Josh Alexander will defend the Impact World Title at the upcoming Emergence special event.
Impact previously announced a battle of Motor City Machine Guns for Friday’s Derby City Rumble TV tapings in Louisville, featuring Chris Sabin vs. Alex Shelley, to air at a later date on AXS TV. It was then reported on Wednesday that Impact pulled Sabin vs. Shelley from their updated card for the tapings on Friday and Saturday.
In an update, Sabin vs. Shelley was added back to the Emergence card on the Impact website, some time between Wednesday evening and Thursday morning.
Furthermore, Scott D’Amore announced on tonight’s Impact that Sabin vs. Shelley will air on next Thursday’s show. The winner will become the new #1 contender to face Alexander at Emergence.
The Motor City Machine Guns were formed in 2006. Friday’s match looks to be the eighth singles match between Sabin and Shelley since 2003 – Shelley defeated Sabin at the IWA-MS Ted Petty Invitational on November 7, 2003; Sabin defeated Shelley to win the vacant IWC Super Indy Title at IWC Super Indy III on May 8, 2004; Sabin defeated Shelley on the November 12, 2004 Impact; Sabin defeated Shelley at PWG Hollywood Globetrotters on March 4, 2006; Sabin defeated Shelley at TNA Hard Justice on August 13, 2006; Sabin defeated Shelley on the September 14, 2006 Impact; Sabin vs. Shelley in a Fight For The Right tournament match ended in a No Contest after 1 minute on the October 18, 2007 Impact; and Shelley defeated Sabin to win the vacant X Division Title at TNA Genesis on January 11, 2009. It looks like that was the last time Sabin and Shelley faced off in singles action, but there were also several multi-man matches along the way.
Impact Wrestling’s 2022 Emergence event will air live on Friday, August 12 from Cicero Stadium in Chicago, IL. The event will air live on Impact Plus, FITE TV, and on YouTube for Ultimate Insiders members. Below is the updated announced card, along with related video from Impact:
Impact World Title Match
Chris Sabin or Alex Shelley vs. Josh Alexander (c)
Impact Knockouts World Title Match
Mia Yim vs. Jordynne Grace (c)
