Two Major Free Agents Signing With AEW

These two former World Champions are set to join AEW.

by Andrew Pollard
Motor City Machine Guns Chris Sabin Alex Shelley
NJPW

Following their departure from TNA Wrestling last month, there's now a significant update on the future of the Motor City Machine Guns.

Opting to explore the free agent market once their previous TNA deals expired, Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley were said to have interest from both WWE and AEW. With reports earlier in the month that AEW had emerged as the favourite to sign MCMG, it appears that is indeed where they will be heading.

As per Cassidy Haynes at Bodyslam.net, Sabin and Shelley will be joining AEW. At present, the deal to bring the two in is being finalised, with this report noting that this won't actually be finalised "for a bit". Regardless, a decision has been made and the Machine Guns will be landing in AEW.

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One of the best tag teams in modern wrestling, the Motor City Machine Guns first came together in 2006 for the likes of PWG and ROH, and they'd take that act to TNA the following year. Across the next 17 years, Sabin and Shelley would have major success in the Anthem promotion both as a tag team and as singles stars, with both men winning the company's World Title and the pair having 11 runs as X Division Champion between them, in addition to three spells as TNA Tag Team Champions. Away from that, the tandem would win, amongst other things, the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Titles and the ROH Tag Team Titles.

Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley will be the latest in a line of notable free agents heading to AEW, following in the footsteps of Will Ospreay, Kazuchika Okada, and Mercedes Moné.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.