Matthew Marinelli (born March 20, 1985), known by his

ring name A ring name is a type of stage name used by an athlete such as a professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, or boxer whose real name is considered unattractive, dull, difficult to pronounce or spell, amusing for the wrong reasons, or projecting ...

, Matt Taven, is an American professional wrestler and wrestling trainer, who currently wrestles for All Elite Wrestling. He is best known for his work with

Ring of Honor Ring of Honor (ROH) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Jacksonville, Florida. The promotion was founded by Rob Feinstein on February 23, 2002, and was operated by Cary Silkin from 2004 until 2011, when the promotion was so ...

(ROH), where he won the Ring of Honor World Championship in Madison Square Garden in 2019 and

Impact Wrestling Impact Wrestling (stylized as ''IMPACT! Wrestling''), is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Nashville, Tennessee. It is a subsidiary of Anthem Sports & Entertainment. Founded by Jeff and Jerry Jarrett in 2002, the promot ...

where he is a former member of

Honor No More Honor No More was a villainous professional wrestling stable appeared in the American promotion Impact Wrestling. The group was led by Eddie Edwards and was composed of former Ring of Honor (ROH) wrestlers. History On October 27, 2021, Ring ...

. He also appears for

Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre Co., Ltd. (CMLL; , "World Wrestling Council") is a ''lucha libre'' professional wrestling promotion based in Mexico City. The promotion was previously known as ''Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre'' (''EMLL'') (''Mexi ...

(CMLL), where he is a former NWA World Historic Welterweight Champion. Taven's Ring of Honor work includes being a member of The Kingdom (with Adam Cole, Michael Bennett, Maria Kanellis, Vinny Marseglia, and

T. K. O'Ryan Stephen John Tkowski (born October 3, 1989), better known by his ring name T. K. O'Ryan, is an American professional wrestler known for his time in Ring of Honor (ROH), where he is a three-time ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Champion as part of The ...

at various times) as well as performing across the

Northeastern United States The Northeastern United States, also referred to as the Northeast, the East Coast, or the American Northeast, is a geographic region of the United States. It is located on the Atlantic coast of North America, with Canada to its north, the Southe ...

independent circuit In professional wrestling, the independent circuit or indie circuit is the collective noun, collective name of independent professional wrestling promotions which are smaller than major televised promotions. It is roughly analogous to a minor lea ...

. Taven won ROH's 2013 Top Prospect Tournament to become a full-time wrestler for the promotion. He is a former one-time ROH World Champion, one-time World Television Champion, one-time ROH World Tag Team Champion with Michael Bennett, and one-third of the first

ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Champion The ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling championship owned by the Ring of Honor (ROH) promotion. Like most professional wrestling championships, the title is won as a result of a match with a predetermined outcome ...

s. Taven has also worked for the Japanese promotion New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is a former one-time IWGP Tag Team Champion with Bennett. Taven is the second wrestler to win championships in ROH, CMLL, and NJPW, the other being Rocky Romero. Taven and Bennett have operated a wrestling school in West Warwick, Rhode Island, since 2016.

Professional wrestling career

Marinelli, using the

Matt Taven, made his professional wrestling debut on March 7, 2008. During his first year, Taven worked mainly for Top Rope Promotions (TRP) and Collision Pro Wrestling (CPW) in Massachusetts. While working for TRP he challenged for the vacant TRP Interstate Championship in a six-way

ladder match A ladder match is a type of match in professional wrestling, most commonly one in which an item (usually a title belt) is hung above the ring, and the winner is the contestant who climbs a ladder and retrieves the item. The ladder itself becom ...

that also included Buck Nasty, Gregory Edwards, J. Freddie, Ryan Waters, and Spike Dudley, but lost to Buck Nasty.

Ring of Honor (2009–2021)

Debut and ROH Television Champion (2009–2014)

Taven's first match for

(ROH) was on May 8, 2009, where he lost to Jaleel Patel in a bout that took place before cameras began recording the remaining show for television. Taven competed in tag team matches over the course of 2010 and 2011, but lost every outing. At ROH's

Boiling Point The boiling point of a substance is the temperature at which the vapor pressure of a liquid equals the pressure surrounding the liquid and the liquid changes into a vapor. The boiling point of a liquid varies depending upon the surrounding envir ...

