Matt Taven And Mike Bennett Tease ROH Singles And Tag Pursuits Post-Final Battle

Matt Taven and Mike Bennett of ROH's The OGK made their returns to The Wrestling Inc. Daily podcast where they discussed their upcoming Final Battle match against Bateman and Vincent of The Righteous. Wrestling Inc. Managing Editor Nick Hausman asked Taven if this "grudge match" will be a stipulation match or just a standard tag match.

"Well, I have been constantly reprimanded by the Ring of Honor office and officials lately about all the things going on. We got fined the first time I came back," Taven noted. "I was like, 'What a debut!' And now I have to pay a fine, and I've also been threatened to be suspended if the things that have been happening continue to happen.

"So I'm assuming that this will be more under just regular Ring of Honor rules, but when you're looking across the ring at a guy who not only cut you with an axe, but broke into your house, tried to put a dart through your chest, I'm not really sure what people are expecting, as far as the the Ring of Honor office, us to do. This has been a year in the making.

"Last year at Final Battle, the guy hobbled my ankle like the movie 'Misery'. I don't know how I'm supposed to just lock up with this guy and exchange holds. So I'm just going to go in there and try to put my thumb in his eye because that's all I really want to do."

Hausman gathered that Taven would ideally like for this match to be no DQ. Taven agreed, but he said that he would take what comes to him and is glad to be reunited with his best friend.

"I would love it," Taven admitted. "It feels like that's something that Ring of Honor may not want to happen at the moment. I'm not sure why. I understand, we're coming back to Pure Rules and more of a traditional format, but this has been something that's been brewing for over a year now. It's gotta come to an end one way or the other.

"I just got to have to roll with what's dealt to me, and if I get to reunite with my best friend, hey, I'll take that instead of having an axe on a pole match with Vinny or something. I already have a scar on my head (Taven later shows his scar on camera). I don't know if I wanted to do that. I just really want to punch this guy in the mouth."

Bennett returned to ROH in late November to help Taven after being attacked by The Righteous. He discussed the goals for himself and Taven and whether that would include singles or tag gold.

"I think me and Matt are always at a point in our career now where we'll always have a singles career or an individual career aspect to us just because of all the things we've done," Bennett said. "Matt's a former Ring of Honor World Champion. So to just pigeonhole him to the tag division, I think, is a disservice to him and a disservice to the company in general to just be like, 'All right, this guy's completely tag,' but as far as goals as a team, I mean, I think we're looking to just go out and, once again, prove people wrong like we've done our entire career and prove that we've always been one of the best tag teams.

"The Kingdom will always be a team, will always be a kingdom [and] will always go full force into whatever we're doing at the moment, but I think the future's so unknown to just say, 'Oh it's tag team gold or nothing.' Obviously, if we're teaming, then it's 100% tag team gold, and we're going to prove that we're the best tag team out there, but Ring of Honor, it's a big company. There's a lot of different championships, and I think it's just one of those things where if Matt needs to go do something, I'll always have his back.

"If I need to go do something, he'll always have my back, but for me personally, if we're just talking about me, I'm super excited to just be The Kingdom and go full force into whatever The Kingdom has to offer and has to do. So that's where my mindset is."

Taven jokingly disagreed with Bennett before expressing his excitement over tagging with Bennett again after watching some of their old matches. He noted that he never got his rematch after losing the ROH World Title, and they never got their rematch after losing the ROH World Tag Team Titles, so there is motivation for both singles and tag team pursuits.

"Mike hit the nail on the head. Also, something that he said earlier, there's an excitement that I haven't felt in a long time, and me and Mike were texting recently," Taven recalled. "I was watching old matches that we've had together and just game planning or going over what we used to do and what would we do now, and it's so exciting to think about teaming again to rekindle these old feelings that we used to go out there and just have so much fun.

"And watching things back, like Mike said, I feel like a kid on Christmas waiting to be able to do it again. At the same time, I never had my Ring of Honor rematch for the world title. We actually never had our rematch from five years ago when we lost the tag team titles. So there's a lot of things that could be thrown our way. I think Mike and myself have changed so much in the last five years that not only can we be a team, we could do our singles things, and at the end of the day, we're meeting each other at the other end of the curtain even if we're not coming out there together.

"I'm just excited, honestly, to finally get this idea that we've had in our mind for five years, for it to finally come to fruition. I'm looking forward to being a team and kind of just playing it day by day after that. We'll see what happens after Final Battle."

The OGK (Matt Taven & Mike Bennett) will face Vincent and Bateman at ROH Final Battle on Friday December 18th. For more information please visit www.ROHWrestling.com. Taven and Bennett's full interview aired as part of a recent episode of our podcast, The Wrestling Inc. Daily. Subscribe to get the latest episodes as soon as it's released Monday – Friday afternoon by clicking here.