10 Wrestlers TNA/IMPACT Should've Pushed Harder

Arguably the more charismatic member of The Motor City Machine Guns, Alex Shelley never secured as much singles success as Chris Sabin did. As a pair, they were one of the most innovative tag teams of their generation, as singles wrestlers, they were dependable, high-flying crowd pleasers.

Alex Shelley provided a funnier side to the team's attitude, often tearing rivals down with trash talk. After years of golden character work, the future Time Splitter appeared to be entering a singles push in early 2009. He won the vacant X-Division Championship in a superb showdown with Sabin.

There were countless options with Shelley as the champ. Instead, he dropped the belt to Suicide (can you believe this character was marketed towards kids?) two months later.

Suicide, a body suit-sporting oddball from TNA's lackadaisical video game, was brought to life to zero fanfare. His title win basically turned it into a cartoon prop for a franchising attempt the Impact Zone faithful didn't seem invested in. For Shelley, this became the norm with the MCMG's long-awaited tag title run also failing to reach epic status. While Chris Sabin overcame two career threatening knee injuries to snag a quick run with TNA's top prize, Shelley jumped ship to New Japan.

Had TNA committed to making him the ace of the X-Division in '09, his blend of witty tweener promos and explosive, technically sound wrestling could've landed him a similar push to Austin Aries in 2012. Instead, his sharp work with the promotion remains a frustrating what-could've-been.