show on August 11, 2012, Taven lost a four-way match, where the winner would receive an ROH contract. He would go on to win the 2013 Top Prospect Tournament the following year, with the storyline reward being that Taven would earn a full-time ROH contract. With that win, Taven also earned a ROH World Television Championship match against Adam Cole. Taven went on to defeat Cole to win the television championship at the 11th Anniversary Show. During the match he established himself as a

heel The heel is the prominence at the posterior end of the foot. It is based on the projection of one bone, the calcaneus or heel bone, behind the articulation of the bones of the lower Human leg, leg. Structure To distribute the compressive for ...

after Truth Martini hit Cole in the back of the head with the Book of Truth, allowing Taven to apply his ''Climax'' finishing move to pick up the win. On April 5, at Supercard of Honor VII, he successfully defended the title against Adam Cole and Matt Hardy. On April 6, he would successfully defend the title against A. C. H. At

Border Wars 2013 Border Wars (2013) was a professional wrestling internet pay-per-view (iPPV) event produced by Ring of Honor (ROH) and Japanese Wrestling Promotion Pro Wrestling Noah. It took place on May 4, 2013, at the Ted Reeve Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Can ...

he would successfully defend the title against Mark Briscoe. On June 22 at

Best in the World 2013 Best in the World 2013 was a professional wrestling internet pay-per-view (iPPV) event produced by Ring of Honor (ROH). It took place on June 22, 2013, at the Du Burns Arena in Baltimore, Maryland. It was the fourth ROH Best in the World event. ...

, Taven successfully defended the ROH World Television Championship against Jimmy Jacobs and Jay Lethal in a three-way match. On August 3 at All Star Extravaganza 5, he faced Roderick Strong in a losing effort in the first round of the tournament to determine the new a champion after the ROH World Championship was vacated. On September 20, 2013 at

Death Before Dishonor XI Death Before Dishonor XI was the 11th Death Before Dishonor professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by Ring of Honor (ROH). It took place on September 20, 2013, at the Pennsylvania National Guard Armory in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. ...

, Taven, Michael Bennett and reDRagon ( Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reilly) lost to the team of Adrenaline Rush (ACH and TaDarius Thomas) and C&C Wrestle Factory (Caprice Coleman and Cedric Alexander) On September 21 he successfully defended the title against Jay Lethal. On October 26 at Glory by Honor XII, he teamed with reDRagon and Adam Cole in an

Eight-man elimination tag team match Much like the singles match, tag team professional wrestling matches can and have taken many forms. Just about any singles or melee match type can be adapted to tag teams; for example, hardcore tag team matches are commonplace. Tag team ladder ma ...

where he was eliminated by Michael Elgin. On November 15 at Pursuit Night, he retained the title against Zach Gowen. On December 14 at Final Battle 2013, Taven lost the ROH World Television Championship to Tommaso Ciampa. Matt Taven's reign as World Television Champion was the longest in the company's history to date at 287 days and he accrued the most title defenses, 12, in an individual reign. Taven fired Truth Martini at ROH's Wrestling's Finest show. Later that night he unsuccessfully challenged Tommaso Ciampa for the ROH World Television Championship in a three-way match that also included Jay Lethal. At the 12th Anniversary Show, he defeated Silas Young. On March 7, 2014, at Raising The Bar Day 1, he unsuccessfully challenged Adam Cole for the

ROH World Championship The ROH World Championship is a professional wrestling world championship created and promoted by Ring of Honor (ROH). It is considered the most prestigious title in the promotion. The current champion is Claudio Castagnoli, who is in his second ...

Teaming with Michael Bennett (2014–2015)

Taven then entered a feud with Jay Lethal, unsuccessfully challenging him for the ROH World Television Championship on three different occasions. The first was at

Global Wars Global Wars is a professional wrestling event held annually since 2012 by the American Ring of Honor (ROH) promotion. Originally named Border Wars, the event was renamed Global Wars in 2014 after ROH announced a partnership with the Japanese New ...

in a four corner survival match that also included Tommaso Ciampa and Silas Young. At War of the Worlds he teamed with ACH and Tommaso Ciampa to defeat Forever Hooligans ( Alex Koslov and Rocky Romero) and Takaaki Watanabe. The second was at Best in the World in a singles match. The last was at Field of Honor on August 15, where he was defeated by Lethal in a steel cage match after interference by Truth Martini. On August 19, 2014, Taven announced he had decided not to re-sign with ROH and would be leaving the promotion. This was an angle used to explain why Taven left the company. Taven returned to Ring of Honor in October. In November 2014, Taven began teaming with Michael Bennett, collectively known as the Kingdom. On November 15 at Glory By Honor XIII, they were defeated by reDRagon for the ROH World Tag Team Championship. Almost one year later, on September 18, 2015, they won the title at All Star Extravaganza VII, when they defeated The Addiction (

Christopher Daniels Daniel Christopher Covell (born March 24, 1970), better known by the ring name Christopher Daniels, is an American semi-retired professional wrestler. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) and is the Head of Talent Relations. He is best kno ...

and Frankie Kazarian) and The Young Bucks (Matt and Nick Jackson) in a three-way match. They lost the title to War Machine ( Hanson and Ray Rowe) on December 18 at Final Battle.

