The Breakout Star of The Motor City.

[The Hiphopapotamus]

Chris Sabin.Alex Shelley.They form the most cohesive unit in tag team wrestling today,The Motor City Machine guns.In ring,this tag team is the best there is.Their fluidity and double teams are incredible.Their promos are good,maily Shelley's though.It's a ssin that they have not held the world tag team titles yet,only the IWGP junior heavyweight tag team titles.It makes me sick.Such a great tag team,one of the best there is,yet being held out of the spotlight by Team 3D.
But if tomorrow,they break up,who would make it further.Well let's see:

Chris Sabin:
Accomplishments
TNA X Division Title 4 times.
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion 1 time
World X cup Winner in 2004 and 2006
Super X cup winner 2003.

As you can see,he is tied for second(alongside Christopher Daniels,behind AJ Styles)in X division titles held.
In ring
He is very talented in ring,very agile and strong.His number of X division titles speaks for itself,having more titles than Samoa Joe.He can mat wrestle very well,and his kicks and strikes are very good.His hesitation drop kick shows his agility.And,of course,being an X division wrestler,is no afraid to fly from the top.His top rope tornado DDT is the best I've ever seen.His in ring work is great,as I always seem to enjoy his matches,especially when he faced Alex Shelley at Genesis.He's not afraid of taking insane bumps either,evident from his fall from the Ultimate X a few years ago,where he landed on his upper back.He never fails to entertain.His cradle shock is the most feared part of his offence.

Charisma
This is where Sabin falls down.Out of the ring,he's boring at Promos.He's as plain as there is.In the ring,it's the same.His wrestling's good,but his charisma is lacking.Only when Alex Shelley is with him is he entewrtaining on the mike,which is saying something.When he cut a promo once,Jay Lethal Asked:

Why do you talk so slow,yeah dig it?

He reminds me of randy ortons boring,slow voice,except occasionaly I can stand Sabin.He tries his best for heel psychology,but it doesn't pay off.If he can get a character,he will seriously improve....

Alex Shelley
Accomplishments:
TNA X Division Champion 1 time.
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion 1 time.
World X cup 2006

In ring
Alex Shelley is a brilliant wrestler.He is a great technical wrestler,good at kicks and,bien sur,a high flyer when he needs it.He can kick your head off with a superkick or drop you on your head with a sliced bread.In my opinion,he just edges out Chris sabin when it comes to wrestling,barely.The only problem that he has is a finisher.Everybody knows Sabin's,the cradleshock,but does everyone know shelley's.You rarely see him win a match without a double team move with Sabin,like the powerbomb/sliced bread combo and those vicious double kicks they do together.Is it the reverse STO?Is it the belly to back,over the shoulder piledriver?Both are called the shellshock,and both have been used before.But never established.He really needs to nail one down.

Charisma
This is where he wipes the floor with Sabin.He carries their team in promos,as I have said,Sabin is never funny talking by himself,he needs Shelley to carry him.Shelley would be the funniest promo cutter and wrestler in TNA,if jay Lethal and James Storm didn't exist.Shelley's in ring psychology is top notch.He really knows how to connect with the crowd during a match,and make them love him or hate him.He can play face and heel brilliantly,while Sabin is best as a heel.

So,in conclusion,my vote for the Motor City breakout star is Alex Shelley.He just has everything.I predict more singles success for both of them,but just that added amount more for Alex.

What do you guys think?

 

[gd]

It has to be Alex Shelley. He is by far the more interesting of the two and he's just as good as Sabin in the ring. I still think he has a lot of improving to do before he becomes a top singles competitor. He is more of a spot monkey right now, but I guess that's what most of the X Division guys are. Hopefully he will be able to develop into an all-around wrestler in the near future.

However, it looks like the Motor City Machine Guns have been quiet recently. I don't think they even appeared on Impact last week. This may be a sign that TNA has nothing to do for them in the tag division, so it may be the perfect time for them to go off on their own as singles competitors. I think that both of them will be somewhat successful, but Shelley is the one capable of becoming world champion a few years down the road.

 

[BigDaddyDawg]

I think the reason they weren't on the most recent IMPACT taping is because they were in Japan competing for IWGP. They recently lost the junior tag titles.

