8 Ups & 5 Downs From Impact Wrestling (Dec 1)

3. Step One, Achieved

Step one of The Motor City Machine Guns' three-step plan en-route to recapturing the World Tag Team Championships saw them reunite for the first time since Bound For Glory to battle, and ultimately defeat, XXXL.

What was interesting to see here was that Acey Romero and Larry D used proper tag team techniques to dominate the Guns in the early going. Despite being the less experienced of the two pairings, the superheavyweights cut Chris Sabin off from the previously-injured Alex Shelley, allowing them to pick Shelley apart limb by limb. Add in Romero's handful of uranages that literally chucked both opponents halfway across the ring, and XXXL were on fire this week.

They lost, of course, after Larry D fell victim to a Skull & Bones, but they looked tremendous regardless. While a win every now and then wouldn't hurt, Acey and Larry seem to be getting built up for something bigger further down the line. A run as the World Tag Team Champions wouldn't go amiss for them, given their stature.

Sabin and Shelley, meanwhile, now move on to step two: The North.