The Motor City Machine Guns are a professional wrestling tag team consisting of Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin. The team is best known for its work in the American company Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), where they are former TNA World Tag Team Champions. Through TNA's then relationship with New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), the team also worked for the Japanese promotion, where they won the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship, and are also former ROH World Tag Team Champions in Ring of Honor (ROH). The team name, which has been variably Motor and Murder City, is a play on the nickname of Detroit, the hometown of both Shelley and Sabin.
Overall they are three-time World Tag Team Champions, having won the TNA and ROH World Tag Team Championships and the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship once each. Originally created in Pro Wrestling Zero1 in 2006, the team disbanded and reunited several times; it disbanded once again, seemingly for good, when Shelley retired on July 24, 2018.The duo made a surprise return at IMPACT Wrestling's Slammiversary on July 18, 2020.
In wrestling[]
- Finishing moves
- ASCS Rush (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)
- Made in Detroit (Sitout powerbomb (Sabin) / Sliced Bread #2 (Shelley) combination)
- Powerbomb (Sabin) / Double knee backbreaker (Shelley) combination
- Skull and Bones (Falling neckbreaker (Sabin) / Diving splash by Shelley)
- Signature moves
- Aided dropkick
- Aided snap swinging neckbreaker
- Aided standing Sliced Bread #2
- 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 onto Shelley's knees or the Cradle Shock)
- Backbreaker hold (Sabin) / Diving knee drop (Shelley) combination
- Bullet Point (Baseball slide by Shelley followed by a Hesitation Dropkick by Sabin to an opponent held in the tree of woe position)
- Doomsday dropkick
- Double and stereo enzuigiris to one or two opponents respectively
- Double superkick to a seated or a kneeling opponent
- Inverted atomic drop by Shelley followed by a running dropkick to the knees by Sabin followed by an inverted STF by Shelley followed by a running dropkick to the face of the opponent by Sabin
- Irish whip by Sabin into a belly-to-belly suplex by Shelley, suplexing the opponent into his partner held in a tree of woe position
- Kneeling side slam by Sabin followed by a frog splash by Shelley
- Motor City Machine Guns Sandwich (Running arched big boot (Sabin) / Enzuigiri (Shelley) combination to a cornered opponent)
- Reverse STO (Shelley) / Jumping enzuigiri combination (Sabin)
- Simultaneous diving leg drop (Sabin) / diving splash (Shelley) combination
- Spinning leg sweep (Sabin) / Spinning wheel kick (Shelley) combination
- Springboard dropkick by Sabin into a reverse STO by Shelley
- Standing inverted Indian deathlock surfboard by Shelley followed into a springboard diving leg drop bulldog by Sabin
- Thunder Express (Inverted sitout side powerslam (Shelley) / Running cutter (Sabin) combination
- Managers
- Entrance themes
- Total Nonstop Action Wrestling / IMPACT Wrestling
- "1967" by Dale Oliver
- "Song 2" by Blur
- "Party with the Motorcity" by Dale Oliver
- "Motorcity" by AD/AM
- "Motorcity" (Remix) by AD/AM
- Ring of Honor
- "Beautiful Disaster" by 311
- "Six Barrel Shotgun" by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
- "Upset Army" by Christian Fitness
- "All Ghosts to Medicine Counter Four" by Christian Fitness
- All Elite Wrestling
- "Motorcity" by AD/AM
- Total Nonstop Action Wrestling / IMPACT Wrestling
Championships and accomplishments[]
- World Wrestling Entertainment
- WWE Tag Team Championship (1 time)
- All American Wrestling
- AAW Tag Team Championship (1 time)
- The Baltimore Sun
- Tag Team of the Year (2010)
- New Japan Pro-Wrestling
- IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship (1 time)
- Strong Openweight Tag Team Championship (1 time, current)
- Pro Wrestling Illustrated
- PWI Tag Team of the Year (2010)
- Pro Wrestling Zero1-Max
- NWA International Lightweight Tag Team Championship (1 time)
- Ring of Honor
- ROH World Tag Team Championship (1 time)
- Total Nonstop Action Wrestling / IMPACT Wrestling
- TNA / IMPACT World Tag Team Championship (3 times)
- TNA X Division Championship (2 times) – Sabin (1) and Shelley (1)
- Gauntlet for the Gold (2008 – Tag Team)
- TNA / IMPACT Year End Awards
- Tag Team of the Year (2007)
- Men's Tag Team of the Year (2022)