NJPW Strong Openweight Tag Team Champions & GCW World Tag Team Champions The Motor City Machine Guns have re-signed with Impact Wrestling.
Alex Shelly and Chris Sabin, who recently had their third run with the Impact World Tag Team Titles, have both signed new full-time contracts with Impact, according to Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated. Terms of the deals were not revealed, but the contract allows them to continue to take third-party bookings.
“We still love pro wrestling,” Shelley said. “We’re still excited about it, and we love wrestling for Impact—and that chance to work with the Impact locker room.”
Sabin added, “Impact is like family to us. [Impact President] Scott D’Amore was my trainer. It’s home.”
The new contract allows Sabin and Shelley to continue taking outside bookings from other companies, including NJPW, GCW, The Wrestling Revolver, Prestige Wrestling, and others.
“I love the grassroots of pro wrestling,” Shelley said. “If it’s not the heart of it, it’s at least a big part of the anatomy.”
Shelley returned to pro wrestling in 2021 after stepping away to pursue a career in the medical field. He commented on how this is the first full-time pro wrestling contract he’s signed in five years.
“This is the first full-time pro wrestling contract I’ve signed in almost five years,” Shelley said. “I pursued physical medicine, and earning that degree was something I needed to prove to myself. Once I had that security and that confidence, I wanted to be back in Impact. It has the most familial bond. There are people here that have seen me grow up from a teenager to a grown-ass man. That’s special to me. And some of the best in the world are right here. There aren’t better wrestlers on the planet than ‘Speedball’ Mike Bailey, Jonathan Gresham, Kushida and Chris Sabin. I could go on and on—Frankie Kazarian, Trey Miguel, Black Taurus. These guys are phenomenal.”
Sabin commented on their current roles in Impact as locker room veterans, and said it’s special that they can continue bringing their unique skill-set to Impact.
“We’ve been around the world, honing our skills, for 20 years,” Sabin said. “We bring a very unique set of skills to wrestling, and it’s pretty special that we can keep doing it here in Impact. And it’s pretty cool that people ask us for advice the way we used to ask our heroes. That’s an honor.”
Shelley added, “Impact fosters an atmosphere where we’re constantly learning and challenging ourselves. We’re here for the physicality and the athleticism. And we’re here for the love of the game.”
MCMG’s new contracts come after Impact has also signed the following names to contracts in recent months – KiLynn King, Eddie Edwards, Kenny King, Dirty Dango, Big Kon, Frankie Kazarian, Brian Myers, Rich Swann, Mike Bailey, Alan Angels, Tasha Steelz, John Skyler, Jai Vidal, Johnny Swinger, PCO, and Jonathan Gresham. Deonna Purrazzo also had her contract extended for one year as well.
The Guns will team with Kushida to face Rich Swann, Frankie Kazarian and Impact World Champion Josh Alexander at Impact Sacrifice on Friday night.
