, originally , is a

professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

faction, performing in

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion based in Nakano, Tokyo. Founded on January 13, 1972, by Antonio Inoki, the promotion was sold to Yuke's, who later sold it to Bushiroad in 2012. TV Asahi and Amuse, Inc. own minority sha ...

(NJPW) and RevPro, the faction is led by

Will Ospreay William Peter Charles Ospreay (born 7 May 1993) is an English professional wrestler who is currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is the current IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion in his first reign and leader of the ...

. The group was formed in October 2020 by Ospreay and Great-O-Khan, when Ospreay turned on his Chaos stablemate

Kazuchika Okada (born November 8, 1987) is a Japanese professional wrestler currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling. Okada is a five-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion where his fourth reign with the championship is the longest in history at 720 days. He also h ...

during the G1 Climax. Fellow NJPW wrestlers Jeff Cobb and

Aaron Henare Aaron Henry (born 5 August 1992) is a New Zealand professional wrestler currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) under the ring name Aaron Henare (アーロン・ヘナーレ). He previously wrestled under as . Early life Henry was ...

would join, as well as freelancers T. J. Perkins and

Francesco Akira Francesco Begnini (born November 12, 1999), better known by his ring name Francesco Akira is an Italian professional wrestler, working for the Japanese promotion New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is a member of the United Empire stable and ...

, and the team of

Kyle Fletcher Kyle Fletcher (born 24 December 1998) is an Australian professional wrestler currently appearing for New Japan Pro-Wrestling, where he was an inaugural Strong Openweight Tag Team Champion and Revolution Pro Wrestling, where he is a two-time Undi ...

Mark Davis Mark Davis may refer to: Entertainers *Mark Davis (talk show host), American radio talk show host *Mark Jonathan Davis (born 1965), American actor/singer and creator of Richard Cheese *Mark Davis, American bassist and founding member for the band ...

known as

Aussie Open The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Ope ...

, and "Lord" Gideon Grey from RevPro. Ospreay is the current IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion in his first reign, O-Khan is the current British Heavyweight Champion in his first reign, and TJP & Akira are the current IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions in their first reign as a team and individually.

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 seven different countries.

and Mark Davis from

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

, Jeff Cobb from the United States, T. J. Perkins from the Philippines,

, Gideon Grey and Bea Priestley from England, Aaron Henare from New Zealand, Great-O-Khan from Japan and finally Francesco Akira from Italy.

History

Formation (2020)

On night 17 of G1 Climax 30, during a match between Chaos members Kazuchika Okada and

, 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 Tomoyuki is a masculine Japanese given name. Possible writings Tomoyuki can be written using many different combinations of kanji characters. Some examples: *友之, "friend, of" *友幸, "friend, happiness" *友行, "friend, go" *友恭, "frie ...

(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. O-Kharn later changed the spelling of his name to Great O-Khan, in reference to

Genghis Khan Genghis Khan (born Temüjin; ; xng, Temüjin, script=Latn; ., name=Temujin – August 25, 1227) was the founder and first Great Khan (Emperor) of the Mongol Empire, which became the List of largest empires, largest contiguous empire in history a ...

of the

Mongol Empire The Mongol Empire of the 13th and 14th centuries was the largest contiguous land empire in history. Originating in present-day Mongolia in East Asia, the Mongol Empire at its height stretched from the Sea of Japan to parts of Eastern Europe, ...

. 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 The World Tag League may refer to any of the following professional wrestling tournaments held in Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Oc ...

tournament. 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 Joseph Ryan Robinson (born April 10, 1989), better known by his ring name Juice Robinson, is an American professional wrestler, currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW). Robinson is also a member of the Bullet Club stable and also wrestles ...

& David Finlay).

United Empire (2021–present)

At Wrestle Kingdom 15, O-Khan, Cobb, and Ospreay lost their matches to

Hiroshi Tanahashi is a Japanese professional wrestler. He works primarily for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, his accolades in NJPW include a record setting eight reigns as IWGP Heavywei ...

Shingo Takagi , known by his ring name Shingo Takagi (鷹木信悟, ''Takagi Shingo''), is a Japanese professional wrestler and former bodybuilder, currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is the provisional KOPW 2022 champion in his first ...

