Motor City Machine Guns

Infobox Wrestling team
article_name=Motor City Machine Guns
type=T

---

caption=
members=Chris Sabin
Alex Shelley
names=Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley
Murder City Machine Gunsref|space|†
Motor City Machine Gunsref|space|†
heights=Sabin:cite web |url=http://www.tnawrestling.com/content/view/270/37/ |title=Chris Sabin |accessdate=2007-09-14 |publisher=TNAWrestling |work=Star Bios ]
height|ft=6|in=0
Shelley:cite web |url=http://www.tnawrestling.com/content/view/273/37/ |title=Alex Shelley |accessdate=2007-09-14 |publisher=TNAWrestling |work=Star Bios ]
height|ft=5|in=10
weights=convert|435|lb|kg|abbr=on|lk=on
hometown=Detroit, Michigan, United States
former_members=
debut=2006
promotions=ZERO1 PWG ROH TNA
UPCW
AAW

The Motor City Machine Gunsref|space|† are a professional wrestling tag team consisting of Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin. The team currently works in the American company Total Nonstop Action Wrestling and the Japanese Pro Wrestling ZERO1-MAX. The team name, which has been variably Motor and Murder City, is a play off of the nickname of Detroit, Michigan, the hometown of both Shelley and Sabin.

Career

Shelley and Sabin first started teaming in Pro Wrestling ZERO1-MAX in 2006. On August 25 they took the ZERO-1 MAX International Lightweight Tag Team Championship from Minoru Fujita and Ikuto Hidaka, holding them for almost two years before dropping them back to Fujita and his new partner Takuya Sugawara. After returning Stateside, the pair had short runs in the independent promotions Pro Wrestling Guerrilla and Ring of Honor under the names Motor City Machine Guns [cite web |url=http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/results/pwg.html |title=Pro Wrestling Guerilla results |accessdate=2007-08-25 |publisher=Online World of Wrestling |quote=February 24, 2007 [...] Holy Diver Down [...] Motorcity Machine Guns (Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin) b Chris Bosh & Scott Lost ] and Murder City Machine Guns respectively until their main employer, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) requested their wrestlers stop taking bookings with certain independent companies. [cite web |url=http://www.wrestleview.com/news2006/1178233074.shtml |title=TNA also pulls its talent from PWG |accessdate=2007-08-19 |publisher=Pro Wresting Guerrilla |work=press release]

It wasn't until April 2007 that the team debuted in TNA, where hence they had been singles X Division wrestlers. After squaring off against each other in an Xscape match at the annual Lockdown pay-per-view they became regulars in the tag team division, first using the Murder City name,cite episode |title=June 21, 2007 |series=TNA Today |serieslink=TNA Today |url= http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmhdWBXrlUU |airdate=2007-06-21] before it was changed to Motor City. [cite web |url=http://www.tnawrestling.com/news/fullnews2.php?all=1444 |title=RESULTS FROM SUNDAY’S VICTORY ROAD PAY-PER-VIEW |accessdate=2007-08-08 |publisher=TNA Wrestling] On an episode of "TNA Today" Shelley implied that this was against the teams wishes, saying that "Murder City" was the real name, and "Motor City" was the PG version. [cite episode |title= May 31, 2007 |series=TNA Today |serieslink=TNA Today |url= http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WtdTDhnlaE |airdate=2007-05-31] After being together for a few weeks in TNA, Kevin Nash—who already had a history with both both men—was brought in as a manager, ending his previous alliances with Jay Lethal and Sonjay Dutt in the process, though his association with the group was short lived.

The team continued to work in independent promotions in parallel with their work in TNA, getting a run with the Illinois-based All American Wrestling's Tag Team Championship between September 2007 and January 2008. In November, when TNA's Team 3D (Brothers Ray and Devon) began a feud with the X Division as a whole, Shelley and Sabin became their main opposition. [cite web |title=iMPACT! results - July 1, 2007 |url=http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/results/tnaimpact/071101.html |accessdate=2007-12-09 |publisher=Online World of Wrestling] [cite web |url=http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/results/tnaimpact/071115.html |title=iMPACT! results - July 15, 2007 |accessdate=2007-12-09 |publisher=Online World of Wrestling] During the feud, for which Sabin and Shelley were joined by the X Division Champion Jay Lethal while Johnny Devine was put with Team 3D, the heels stole the X Division championship belt, [cite web |url=http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/results/tnaimpact/071206.html |title=iMPACT results - December 6, 2007 |accessdate=2008-02-12 |publisher=Online World of Wrestling] before Devine won the title outright. [cite web |url=http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/results/tnaimpact/080124.html |title=iMPACT results - January 24, 2008 |accessdate=2008-02-12 |publisher=Online World of Wrestling] At Against All Odds Sabin, Shelley, and Lethal won a Street Fight with the existence of the X Division as a whole on the line. In addition, their win put a requirement on Brother's Ray and D-Von that they had to get their weight below 275 pounds in order to compete. [cite web |url=http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/results/tnappv/againstallodds08.html |title=Against All Odds results - 2008 |accessdate=2008-02-12 |publisher=Online World of Wrestling]

