Two Top Stars Set To Depart TNA Wrestling?

Are these two former TNA World Champions soon to exit the company?

by Andrew Pollard
Chris Sabin Alex Shelley Motor City Machine Guns
TNA Wrestling

Update

Adding more fuel to the fire of the Motor City Machine Guns departing TNA Wrestling, WrestlingNews.co reports that Alex Shelley has filed for the trademarks to both "MCMG" and "Motor City Machine Guns".

Shelley - under his real name of Patrick Kenneth Martin - made this filing with the United States Patent and Trademark Office on 19 March through Michael E. Dockins. Dockins has helped various wrestlers with trademark applications over the years.

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Original Story

Could the Motor City Machine Guns be leaving TNA Wrestling?

In an interesting note, Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley are booked for a Smash Wrestling event in London, Ontario, Canada on 21 April. That just so happens to be the same weekend as TNA's Rebellion PPV, and also the very same day as TNA's post-Rebellion TV tapings.

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As per PWInsider, the belief is that Sabin and Shelley's current TNA deals are expiring soon, possibly as soon as the end of this month. Given MCMG are booked for another promotion on the same day as a TNA TV taping, some are viewing this as a sign that the two former World Champions could be exiting TNA or at least not making it their priority.

Starting their TNA days as singles wrestlers, Chris Sabin debuted for the promotion in 2003, whilst Alex Shelley arrived a year later. The pair first started teaming together in 2006 for companies such as Pro Wrestling Zero-1 Max, PWG, and ROH, before tagging in TNA in 2007. Since then, the Motor City Machine Guns have teamed on and off across the subsequent 17 years, becoming a hugely successful act not only in TNA but beyond - as highlighted by MCMG being three-time TNA Tag Team Champions, one-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions, one-time ROH Tag Team Champions, Sabin being a one-time TNA World Champion and ten-time TNA X Division Champion, and Shelley being a one-time TNA World Champion and one-time TNA X Division Champion.

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Should the Motor City Machine Guns opt to explore the free agency market once their current TNA deals are up, one has to imagine they'll be plenty of interest in the two.

 
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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.