In sports, fans love a good reunion story. Most of the time, we don’t get to see it. Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen won’t sign with the Bulls and try for another ring . In pro wrestling, teams get back together long after you might think they are done. At Impact’s Slammiversary , Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin made a shocking return and made it clear that the Tag Team division was on notice. It would not be long before The Motor City Machine Guns would make their presence felt.
Sabin and Shelley had been teaming together since 2006, but in 2007, the pair debuted their tag team for TNA. They had a series of matches with Team 3D, working alongside Jay Lethel. They were even put against each other for the X Divsion Championship. Shelly came out as the winner, but there were no hard feelings and the team stayed together. May 2010 proved to be a very good month as The Guns beat Beer Money Inc to win the Tag Team Titles.
Challengers were aplenty as Shelly and Sabin took on all comers. Generation Me tried to injury Shelly to claim the titles, but The Guns could not be stopped. When Team 3D announced their retirement from wrestling, they requested a match with The Guns, as they considered them the best tag team. Considering the pedigree of Team 3D, this was a very high compliment. The reign would finally come to a end at the hands of the team they had won they belts from, Beer Money Inc. Their reign lasted 182 days, the second longest for those championships. Injuries and contact disputes made it seem that The Motor City Machine Guns were done.
At Slammiversary , The Rascalz issued an open challenge to fight any Tag Team. Shelly and Sabin answered and The Guns were back in Impact. After winning that match, their sights were set firmly on The North and The Tag Team Championships they had held for over a year. On July 21, The Guns beat them and won the titles, titles they had first won over a decade ago. It seems when you have a partner you can trust, anything is possible.
How long can Shelly and Sabin go? The answer seems to be forever. Both men are in their late thirties, but their ring work looks like the work of men in their mid twenties. When you consider their matches and the praise that other wrestlers heap on them, The Motor City Machine Guns might be in talks for one of the greatest Tag Teams of all time. Like we said, who doesn’t like a good reunion story? Especially when the heroes win at the end.