(for the

NEVER Openweight Championship The is a professional wrestling championship owned by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion. NEVER is an acronym of the terms "New Blood", "Evolution", "Valiantly", "Eternal", and "Radical" and was an NJPW-promoted series of events, whi ...

), and Kazuchika Okada, respectively. At

New Year Dash!! New Year Dash!! is a professional wrestling event held annually by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). It is held every year the day after Wrestle Kingdom, the biggest show of the year for New Japan, starting at Wrestle Kingdom 8 in 2014. There have b ...

on January 6, The Empire defeated

Tencozy Tencozy (occasionally spelled "Ten-Koji") is a professional wrestling tag team that has competed in New Japan Pro-Wrestling and All Japan Pro Wrestling. They are seven-time tag team champions (List of IWGP Tag Team Champions, six-time IWGP Tag Tea ...

(

Hiroyoshi Tenzan is a Japanese professional wrestler who currently works for New Japan Pro-Wrestling, and is better known by his ring name . With Satoshi Kojima, in 2008, they won the World's Strongest Tag Determination League in All Japan Pro Wrestling and the ...

Satoshi Kojima is a Japanese professional wrestler signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling, but makes appearances for Pro Wrestling Noah. Considered to be one of the greatest Japanese professional wrestlers of the 21st century and of all-time, he was the first wrest ...

) &

Yota Tsuji is a Japanese professional wrestler currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). Early life Before wrestling, Tsuji had played baseball, American football and had done Taekwondo. In March 2012, he graduated from Yokohama Tateno high-sch ...

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. This change was later reflected on New Japan's websites, along with the group's first logo. 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. All four men squared off a week beforehand in Tenzan's comeback from injury match in

Ota City General Gymnasium Ota City General Gymnasium is an arena in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan. It is the home arena of the Earth Friends Tokyo Z of the B.League, Japan's professional basketball league. Gallery Image:Ota city general gymnasium arena.JPG, Main Arena Image:Ota City ...

on January 23, a match won by Ospreay and O-Khan. 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. O-Khan and Ospreay went on to win their respective matches. At Castle Attack, United Empire beat the team of Hiroshi Tanahashi and

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. 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.

Toa Henare Aaron Henry (born 5 August 1992) is a New Zealand professional wrestler currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) under the ring name Aaron Henare (アーロン・ヘナーレ). He previously wrestled under as . Early life Henry was b ...

, now going by the ring name Aaron Henare, would become the fourth man to join the faction at

Sakura Genesis 2021 Sakura Genesis was a professional wrestling event promoted by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). The event took place on April 4, 2021 in Tokyo at Ryōgoku Kokugikan. Previously held under the Invasion Attack name, this was the third event to be ...

. On the same show Ospreay would defeat

Kota Ibushi is a Japanese professional wrestler and martial artist signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), but is currently inactive due to suffering a shoulder injury. In March 2021, he became the company's inaugural IWGP World Heavyweight Champion by ...

to win the

IWGP World Heavyweight Championship The is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship owned by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion. "IWGP" is the acronym of NJPW's governing body, the . The championship was created on March 1, 2021 by the unification of the ...

. At

Wrestling Dontaku is an annual professional wrestling event promoted by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). It was originally held from 1993 to 1995 and again from 2000 to 2001 in Fukuoka at the Fukuoka Dome. The event was revived in 2009 and has since been held at ...

, Ospreay made his first defense of the title when he defeated

. However, Ospreay would later vacate the title after sustaining a neck injury. He would make his return at

NJPW Resurgence Resurgence was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). It was held on August 14, 2021, at The Torch at LA Coliseum in Los Angeles, California. Wrestlers from U.S. partner promotions All Elite W ...

, claiming to be the "real world champion", and announcing to not be returning to Japan for that years G1 Climax. In September at the

Revolution Pro Wrestling Revolution Pro Wrestling (RevPro/RPW) is a British professional wrestling promotion founded on 26 August 2012 by Andy Quildan after separating from International Pro Wrestling: United Kingdom. Revolution Pro Wrestling currently has partnershi ...

