The Motor City Machine Guns have officially earned a future opportunity at the AEW World Tag Team Championships after defeating FTR on the November 11 broadcast of AEW Dynamite.
During the special three-hour combined Dynamite and Collision go-home show for Full Gear 2026 in West Valley City, Utah, Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin defeated Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler in the decisive fifth match of their Best-of-Five Series. Both teams entered the showdown tied at two wins apiece after FTR evened the score on the November 7 episode of Collision.
Ahead of Wednesday’s match, Stokely Hathaway announced that the winners of the series would receive an AEW World Tag Team Championship opportunity against whichever duo leaves Full Gear with the titles. Hathaway predicted that FTR would win the series and eventually go on to become four-time AEW World Tag Team Champions.
The deciding bout featured multiple near-falls and outside interference attempts from Hathaway, who assisted Harwood in gaining extra leverage during a pin attempt. As the match approached its time limit, Shelley and Sabin survived a Shatter Machine and several spiked piledrivers.
With less than one minute remaining on the clock, FTR attempted to secure the victory with a second Shatter Machine on Shelley. However, Shelley countered the maneuver, kicking Wheeler out of the ring before catching Harwood in a sunset flip to score the three-count with only seconds left in the match.
Post-Match Respect and Full Gear Title Implications
The pinfall secured a 3-2 series victory for the Motor City Machine Guns, establishing them as the official number-one contenders for the tag team titles. Following the bell, Harwood and Wheeler initially appeared stunned by the finish before shaking hands with Shelley and Sabin in a display of sportsmanship.
Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin will now challenge the winners of the AEW World Tag Team Championship match between The Young Bucks and Davis and Doyle, which takes place at AEW Full Gear 2026 this Saturday, November 14, in Phoenix, Arizona.
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