Matt Taven discusses his stint with IMPACT Wrestling.
In January 2022, Matt Taven, Mike Bennett, PCO, Vincent, and Maria Kanellis made their debut for IMPACT Wrestling, as they attacked Eddie Edwards, Rich Swann, Willie Mack, Heath, and Rhino at the Hard To Kill pay-per-view. The group, known as Honor No More, would go on to have a number of big matches and feuds in IMPACT Wrestling until October, when Taven, Bennett, Vincent, and Kanellis departed the promotion.
In a new interview with Fightful, Taven talked about his stint with the company, where he said that the locker room is one of the best he's ever been a part of.
"Well the IMPACT! Wrestling locker room is one of the best locker rooms I’ve ever been a part of. That says a lot because Ring of Honor was such a family, especially towards the end. We really had this mentality of us against the world. During the pandemic we became even closer than I could even imagine. So it was tough. Once that came to an end, none of us knew what was going to happen next. So to find ourselves in IMPACT! in a place where, for the first time in ten years, I’m in a foreign locker room. I’m like, ‘Oh, I’m the odd man out, all of a sudden.’ But at the same time, there’s so many familiar faces from Moose, obviously Eddie Edwards, and a bunch of other guys that had been in Ring of Honor in the past and places like here in Greektown, you run into a bunch of people. I saw Bhupinder, who I haven’t seen since IMPACT. There was so many familiar faces once we got there, once we finally got our stride, it was like, ‘Oh, man. This could be a home for a little bit.’"
Taven then went on say that he looked at IMPACT Wrestling as another challenge and another place to cement his legacy in professional wrestling.
"But at the same time, we were looking to keep our momentum going. We had come to the end with Ring of Honor unfortunately and a lot of us didn’t know what was going to happen next. All of a sudden we got a phone call, it’s less than a month after my last match against the Briscoes in Ring of Honor, and here I am showing up at IMPACT. I just looked at it as another challenge, as another place to make my name and to cement my legacy and the fact that I can say I was also am IMPACT! Tag Champions is another check on the resume or CV."
Taven went on to recall that he knew his deal with IMPACT Wrestling was up in October 2022, and he wasn't sure what was going to happen after that. Luckily, Tony Khan gave him, Mike Bennett, and Maria Kanellis a call.
"Nothing in wrestling is really planned too much. Honestly, ever since Madison Square Garden, my life has been ‘don’t plan on anything, because that’s not what’s going to happen.’ So with Ring of Honor, we didn’t see that happening. We jumped over to IMPACT!, it was one of those things that we didn’t know what tomorrow would bring. We had a deal there that we knew was coming up in October and we weren’t sure what we were going to do next. Then we got a phone call, and made a decision, and debuted right here in Toronto a week after that Guns match. It all just happened boom-boom-boom-boom. My head was spinning. To look at it, it’s almost been a year since we signed with AEW. It’s been crazy to look back at that time that went from ROH, IMPACT!, back to ROH, AEW all within a year. You know what, I’m just trying to be everywhere. I was trying to be Rick Rude of this generation, trying to be every show at once."
Elsewhere in the interview, Taven praised the Motor City Machine Guns. Fans can learn more by clicking here.
Fans can see Fightful's full interview with Matt Taven in the video linked above.
