United Empire
Professional wrestling stable From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
United Empire (ユナイテッド・エンパイア, Yunaiteddo Enpaia, stylized as UNITED EMPIRE), originally The Empire (ジ・エンパイア, Ji Enpaia), is a professional wrestling faction performing in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) and Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL). The faction is led by Callum Newman.
The group was formed in October 2020 by Will Ospreay and Great-O-Khan, when Ospreay turned on his Chaos stablemate Kazuchika Okada during the G1 Climax. Fellow NJPW wrestlers Jeff Cobb and Aaron Henare would join, as well as freelancers T. J. Perkins and Francesco Akira, and the team of Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis known as Aussie Open, and "Lord" Gideon Grey from RevPro.
Concept
The formation's concept is based on the multitude of its members whereabout countries and cultures. So far, the stable has had members from eight different countries. Kyle Fletcher and Mark Davis from Australia, T. J. Perkins from Philippines, Jeff Cobb and Jakob Austin Young from the United States, Will Ospreay, Gideon Grey, Callum Newman, Dan Moloney and Bea Priestley from England, Aaron Henare from New Zealand, Great-O-Khan from Japan, Templario from Mexico, and finally Francesco Akira from Italy.[1]
History
Summarize
Perspective
Formation; Will Ospreay's leadership (2020–2024)
On Night 17 of G1 Climax 30, during a match between Chaos members Kazuchika Okada and Will Ospreay, Bea Priestley, Ospreay's girlfriend, made her debut appearance in NJPW, at ringside. As Okada locked his Money Clip submission onto Ospreay, Priestley attempted to enter the ring, distracting the referee in the process. Tomoyuki Oka (now known as Great O-Khan) then made his surprise return from excursion and entered the ring behind the referee's back, attacking Okada with an iron claw slam, which allowed Ospreay to hit his Storm Breaker finisher, earning him the pinfall victory. After the match, Ospreay turned heel on Okada by attacking him with his Hidden Blade elbow strike to the back of his head. Later, in a backstage interview, Ospreay announced that he would officially leave Chaos to start a new faction with him, Priestley, and O-Khan called The Empire.[2][3][4] O-Kharn later changed the spelling of his name to Great O-Khan, in reference to Genghis Khan of the Mongol Empire.[5] Jeff Cobb joined the stable on November 15 when he was revealed to be O-Khan's mystery tag team partner for the annual World Tag League tournament.[6] The duo would score 10 points (5 wins & 4 losses), not making the final, but getting a win over tournament finalists (and the previous year's winners), FinJuice (Juice Robinson & David Finlay).[7]
At Wrestle Kingdom 15, O-Khan, Cobb, and Ospreay lost their matches to Hiroshi Tanahashi, Shingo Takagi (for the NEVER Openweight Championship), and Kazuchika Okada, respectively.[8] At New Year Dash!! on January 6, The Empire defeated Tencozy (Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima) & Yota Tsuji when O-Khan & Cobb held Tsuji up for a Super OsCutter. After beating down O-Khan's trainer, Tenzan to the point where he had to be stretchered out, Ospreay declared that they would be renamed the United Empire.[9] This change was later reflected on New Japan's websites, along with the group's first logo.[10] After attempting to defend his tag partner from the Empire's attack, Kojima was scheduled to face Ospreay one-on-one at The New Beginning in Nagoya on January 30. O-Khan was also scheduled to face Tenzan one-on-one.[11] All four men squared off a week beforehand in Tenzan's comeback from injury match in Ota City General Gymnasium on January 23, a match won by Ospreay and O-Khan.[12][13] On January 26, new stipulations were added to the Ospreay vs. Kojima and O-Khan vs. Tenzan matches for The New Beginning in Nagoya. The loser of O-Khan vs. Tenzan is forced to retire their Mongolian Chop, while the Ospreay vs. Kojima match will be contested under no-disqualification rules.[14] O-Khan and Ospreay went on to win their respective matches.[15]
At Castle Attack, United Empire beat the team of Hiroshi Tanahashi and Tencozy on night one, but were unable to win their matches on night two. Ospreay and Cobb lost to Tencozy, while O-Khan failed to capture the NEVER Openweight Championship from Tanahashi.[16][17] In March, Ospreay won the 2021 New Japan Cup after defeating Shingo Takagi. After the match, Ospreay hit a Os-Cutter on Bea Priestley, kicking her out of the United Empire and saying that he was "only looking out for number one" from now on.[18] Toa Henare, now going by the ring name Aaron Henare, would become the fourth man to join the faction at Sakura Genesis 2021.[19] On the same show Ospreay would defeat Kota Ibushi to win the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship. At Wrestling Dontaku, Ospreay made his first defense of the title when he defeated Shingo Takagi.[20] However, Ospreay would later vacate the title after sustaining a neck injury.[21] He would make his return at NJPW Resurgence, claiming to be the "real world champion", and announcing to not be returning to Japan for that years G1 Climax.[22] In September at the Revolution Pro Wrestling High Stakes event, Ospreay recruited Aussie Open (Mark Davis and Kyle Fletcher) to the group.[23] The following month during NJPW Strong's Autumn Attack, T. J. Perkins betrayed the LA Dojo and joined United Empire as their first Junior Heavyweight member.[24]
Despite Ospreay's absence, both O'Khan and Cobb would enter the tournament in the A and B block respectively. O'Khan would finish in the bottom half of his block, scoring just 8 points, however, Cobb would break records in his block, going undefeated for 8 straight wins, before losing on the final deciders to Kazuchika Okada on Day 18, whom he had traded back and forth wins with over the second half of the year.
