the market leader likewise held discussions with Mike Bennett and Maria Kanellis.
Prior to becoming #AllElite, the Kingdom had recently competed in IMPACT Wrestling as part of the invading Honor No More faction. During that time, Taven and Bennett embarked on a 43-day reign as the company's Tag Team Champions, losing those belts to Heath and Rhino on last week's episode of IMPACT TV. That same tandem have also held the ROH Tag Titles, the IWGP Tag Titles, and Taven himself is a former ROH World Champion.
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As of this writing, Tony Khan or AEW have yet to publicly comment on these reported new signees.
Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics.
As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic.
Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.