The Kingdom and World Championship pursuits (2016–2021)

Taven suffered a knee injury during the December 18 match at Final Battle, tearing an anterior cruciate ligament and medial meniscus and rupturing a lateral meniscus, which forced him to undergo a four-and-a-half-hour surgery on January 12, 2016. He was expected to be sidelined for nine months. During his injury, Bennett left ROH and, when Taven made his return in September 2016, he was put in a new version of The Kingdom as the leader, with

and Vinny Marseglia as his new partners. The Kingdom won a tournament to become the first ROH 6-Man Tag Team Champions, defeating Jay White, Kushida and Lio Rush at the Final Battle 2016 PPV. They lost the title to

Bully Ray Mark LoMonaco (born July 14, 1971) is an American professional wrestler, currently signed to the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) and Impact Wrestling under the ring name Bully Ray. He was previously known as one-half of The Dudley Boyz tag tea ...

and The Briscoes on March 11, 2017 in a match where Silas Young replaced an injured T. K. O'Ryan. On May 10, 2017 during the second night of ROH/NJPW War Of The Worlds, Taven was unsuccessful at winning the ROH World Championship against Christopher Daniels. At Final Battle 2017, Taven defeated Will Ospreay. In January 2018, Taven started a rivalry with Cody Rhodes, attacking him and stealing his "Ring Of Honor". On the

ROH 16th Anniversary Show ROH 16th Anniversary was a two-night professional wrestling event produced by American promotion Ring of Honor (ROH), which took place Friday, March 9 and Saturday March 10, 2018, at the Sam's Town Hotel and Gambling Hall in the Las Vegas suburb o ...

, Taven was defeated by Cody. On May 9, 2018, at

ROH/NJPW War of the Worlds Tour War of the Worlds Tour was a professional wrestling tour that was co-produced by Ring of Honor (ROH) and New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). Production Background In 2014, NJPW and ROH formally forged a relationship, which saw them present the first ...

, The Kingdom would regain the ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship by defeating SoCal Uncensored. During a match for the ROH World Championship, Taven achieved a three count in the match, however the referee was not looking and the match ended with Jay Lethal winning the title. The Kingdom would lose the titles to Bullet Club, later known as The Elite (Cody and the Young Bucks). At ROH's Death Before Dishonor The Kingdom attacked Will Ospreay and Jay Lethal. After the assault, Taven pulled out of a bag a copy of the Ring Of Honor World Championship which was purple instead of black leather, saying he is the true Ring Of Honor World Champion. On November 2, 2018, The Kingdom would win the ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship for the third time, beating The Elite, holding them until March 16, 2019. On March 15, 2019, at the ROH 17th Anniversary Show, Taven challenge Lethal for the Ring of Honor World Championship, with the match ending in a 60-minute time-limit draw. The following month at

G1 Supercard G1 Supercard was a professional wrestling supershow co-produced by the American Ring of Honor (ROH) and Japanese New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotions. It was the 13th annual Supercard of Honor event and took place on April 6, 2019, at Madis ...

, Taven would defeat Lethal and Marty Scurll in a ladder match to win the ROH World Title, and with that becoming the second ROH Grand Slam winner. His title win over the more popular Marty Scurll has been criticized, usually calling him a "critical and financial flop". During a 411Mania podcast, Jerome Cusson said his title win "actively hurt ROH" since it was not "a draw" and he "wasn't over". On September 27, 2019, at Death Before Dishonor, Matt Taven was defeated by Rush for the ROH Championship, ending his reign at 174 days. On ROH television Vinny Marseglia turned and attacked Matt Taven. On December 13, 2019, at Final Battle, Marseglia defeated Taven.

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (2014–2015, 2019)

Through ROH's relationship with NJPW, from November 23 to December 5, 2014, Taven and Michael Bennett took part in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW)'s

2014 World Tag League __NOTOC__ The is a professional wrestling round-robin tag team tournament held by New Japan Pro-Wrestling as a spin-off of the popular singles tournament, the G1 Climax. It was created in 1991 as the Super Grade Tag League, as a continuation of ...