At Wrestle Kingdom 16, Ospreay being the previous champion and not directly losing his title, would get a shot at the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship against the winner of Shingo Takagi and Kazuchika Okada on night two, where he would lose to Okada. Both O-Khan and Cobb would also lose their respective matches to Sanada and Tetsuya Naito, respectively. United Empire would take part in the New Japan Cup, where Ospreay, O-Khan, Cobb and Aaron Henare would proceed to the second round with wins over Bushi, Kota Ibushi, Togi Makabe and Yuto Nakanishima, respectively. Ibushi was injured at the time and O-Khan would win by forfeit. Ospreay, O-Khan and Cobb would move to the third round with wins over El Phantasmo, Taiji Ishimori and Kosei Fujita, respectively. Henare was eliminated after losing to Sanada. Ospreay and Cobb would qualify for the quarter finals with wins over Yoshi-Hashi and Sanada, respectively while O-Khan would lose to Zack Sabre Jr. Both Ospreay and Cobb were eliminated in the semi-final after losing to Tetsuya Naito and Zack Sabre Jr., respectively. After the New Japan Cup, Ospreay would start scouting the Junior Heavyweight division and at Hyper Battle he would recruit Francesco Akira as the newest member.
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On the May 25th episode of AEW Dynamite, Cobb and O'Khan interrupted the ROH World Tag Team Championship match between, FTR and Roppongi Vice causing a disqualification by attacking both teams, with Cobb returning to All Elite Wrestling for the first time since 2019 and O'Khan making his debut. They raised the titles, indicating the intention of challenging for the championships.[25] The stable returned two weeks later, on the June 8th episode of Dynamite, this time with Ospreay, Henare, Fletcher and Davis making their AEW debuts, attacking Trent Beretta and FTR.[26] Ospreay competed in his first singles match at the June 15th special episode of Dynamite, Road Rager, where he defeated Dax Harwood.[27] After the match Ospreay and United Empire stablemates attacked FTR and Roppongi Vice once more, only to be interrupted by Orange Cassidy, who stared down Ospreay. Soon after a singles match between both men was scheduled for AEW×NJPW: Forbidden Door, for Ospreay's newly won IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship, along with a triple-threat tag-team match, between FTR, Roppongi Vice and O-Khan and Cobb, for the ROH World Tag Team Championships and O-Khan and Cobb's newly won IWGP Tag Team Championships.[28][29] At the event, Cobb and O-Khan lost the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championships to FTR, yet Will Ospreay retained his IWGP United States Championship against Orange Cassidy. After the match Aussie Open and Ospreay continued to attack Cassidy and Roppongi Vice, however were interrupted by Katsuyori Shibata, who saved Cassidy from the trio.[30][31]
On the June 19th edition of NJPW Strong Ignition, Aussie Open competed in a tournament to crown the inaugural Strong Openweight Tag Team Championship. In the first round, they defeated The Dark Order's Evil Uno and Alan Angels and they defeated the Stray Dog Army in the semi-finals.[32] In the finals at Strong: High Alert, Davis and Fletcher defeated Christopher Daniels and Yuya Uemura to become the inaugural champions.[33]
On July 27, the AEW World Trios Championship was revealed, with Ospreay and Aussie Open being named as participants in the inaugural tournament. On August 24, Ospreay and Aussie Open defeated Death Triangle to progress to the semifinals, where they were defeated by The Elite on August 31.[34] After the match, United Empire attacked The Elite.[35]
United Empire made their Impact Wrestling debut on the September 8th edition of Impact!, when Aussie Open defeated Bullet Club's Chris Bey and Ace Austin.[36]
On March 26, 2023, at Revolution Rumble, a show promoted by Revolution Pro Wrestling, Dan Moloney defeated United Empire's Akira in singles competition. Immediately following the match, an impressed Will Ospreay appeared and extended Moloney an invitation to join the faction, which was accepted.[37]
On May 24, 2023, AEW owner Tony Khan announced that both Fletcher and Davis had signed contracts joining AEW. This would officially bring the faction to AEW.[38] Ospreay would be announced to sign several months later.[39] During their tenure in AEW, Ospreay and Fletcher were also part of The Don Callis Family.