High Stakes event, Ospreay recruited

(

and

) to the group. 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. 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. Forbidden Door (AEW x NJPW) (52292916464)

Forbidden Door (AEW x NJPW) (52292916464)

On the May 25th episode of

AEW Dynamite AEW or aew may refer to: * Airborne early warning, airborne radar system for detecting aircraft * Aerosvit Airlines, an airline based in Kyiv, Ukraine (ICAO airline designator: AEW) * AEW Capital Management, a property investment management company ...

, Cobb and O'Khan interrupted the

ROH World Tag Team Championship The ROH World Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling world tag team championship contested for in the American professional wrestling promotion Ring of Honor. The championship is generally contested in professional wrestling matches, i ...

match between, FTR and Roppongi Vice causing a disqualification by attacking both teams, with Cobb returning to

All Elite Wrestling All Elite Wrestling (AEW) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Jacksonville, Florida. It is considered the second largest wrestling promotion in the United States behind WWE. AEW is owned by Shahid Khan and his son Tony, ...

for the first time since 2019 and O'Khan making his debut. They raised the titles, indicating the intention of challenging for the championships. 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. Ospreay competed in his first singles match at the June 15th special episode of ''Dynamite'', Road Rager, where he defeated Dax Harwood. 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 The is a professional wrestling championship owned and promoted by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion. "IWGP" is the acronym of NJPW's governing body, the . The current champion is Will Ospreay, who is in his first reign. History Bac ...

, 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 Championship The is a professional wrestling world tag team championship owned by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion. "IWGP" is the acronym of the NJPW's governing body, the . The title was introduced on December 12, 1985 at an NJPW live event. The ...

s. 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 is a Japanese professional wrestler, mixed martial artist and professional wrestling trainer. In professional wrestling, he is known for his hard hitting offense. He is currently working for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). In NJPW, he is a f ...

, who saved Cassidy from the trio. On the June 19th edition of NJPW Strong Ignition, Aussie Open competed in a tournament to crown the inaugural

Strong Openweight Tag Team Championship The is a professional wrestling tag team championship owned and promoted by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion. The title is exclusively featured on NJPW's United States based television program ''NJPW Strong'', essentially making it a ...

. In the first round, they defeated The Dark Order's

Evil Uno Nicolas Dansereau (born July 20, 1987), better known by the ring name Evil Uno, is a Canadian professional wrestler. He is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is a member of The Dark Order. Formerly known as Player Uno, he r ...

and Alan Angels and they defeated the Stray Dog Army in the semi-finals. In the finals at Strong: High Alert, Davis and Fletcher defeated

Christopher Daniels Daniel Christopher Covell (born March 24, 1970), better known by the ring name Christopher Daniels, is an American semi-retired professional wrestler. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) and is the Head of Talent Relations. He is best kn ...

and Yuya Uemura to become the inaugural champions. On July 27, the

AEW World Trios Championship The AEW World Trios Championship is a professional wrestling world tag team championship created and promoted by the American promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW). It is a specialized tag team championship, being contested by teams of three wrestl ...

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 Death Triangle is a professional wrestling stable in All Elite Wrestling (AEW) consisting of Pac and The Lucha Brothers ( Penta El Zero Miedo and Rey Fénix), alongside their manager Alex Abrahantes. The trio are the current AEW World Trios ...

to progress to the semifinals, where they were defeated by The Elite on August 31. After the match, United Empire attacked The Elite. United Empire made their

Impact Wrestling Impact Wrestling (stylized as ''IMPACT! Wrestling''), is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Nashville, Tennessee. It is a subsidiary of Anthem Sports & Entertainment. Founded by Jeff and Jerry Jarrett in 2002, the promo ...

debut on the September 8th edition of Impact!, when Aussie Open, defeated Bullet Club's Chris Bey and Ace Austin.

Members

Forbidden Door (AEW x NJPW) (52292917294) (cropped)

Current

Former

Sub-groups

Current

{, class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;" , - !Affiliate !Members !Tenure !Type , - ,

, 2021–present , Tag team , - , Great-O-Khan & Jeff Cobb , Great-O-Khan
Jeff Cobb , 2020–present , Tag team , - , The Swords of Essence ,

T. J. Perkins , 2021–present , Tag team , - , Catch 2/2 ,

T. J. Perkins , 2022–present , Tag team

Timeline

Championships and accomplishments

( 1 time) – Ospreay **

( 1 time, current) – Ospreay **

(

2 times "2 Times" is a song co-written and recorded by British Italian-based singer Ann Lee. It was released in 1999 as the lead single from her debut album, ''Dreams'' (1999). The single entered and peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart. Outside ...