. The team finished their round-robin block with a record of four wins and three losses, failing to advance to the finals. Taven and Bennett returned to NJPW on April 5, 2015, at

Invasion Attack 2015 Invasion Attack 2015 was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event promoted by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). The event took place on April 5, 2015, in Tokyo at Ryōgoku Kokugikan and featured nine matches, four of which were contested f ...

, where they defeated Bullet Club ( Doc Gallows and

Karl Anderson Chad Allegra (born January 20, 1980), better known by the ring name Karl Anderson, is an American professional wrestler currently signed to WWE where he performs on the Raw brand. He also makes appearances for New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW), whe ...

) 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. Taven and Bennett 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. Taven returned to Japan in 2019, teaming with Vinny Marseglia for the ROH/NJPW co-promoted "

Honor Rising Honor Rising: Japan was a professional wrestling event co-promoted by the Japanese New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) and American Ring of Honor (ROH) promotions. The event was held annually from 2016 to 2019, taking place in Japan (as opposed to the ...

" tour, which ended with a loss to '' Los Ingobernables de Japón'' ( Shingo Takagi and Tetsuya Naito).

Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (2016–2019)

Through ROH's working relationship with

(CMLL), Taven made his debut for the Mexican promotion on September 9, 2016, which also marked his return from a nine-month absence due to a knee injury. On September 13, Taven was defeated by

Rush Rush(es) may refer to: Places United States * Rush, Colorado * Rush, Kentucky * Rush, New York * Rush City, Minnesota * Rush Creek (Kishwaukee River tributary), Illinois * Rush Creek (Marin County, California), a stream * Rush Creek (Mono Cou ...

in Arena México in the last CMLL match of the 2016 tour. Taven returned to CMLL on March 17, 2017, unsuccessfully challenging Último Guerrero for the NWA World Historic Middleweight Championship at that year's '' Homenaje a Dos Leyendas'' show. He returned to Mexico later in 2017, participating in the International Gran Prix as part of "Team International". Taven was eliminated by Rush near the end of the tournament. Taven returned to CMLL on March 16, 2018, participating in that year's Homenaje a Dos Leyendas show, where he, Atlantis, and Niebla Roja defeated ''

Los Guerreros Laguneros ''Los Guerreros Laguneros'' (Spanish for "The Warriors from the Lagoon") is a '' lucha libre'' stable based in Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL). The stable was created in 2001 and has, since its inception, been led by Último Guerrero and ...

'' ( Euforia, Gran Guerrero, and Último Guerrero). On March 30, 2018, Taven defeated Volador Jr. to win the NWA World Historic Welterweight Championship. He returned to Mexico in August of that year, starting out by losing the NWA World Historic Welterweight Championship back to Volador Jr. at the

Negro Casas 40th Anniversary Show The Negro Casas 40th Anniversary Show, or more properly Funcion Homenaje a Atlantis por sus 40 Años como luchador (Spanish for "Tribute to Negro Casas for 40 years as a wrestler") was a professional wrestling super card held on August 3, 2018. ...

. Afterwards Taven and Volador Jr. joined forces they were both attacked by ''Los Ingobernables'' ("The Unruly"; the team of Rush and El Terrible). The storyline with ''Los Ingobernables'' built over the following month, with Bárbaro Cavernario replacing El Terrible due to an injury, to the main event of the CMLL 85th Anniversary Show. Rush and Cavernario defeated Taven and Volador Jr. on a ''

Lucha de Apuesta Lucha libre (, meaning "freestyle wrestling" or literally translated as "free fight") is the term used in Latin America for professional wrestling. Since its introduction to Mexico in the early 20th century, it has developed into a unique form ...

'' ("Bet match"). As part of the storyline, Taven turned on Volador Jr., costing their team the match. After the match both Taven and Volador Jr. had their hair shaved off as a result. Taven, now bald, returned to CMLL for the 2018 International Gran Prix tournament. During the match, Volador Jr. took revenge on Taven for costing them their match and pinned Taven 45 minutes into the match. Taven returned to Mexico and CMLL once more in August 2019, this time as ROH World Heavyweight Champion, for the 2019 International Gran Prix tournament. For the second year in the row Volador Jr. pinned Taven to eliminate him.

Impact Wrestling (2022)

Hard To Kill ''Hard to Kill'' is a 1990 American action thriller film directed by Bruce Malmuth, starring Steven Seagal, Kelly LeBrock, William Sadler and Frederick Coffin. Seagal's second film after '' Above the Law'', it features him as Mason Storm, a d ...