Following Catch 2/2's claim of their second IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship on June 4 at Dominion 6.4 in Osaka-jo Hall, the duo was confronted by Bullet Club's Clark Connors. This led to Dan Moloney attacking the duo from behind, betraying United Empire and joining Connors in Bullet Club.[40]
TJP's leadership (2024–2025)
On March 12, 2024, following Ospreay completing his full-time NJPW duties and going to AEW, TJP claimed himself as leader the NJPW branch of United Empire, but would be pushed back by Great-O-Khan due to the stable losing.[41] On April 22 however, after defeating Just 5 Guys in a gauntlet match, the remaining members fully accepted TJP as the new leader of United Empire.[42]
On April 27, O-Khan lost the Provisional KOPW Championship to Yuya Uemura.[43] On May 3 at Wrestling Dontaku: Night 1 , Cobb defeated Zack Sabre Jr. to win the NJPW World Television Championship.[44]. On June 9 at Dominion 6.9 in Osaka-jo Hall, O-Khan defeated Uemura in a Storm Catch Rules match to regain the provisional KOPW Championship.[45] On June 16, Henare defeated Shingo Takagi to win the NEVER Openweight Championship.
From July 20 and August 14, four members of United Empire took part in the 2024 G1 Climax, with only O-Khan managing to advance from his group to the A block play-off match, where he was defeated by Shingo Takagi on August 15. Five days later, Jakob Austin Young was announced as the stable's newest member. On September 29 at Destruction in Kobe, Henare lost the NEVER Openweight Championship to Shingo Takagi after initally winning it from him back in January.[46] On October 14 at King of Pro-Wrestling, Cobb lost the NJPW World Television Championship to Ren Narita in a three-way match, also involving Yota Tsuji.[47]
From October 24 to November 2, Akira and TJP took part in the 2024 Super Jr. Tag League, finishing the tournament with a record three wins and two losses, advancing to the finals. On November 4 at Power Struggle, Henare and O-Khan defeated TMDK's Mikey Nicholls and Shane Haste to win the IWGP Tag Team Championship. Later that night, Akira and TJP were defeated by Kosei Fujita and Robbie Eagles also of TMDK, in the finals of the 2024 Super Jr. Tag League. On December 6, it was announced that the IWGP Tag Team Championship would be vacated, due to Henare suffering a right knee injury.[48] On December 9, Templario was invited into the stable by TJP, which he accepted, becoming the stable's eight member. [49]
On the February 5, 2025 episode of Dynamite, Mark Davis betrayed Ospreay and joined the Don Callis Family.[50]
Callum Newman's leadership (2025–present)
On April 5, 2025, at Sakura Genesis, O-Khan defeated El Phantasmo to win the NJPW World Television Championship. At the event, Cobb and Newman defeated Tetsuya Naito and Hiromu Takahashi to win the IWGP Tag Team Championship.[51] They vacated the titles on April 9, due to Cobb leaving NJPW.[52] In a press conference, that same day, Newman challenged Hirooki Goto to a title match for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship at Wrestling Dontaku, [53] Newman also announced in the same press conference that he would take over the leadership of United Empire as TJP had become a freelancer with NJPW after his contract expired, though TJP is still recognized as a member of United Empire. On April 26, at Wrestling Redzone in Hiroshima, Newman and O-Khan defeated Bishamon (Goto and Yoshi-Hashi) to win the vacant IWGP Tag Team Championship.[54]
Members
T. J. Perkins (II)
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| * | Founding members |
| I-III | Leader(s) |
Current
| Member | Joined | ||
|---|---|---|---|
 |
Callum Newman | III | July 9, 2023 |
 |
Francesco Akira | April 9, 2022 | |
 |
Great-O-Khan | * | October 16, 2020 |
 |
Henare | April 4, 2021 | |
 |
Jakob Austin Young | August 20, 2024 | |
 |
Templario | December 9, 2024 | |
/  |
TJP | II | September 26, 2021 |
Former
