Maria Kanellis Reveals Why The Kingdom Signed With AEW Over WWE

Following the expiry of their IMPACT Wrestling contracts, The Kingdom of Matt Taven, Mike Bennett, and Maria Kanellis debuted in All Elite Wrestling, confronting ROH World Tag Team Champions FTR on an October episode of Rampage. The faction have yet to make their in-ring debuts as a tag team, though, with their only match so far being a Matt Taven loss to Wardlow over the TNT Title. 

Following their exits from IMPACT, The Kingdom had plenty of options and they did hold talks with WWE. Taven, Bennett, and Kanellis ultimately opted to sign with AEW, however, and Maria revealed why to Just Alyx. 

"On a personal level, we've always liked Stephanie and Triple H. We definitely communicated with Triple H as our contract was coming up with IMPACT Wrestling. You know, we did that courtesy conversation. It went really well. At the end of the day, I think AEW is the place where we belonged. So we're really happy about the different relationships we have now in so many different companies," Kanellis said.

"I've been talking to Tony Khan since May because of Ring of Honor. I've had a really great time conversing back and forth with him about the Ring of Honor women's division and Women's Wrestling Army. I'm not going to give details on everything, but I will say that we've really enjoyed our time at AEW and we can't wait to do more." 

With Ring of Honor's return to pay-per-view coming up on December 10 at Final Battle, it would seem likely The Kingdom will challenge FTR for the ROH World Tag Team Championships at the event. No matches have been made official as of yet, though. 

H/T to Fightful