, on January 8, 2022, Taven made his

debut, appeared along with Maria, Mike Bennett, PCO, and

Vincent Vincent ( la, Vincentius) is a male given name derived from the Roman name Vincentius, which is derived from the Latin word (''to conquer''). People with the given name Artists *Vincent Apap (1909–2003), Maltese sculptor *Vincent van Gogh ...

, attacking Eddie Edwards, Rich Swann, Willie Mack, Heath and Rhino. The group is known as

. On September 1, 2022 episode of '' Impact!'', they defeated The Good Brothers ( Doc Gallows and

) to capture the Impact World Tag Team Championship for a first time. They would lose the titles on the October 20, 2022 edition of ''Impact!'' to Heath and Rhino. On October 8, 2022, it was announced that Taven, Bennett, Kanellis, and Vincent had left ''

''.

All Elite Wrestling (2022-Present)

Taven made his All Elite Wrestling debut on the October 14, 2022 episode of ''

Rampage Rampage may refer to: Places * Rampage Mountain, a mountain in Montana People * Quinton Jackson (born 1978; nicknamed "Rampage"), American mixed martial artist and actor * Randy Rampage (1960-2018), Canadian musician * Rampage (rapper) (born 1 ...

'', alongside Mike Bennett and Maria Kanellis interrupting FTR and Shawn Spears' victory celebration. On the October 28, 2022 episode of ''

'' Taven unsuccessfully challenged the AEW TNT Championship, AEW TNT Champion Wardlow (wrestler), Wardlow.

Championships and accomplishments

The Kingdom IWGP Tag Team Champions with Maria Kanellis

* Chaotic Wrestling ** Chaotic Wrestling New England Championship (Chaotic Wrestling New England Championship#Title history, 2 times) ** Chaotic Wrestling Tag Team Championship (Chaotic Wrestling Tag Team Championship#Title history, 1 time) – with Vinny Marseglia **Chaotic Wrestling New England Championship Tournament *

** NWA World Historic Welterweight Championship (NWA World Historic Welterweight Championship#Reigns, 1 time) * Impact Championship Wrestling ** ICW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Rhett Titus *

** Impact World Tag Team Championship (List of Impact World Tag Team Champions, 1 time) – with Mike Bennett * National Wrestling Alliance ** NWA On Fire Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Julian Starr * New Japan Pro-Wrestling ** IWGP Tag Team Championship (List of IWGP Tag Team Champions, 1 time) – with Michael Bennett * Northeast Wrestling ** Northeast Wrestling Heavyweight Championship, NEW Heavyweight Championship (2 times) * Pro Wrestling Experience ** Robbie Ellis Tournament of Super Juniors * Pro Wrestling Illustrated ** Ranked No. 37 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated#PWI 500, PWI 500'' in 2019 *

(List of ROH World Champions, 1 time) ** ROH World Television Championship (ROH World Television Championship#Reigns, 1 time) ** ROH World Tag Team Championship (List of ROH World Tag Team Champions, 2 times) – with Michael/Mike Bennett ** ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship (ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship#Title history, 3 times) – with

and Vinny Marseglia ** ROH Top Prospect Tournament, Top Prospect Tournament (ROH Top Prospect Tournament#2013, 2013) ** Ring of Honor tournaments#ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship Tournament (2016), ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship Tournament (2016) – with T. K. O'Ryan and Vinny Marseglia ** Triple Crown (professional wrestling)#List of ROH Triple Crown winners, Fifth Triple Crown (professional wrestling), Triple Crown Champion ** Grand Slam (professional wrestling)#Ring of Honor (2018), Second Grand Slam (professional wrestling), Grand Slam Champion ** ROH Year-End Award (2 times) *** Match of the Year (2019) *** Wrestler of the Year (2019) *The Wrestling Revolver **PWR Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Mike Bennett * Top Rope Promotions ** TRP Heavyweight Championship (TRP Heavyweight Championship, 2 times) **Killer Kowalski Cup (2010)

''Luchas de Apuestas'' record

References

External links

* *
Chaotic Wrestling profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Taven, Matt 1985 births 21st-century professional wrestlers American male professional wrestlers Living people People from Derry, New Hampshire Professional wrestlers from New Hampshire Professional wrestling trainers ROH World Champions ROH World Television Champions ROH World Tag Team Champions ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Champions TNA/Impact World Tag Team Champions IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions NWA World Historic Welterweight Champions All Elite Wrestling personnel