| Member | Joined | Left | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Bea Priestley | * | October 16, 2020 | March 21, 2021 |
|
Gideon Grey | August 22, 2022 | November 20, 2022 | |
|
Dan Moloney | March 26, 2023 | June 4, 2023 | |
 |
Kyle Fletcher | September 19, 2021 September 11, 2024 |
May 21, 2024 October 12, 2024 | |
|
Will Ospreay[a] | *I | October 16, 2020 September 11, 2024 |
February 11, 2024 October 12, 2024 |
|
Mark Davis | September 19, 2021 | February 5, 2025 | |
|
Jeff Cobb | November 15, 2020 | April 19, 2025 | |
Sub-groups
Current
| Affiliate | Members | Tenure | Type | Promotion(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Catch 2/2 | TJP Francesco Akira |
2022–present | Tag team | NJPW |
Former
| Affiliate | Members | Tenure | Type | Promotion(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aussie Open | Kyle Fletcher Mark Davis |
2021–2024 | Tag team | AEW RevPro ROH NJPW |
Timeline
Championships and accomplishments
- All Elite Wrestling
- AEW International Championship (2 times) – Ospreay
- Filipino Pro Wrestling
- FPW Championship (1 time) – Cobb
- New Japan Pro-Wrestling
- IWGP World Heavyweight Championship (1 time) – Ospreay[55]
- IWGP United States/United Kingdom Heavyweight Championship (2 times) – Ospreay
- NJPW World Television Championship (2 times) – Cobb (1) and O-Khan (1)
- IWGP Tag Team Championship (5 times, current) – O-Khan and Cobb (2), Aussie Open (Fletcher and Davis) (1), O-Khan and Henare (1), Newman and Cobb (1), Newman and O-Khan (1, current)
- IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship (3 times) – Catch 2/2 (TJP and Akira)
- KOPW Provisional Championship (2 times) – O-Khan
- New Japan Cup (2021) – Ospreay
- NEVER Openweight Championship (1 time) – Henare
- Super Junior Tag League (2023) – TJP and Akira
- Strong Openweight Tag Team Championship (2 times) – Aussie Open (Fletcher and Davis) [56]
- Inaugural Strong Openweight Tag Team Championship Tournament – Aussie Open (Fletcher and Davis)
- One Pro Wrestling
- 1PW Heavyweight Championship (1 time) – Ospreay
- Pro Wrestling Illustrated
- Singles wrestlers
- Ranked Ospreay No. 7 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 of 2021[57]
- Ranked TJP No. 91 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 of 2021[57]
- Ranked Cobb No. 139 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 of 2021[57]
- Ranked O-Khan No. 157 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 of 2021[57]
- Ranked Fletcher No. 188 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 of 2023[58]
- Ranked Akira No. 264 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 of 2022[59]
- Ranked Henare No. 449 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 of 2023[58]
- Tag teams
- Ranked Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher and Mark Davis) No. 11 of the top 100 tag teams in the PWI Tag Team 100 of 2022[60]
- Ranked Great-O-Khan and Jeff Cobb No. 12 of the top 100 tag teams in the PWI Tag Team 100 of 2022[60]
- Ranked Catch 2/2 (TJP and Francesco Akira) No. 22 of the top 100 tag teams in the PWI Tag Team 100 of 2022[60]
- Singles wrestlers
- PWA Black Label
- PWA Tag Team Championship (1 time)[61] – Aussie Open (Fletcher and Davis)
- Revolution Pro Wrestling
- British Heavyweight Championship (2 times) – Ospreay (1), O-Khan (1)[62][63]
- British Tag Team Championship (2 times) – O-Khan with Rampage Brown (1), Aussie Open (Fletcher and Davis) (1)[64]
- Ring of Honor
- ROH World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – Fletcher and Davis
- Tokyo Sports
- Best Bout Award (2022) – Ospreay vs. Kazuchika Okada on August 18[65]
- Technique Award (2021) – O-Khan[65]
- Fighting Spirit Award (2022) – O-Khan[66]
- Best Tag Team Award (2022) – O-Khan and Cobb[66]
- Warrior Wrestling
- Warrior Wrestling Championship (1 time) – Ospreay
- World Series Wrestling
- WSW Australian Championship (1 time; inaugural) – TJP
- World Wonder Ring Stardom
- SWA World Championship (1 time) – Priestley[67]
Notes
References
External links
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