ROH star and former world champion Matt Taven recently spoke with Sports Illustrated about a number of different subjects, most notably his partner Mike Bennett’s return to the company following his stint with WWE. Highlights from the interview can be found below.
On Mike Bennett’s return to the company:
“We’re extremely confident in what we can do together, and we get to show that in the match this weekend. This is the beginning of our chance to flourish together. We’ve been waiting for this for five years. We’re two totally different people now, so it’s hard not to imagine what we can do together now that we’ve had all these different experiences on our own.”
How Bennett has turned all of his negatives into positives:
“Mike’s been through so much. He’s found a way to turn negatives into positives, and he’s so happy to be in Ring of Honor. He’s used everything that didn’t go his way to motivate himself. Mike’s himself again, and to me, that’s very inspiring.”
On their upcoming match against the ROH tag team champs:
“This is a match I’m so proud of. It’s great wrestling and captures our personalities. Mike is re-establishing his identity and showing why he’s one of the best wrestlers on the planet, and this is a great opportunity to define himself again as a wrestler. And the backbone of Ring of Honor is built on guys like Rhett Titus. He’s at the absolute best he’s ever been. His in-ring work is so unbelievably good. And Tracy is one of those guys that doesn’t have to say a word. He lets his art speak for itself, and he’s an unbelievable performer. I wish his TV title run was a little longer, but something tells me he’ll be a two-time champ before too long. We’ve never wrestled this team before, and you’re going to see the evolution of all four of us in the ring.”