) – O-Khan & Cobb **

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship The is a professional wrestling tag team championship owned by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion. "IWGP" is the acronym of NJPW's governing body, the . The title was introduced on August 8, 1998, at an NJPW live event. The IWGP Juni ...

( 1 time, current) – TJP & Akira **

New Japan Cup __NOTOC__ The New Japan Cup (NJC) is an annual single-elimination professional wrestling tournament held by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) since 2005. It is considered the second most prominent heavyweight tournament in NJPW, after the G1 Climax w ...

(

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

) – Ospreay **

(1 time) – Aussie Open (

) ** Inaugural Strong Openweight Tag Team Championship Tournament – Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis) *''

Pro Wrestling Illustrated ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American internationally sold professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publi ...

'' **Singles wrestlers ***Ranked Ospreay No. 7 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the ''

PWI 500 ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American internationally sold professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publi ...

'' of 2021 ***Ranked TJP No. 91 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the ''

'' of 2021 ***Ranked Cobb No. 139 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the ''

'' of 2021 ***Ranked O-Khan No. 157 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the ''

'' of 2021 ***Ranked Akira No. 264 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the ''

'' of 2022 **Tag teams ***Ranked

(

) No. 11 of the top 100 tag teams in the '' PWI Tag Team 100'' of 2022 ***Ranked Great-O-Khan & Jeff Cobb No. 12 of the top 100 tag teams in the '' PWI Tag Team 100'' of 2022 ***Ranked Catch 2/2 ( TJP &

) No. 22 of the top 100 tag teams in the '' PWI Tag Team 100'' of 2022 *PWA Black Label **PWA Tag Team Championship (1 time) – Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis) *

British Heavyweight Championship The British Heavyweight Championship is a top Professional wrestling in the United Kingdom, British wrestling Championship (professional wrestling), championship found throughout the country's circuit. The championship was recognised and defen ...

(

) – Ospreay (1) and O-Khan (1, current) **

British Tag Team Championship The British (Open) Tag Team Championship is the top tag team championship contested for throughout the British wrestling circuit. It is currently being contested for in Brian Dixon's All Star Wrestling. Although the title was created just a ...

(

) – O-Khan with '' Rampage Brown'' (1), Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis) (1) *''

Tokyo Sports is a Japanese daily sports newspaper founded in 1960. See also * Tokyo Sports Film Award * Tokyo Sports Puroresu Awards The are Japanese professional wrestling, or ''puroresu'', awards that have been handed out by the ''Tokyo Sports'' ma ...

'' ** Best Bout Award (2022) – Ospreay vs.

on August 18 ** Technique Award (2021) – O-Khan **

Fighting Spirit Award The Japan Series ( , officially the Japan Championship Series, ), also the Nippon Series, :File:2014_JS_logo.png is the annual championship series in Nippon Professional Baseball, the top baseball league in Japan. It is a best-of-seven series ...

(2022) – O-Khan ** Best Tag Team Award (2022) – O-Khan & Cobb *Warriors of Wrestling **Warrior Wrestling Championship (1 time ) – Ospreay *

World Wonder Ring Stardom World Wonder Ring Stardom (スターダム女子プロレス), often referred to simply as Stardom (stylized as ST★RDOM), is a Japanese ''joshi puroresu'' or women's professional wrestling promotion based in Tokyo, Japan. Stardom was founded in ...

** SWA World Championship ( 1 time) – Priestley

References

External links

United Empire Profile
at Cagematch.net {{Navboxes , list1= {{SWA World Championship {{IWGP Tag Team Championship {{IWGP World Heavyweight Championship {{IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship {{New Japan Pro Wrestling personnel {{RPW British Heavyweight Championship {{RPW Undisputed British Tag Team Championship All Elite Wrestling teams and stables New Japan Pro-Wrestling teams and stables Independent promotions teams and stables