In April 2008 they returned to Ring of Honor, losing to the Age of the Fall (Tyler Black and Jimmy Jacobs) and defeating the Briscoe Brothers (Jay and Mark) on the 18th and 19th respectively. [cite web |url=http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/results/roh/080418.html |title=Ring of Honor Results - April 18, 2008 |accessdate=2008-05-01 |publisher=Online World of Wrestling] [cite web |url=http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/results/roh/080419.html |title=Ring of Honor Results - April 19, 2008 |accessdate=2008-05-01 |publisher=Online World of Wrestling]

They were members of Team TNA alongside Kaz and Curry Man in the 2008 edition of the TNA World X Cup, but lost to Team Mexico at Victory Road.

Lately, the team has been showing signs of turning heel after a series of losses on TNA iMPACT!

They returned to Ring of Honor in August 2008. On August 1st in Manassas, VA they fought Austin Aries and Bryan Danielson to a 20 minute time limit draw and then a 5 minute overtime draw. The next day in New York City they were defeated by Kevin Steen and El Generico when Steen forced Sabin to submit to the Sharpshooter. The team turned heel recently when Chris Sabin slapped B.G. James after losing to James and his partner for the night, Eric Young. They have slipped into the roll of tweeners, showing disrespect to Christian Cage, AJ Styles, Consequenses Creed, and BG James,and The Latin American Xchange however still being cheered heavily by the fans and showing respect for the fans.

In wrestling

*Finishing and signature maneuvers
**"ASCS Rush" [cite episode |title=December 5, 2007 |url=http://youtube.com/watch?v=km2uGBCG5nc |series=TNA Today |serieslink=TNA Today |airdate=2007-12-05] (Spinning sole kick by Sabin followed by a superkick from Shelley and then finished with a simultaneous jumping enzuigiri by Sabin / superkick by Shelley combination)
**Double superkick to a seated or a kneeling opponent
**"Click Click Boom" (Powerbomb by Sabin / Double knee backbreaker by Shelley combo)
**Aided dropkick
**"Bullet Point" (Baseball slide (Shelley) followed by a "Hesitation Dropkick" (Sabin) to on an opponent held in the tree of woe position)
**"Air Raid" (Sabin holds an opponent in a fireman's carry while Shelley hits a diving double foot stomp onto the prone opponent followed by Sabin hitting a fireman's carry takeover)
**Double and stereo enzuigiris to one or two opponents respectively
**Inverted sitout side powerslam (Shelley) into a running cutter (Sabin)
**Powerbomb (Sabin) / Shiranui (Shelley) combination
**Springboard dropkick by Sabin into a reverse STO by Shelley
**Standing shiranui by Shelley after using Sabin's hands for elevation
**Spinning leg sweep (Sabin) / Spinning wheel kick (Shelley) combination

*Managers
**Kevin Nash

*Signature gestures
**Pointing to their right palm with their left hand, roughly corresponding to Detroit's location on a map of Michigan.
**A combination of Shelley's "hand over head" and Sabin's finger gun gestures.

*Theme music
**"Beautiful Disaster" by 311 (ROH and PWG)
**"Six Barrel Shotgun" by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club (ROH)
**"" by Gearz with Dale Oliver (TNA) [cite web |url=http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Wrestling/Reviews/2007/12/14/4724486.html |title=Meltdown another solid TNA compilation|accessdate=2008-04-05 |publisher=Slam! Sports |first=Matt |last=Mackinder]
**"1967" (Remix)" by Dale Oliver (TNA)

Championships and accomplishments

*All American Wresting
**AAW Tag Team Championship (1 time)cite web |url=http://www.aawrestling.com/champions.html |title=All American Wrestling Champions |accessdate=2007-09-14 |publisher=AAWrestling]

*Pro Wrestling ZERO1-MAX
**ZERO-1 MAX International Lightweight Tag Team Championship (1 time)cite web |url=http://www.wrestling-titles.com/japan/zero-one/nwa-int-lh-t.html |title=NWA International Lightweight Tag Team Title |accessdate=2007-08-25 |publisher=Wrestling-Titles]

*Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
**2007 Tag Team Of The Year

Outside of wrestling

In 2008, the team appeared in an episode of MTV MADE, teaching a school boy the basics of professional wrestling. cite web |url=http://www.mtv.com/ontv/dyn/made/episode/episode.jhtml?episodeId=133148 |title=MTV MADE, episode 70 |accessdate=2008-07-27 |publisher=MTV]

Notes and references

*Motor City, Murder City, and Machine Guns have been variously written as one and two words

External links

* [http://www.tnawrestling.com/roster/alexshelley/index.html Alex Shelley's TNA Profile]
* [http://www.tnawrestling.com/roster/chrissabin/index.html Chris Sabin's TNA Profile]