The Kingdom Had Contact With WWE Before Joining AEW

A new report has suggested that The Kingdom trio of Mike Bennett, Maria Kanellis-Bennett, and Matt Taven held talks with WWE before signing with AEW.

After FTR and Shawn Spears scored a victory over Brian Cage and Gates of Agony in a trios match on the 14th of October edition of Rampage, The Kingdom would cut their celebration short.

Kanellis-Bennett referred to their group as The Kingdom, and said that the men in the group were the top dogs, saying All Elite Wrestling was built on the back of The Kingdom. That reference would be to Taven and Bennett being ROH and IWGP Tag Team Champions before FTR captured those titles.

Now Fightful Select has reported that the trio had another option prior to joining AEW and WWE actually held conversations with all three members of the group about signing with them. The situation was described as a “feeling out process” rather than a firm offer with Triple H and Gabe Sapolsky said to be the main points of contact on the WWE side.

Mike Bennett and Maria Kanellis-Bennett were previously paired together in WWE during their run together in the company between 2017 and 2020.

Matt Taven has already made his official in-ring debut for AEW after he unsuccessfully challenged Wardlow for the TNT Championship on the 28th of October edition of Rampage.