United Empire

United Empire is a heel professional wrestling stable in New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW). The stable was originally formed as The Empire in October 2020 by leader Will Ospreay and Great-O-Khan after Ospreay turned on CHAOS. Eventually, the stable would grow to include Jeff Cobb and Aaron Henare, along with TJP, Kyle Fletcher and Mark Davis.

History[]

Formation (2020)[]

At G1 Climax 2020 - Night 17, Will Ospreay faced CHAOS stablemate Kazuchika Okada, with Okada managing to gain an advantage and lock Ospreay in the Money Clip. However, Ospreay's girlfriend, Bea Priestley, distracted the referee, allowing a returning Great-O-Kharn to attack Okada out of sight from the referee and as a result, Ospreay won the match. During a backstage interview, Ospreay announced he would leave CHAOS to form a new stable with Great-O-Kharn and Priestley named The Empire. With Great-O-Kharn changing his name to Great-O-Khan, Ospreay & O-Khan made their debut as a team at G1 Climax 2020 - Night 19, defeating CHAOS members Kazuchika Okada & SHO.

Jeff Cobb joined The Empire in November, when he was revealed to be Great-O-Khan's mystery partner for the World Tag League 2020. At the end of the tournament, Cobb & O-Khan had accumulated 10 points, along with a victory over World Tag League 2019 winners FinJuice (David Finlay & Juice Robinson). However, Cobb & O-Khan failed to make the final, finishing at seventh.

United Empire (2021-present)[]

The Empire did not see success at Wrestle Kingdom 15 Night 1 and Night 2, with O-Khan suffering a defeat to Hiroshi Tanahashi, Ospreay losing to former stablemate Kazuchika Okada, and Cobb failing to capture the NEVER Openweight Championship from Shingo Takagi. At New Year Dash !! 2021, Great-O-Khan, Will Ospreay & Jeff Cobb defeated Ten-Koji (Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima) & Yota Tsuji. After the match, The Empire attacked Tenzan until he had to be taken away on a stretcher, leading Ospreay to announce that The Empire would be renamed United Empire.

Soon after Ospreay was scheduled to face Satoshi Kojima, along with Great-O-Khan being scheduled to face Hiroyoshi Tenzan at The New Beginning In Nagoya. Stipulations were also added to the matches, with Ospreay vs. Kojima being changed to a No Disqualification Match, and O-Khan vs. Tenzan being changed to a match where the loser would have to retire their Mongolian chop. At the New Beginning In Nagoya, both United Empire members won their matches.

At Castle Attack - Night 1, Great-O-Khan, Cobb & Ospreay defeated Ten-Koji once again, who partnered with Hiroshi Tanahashi. However, at Night 2, Ten-Koji were able to get vengeance with a win over Cobb & Ospreay, while Great-O-Khan failed to win the NEVER Openweight Championship from Hiroshi Tanahashi. Will Ospreay would then go on to enter the New Japan Cup 2021, defeating Shingo Takagi in the final to win the tournament. However, after the match, Ospreay would remove Bea Priestley from the United Empire, after giving her an OsCutter.

At Sakura Genesis 2021, Ospreay defeated Kota Ibushi to win the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship for the first time. On the same night, Aaron Henare joined the United Empire, teaming with Great-O-Khan & Cobb to defeat Los Ingobernables de Japon (SANADA, Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito). Ospreay would go on to defend the championship against Shingo Takagi at Wrestling Dontaku 2021 - Night 1, before vacating the championship after a neck injury.

After Ospreay returned from injury in August, Kyle Fletcher and Mark Davis would join the United Empire on September 19, before TJP joined the stable on September 26 at STRONG - Episode 63, where he partnered with Ospreay to defeat Clark Connors & Karl Fredericks. At Battle In The Valley 2021, Ospreay defeated Ren Narita, while Cobb & TJP were defeated by Clark Connors & Karl Fredericks.

Aaron Henare & Great-O-Khan would enter World Tag League 2021, accumulating 14 points at the end of the tournament, but did not make the finals due to finishing in seventh. At Wrestle Kingdom 16 - Night 1, O-Khan, Cobb & Ospreay would defeat BUSHI, SANADA & Tetsuya Naito of Los Ingobernables de Japon, before Ospreay would fail to win the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship for a second time from Kazuchika Okada on Night 2. Ospreay would compete in the New Japan Cup 2021, but was eliminated in the quarter final on Night 13 by Zack Sabre Jr.

All Elite Wrestling[]

Leading up the the AEW x NJPW PPV, AEW-NJPW Forbidden Door, United Empire members Jeff Cobb and Great-O-Khan made their AEW surprise debut at the May 25th, 2022 episode of Dynamite attacking FTR (Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler) and Roppongi Vice (Rocky Romero & Trent Baretta) during their ROH World Tag Team Championship match. At the June 8th, 2022 episode of Dynamite, during a promo cut by Trent Baretta calling out FTR, Will Ospreay, Aussie Open and Aaron Henare made their AEW debut attacking the three. The United Empire made their in ring AEW debut at the June 10th, 2022 episode of Rampage taking on FTR and Trent Baretta in an unsuccessful match.

At AEW Road Rager 2022, Will Ospreay took on Dax Harwood in a singles match that Ospreay would go on to win, resulting in a brawl between the United Empire, FTR and Roppongi Vice. During the brawl Orange Cassidy made his AEW return, staring down Will Ospreay before he retreated from the ring.

Following multiple weeks of attacks from the United Empire, two matches were confirmed for AEW-NJPW Forbidden Door including Will Ospreay vs Orange Cassidy for the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship and (Jeff Cobb & Great-O-Khan) vs FTR vs Roppongi Vice in a winner takes all match for the IWGP Tag Team Championship and ROH World Tag Team Championship. Ospreay retained the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship, whereas Jeff Cobb and Great-O-Khan lost the IWGP Tag Team Championships to FTR. The United Empire returned to New Japan Pro Wrestling, following the PPV.

On the August 10th, 2022, episode of Dynamite, the United Empire were revealed to be apart of the AEW Inaugural World Trios Championship Tournament 2022, successfully taking on Death Triangle in a first round match.

Members[]

Current Members

Member	Time
Callum Newman	July 9, 2023 - present
Francesco Akira	April 9, 2022 - present
Gideon Grey	August 22, 2022 - present
Great-O-Khan	October 16, 2020 – present
HENARE	April 4, 2021 – present
Jeff Cobb	November 15, 2020 – April 14, 2025
Kyle Fletcher	September 19, 2021 – present
Mark Davis	September 19, 2021 – present
TJP	September 26, 2021 – present
Will Ospreay (leader)	October 16, 2020 – present