Motor City Machine Guns appear on AEW Collision, officially under contract
After a few months of speculation and following a video in which they said they found a new home, the Motor City Machine Guns made their AEW debut as contracted talent on AEW Collision.
Following some initially unfamiliar music, Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley opened the show to a huge ovation from their hometown fans in Detroit, Michigan. The two did a brief in-ring promo where Sabin said the duo was “home in more ways than one” with Shelley saying the two were finally All Elite.
Shortly afterward, Tony Khan posted the confirmation they were under contract (aka #AllElite).
Sabin and Shelley made an appearance later in the show, assisting the Bang Bang Gang from an attack by the Death Riders and The Dogs following an eight-man tag match. The two shook hands with Juice Robinson, Ace Austin and The Gunns afterward.
The two have been in AEW before, albeit briefly. They teamed with Jay Lethal in losing effort to FTR & Wardlow at 2022’s All In. They signed with WWE in the fall of 2024 and were released this spring. Neither man has wrestled since the Andre the Giant battle royal on the SmackDown before WrestleMania.
They held the WWE Tag Team titles for 42 days and defended them twice: once in a no contest to the Street Profits and then losing them to Johnny Gargano and current AEW roster member Tommaso Ciampa. They are former ROH Tag Team Champions, three-time TNA Tag Team Champions, NJPW Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions, NJPW Strong Openweight Tag Team Champions, and GCW Tag Team Champions.
Since 2011, Josh has been a contributing editor to Wrestling Observer/F4WOnline.com and also hosts the Punch-Out podcast. He has also written for Fight Magazine, Bloody Elbow, Bleacher Report, and other websites. He's a 2000 graduate of the University of Maine, worked in pro sports, and once was an indie ring announcer.