 

[shafe_41]

Both of these guys are amazing in every aspect of what they do. But I'm going to go against the grain here and say Sabin is the breakout star. The only thing I feel Shelley has on Sabin is the gift of gab. He works the stick a little better than Sabin. But Sabin can hold his own.

The only reason I'm probably biased toward Sabin is when I first started watching TNA back in early '07, he was the first guy (original to TNA...excludes Angle, Christian...etc) that caught my eye. In the ring, Sabin was an absolute machine. Go back and watch any of his matches from his X-Division Title Reign he had that included Lockdown '07. His matches with Christopher Daniels are amazing. Matches with Petey Williams are amazing. Matches with Lethal are amazing. I think Sabin just has a little more natural talent in the ring than Alex Shelley. But with a little work, Shelley will be right up there as a great singles competitor. This is something Sabin has already proven with many many more X-Division title reigns than Shelley. Plus, it just looks like there are times where Shelley seems lazy in the ring and doesn't really give it 110%. I don't know if that's me, but that's just what my eyes see. The only thing I don't like about Sabin in the ring is sometimes when he's hit, he stumbles around and such and while it's entertaining, it's faker than HHH or John Cena receiving 8 shots to the mush and coming back immidiately after in Superman fashion. Sabin overdoes it.

I haven't watched TNA religiously in some time but I should really start again because in a sense, I miss some of those TNA PPVs because there were many times in 07 and 08, the quality of the TNA PPVs were waaaaaaaay above what the WWE was putting on. There wasn't just one instance of that either. There were consecutive instances of 3 or 4 at a time. Sabin was one of the reasons I purchased TNA PPVs. We shall see how it developes from here, but Sabin is my pick even though everybody really seems to be an Alex Shelley fan.

 

[golden miz]

Sabin in my mind is a better tag partner then a singles wrestler. He lacks heel carisma and I dont see him being a big time heel. If he turns face I see big things for him in his future. But right now hes no more then the second wheel in the tag team (dare i say the jmo to alex shellys Miz). As for Shelly he's great on the mic. Great as a heel and has one thing that allot of other great heels dont have, wrestling tallent. I can see him in the future as the top heel in the company when sting, nash, booker, steiner, jarret, and foley leave. All of these guys are bound to retire soon, some sooner then others hopefully. So I see a brighter future for shelly then sabin.

 

[Sasori]

Well I'm going with Sabin, Shelly's great, but when it comes to wrestling Chris 'wipes the floor' as you put it, with Alex. In the past year yes Shelley has been the stand out of The Guns. But I always felt Sabin was better in the ring, just watch his X-Division matches, there CRAZY! And as you said he's a 4 TIME X-Division champ, thats some of the most X-Division title wins in the company's history second to my knowledge, I know AJ has 6 which is the most. So I'm going with Sabin, he seems to be better off as a singles wrestler than Shelly.

 

[farlance]

Definitely Shelly, I think he is equal in ring ability with Sabin, but uniqueness and personality count for more in this business no matter how much people don't want to admit it and Shelly has it. I think he actually lost some if it and is being held back teaming with Sabin. Sabin is just a scrubby guy that looks like he never bathes. I liked the camera guy thing Shelly did and the hairstyles. The only thing that I didnt care for is his name. Is that his real name? I also think he is one that if he went to WWE and changed his name he would be more successful out of the 2. Thats another way to look at it....Who would make it in WWE thats the real test.

 

[Hacksaw Highway]

Sabin probably. Sabin was already on his way to being a solid midcarder while Shelly did dick all for his whole TNA run. Paparzzi was fun, but it didn't do anything for him. When they break up, Sabin will returen to where he was, and Shelly will be stuck without anything to do again.

 

[Nerotheory]

Sabin easily is the better of the 2 in TNA as his accomplishments show that. Shelly on the other hand has had success outside of TNA. So i guess the only way to really say is to just pick one. Sabin i think is more valuable to TNA then Shelly is so i say Sabin.

 

[SavageTaker]

I hope that they are both successful once they decide to split and have a singles career, but if I had to choose which one would be the more successful one, it would probably be Alex Shelley.

I am entertained far more by Shelley than I am by Sabin. Sabin can be the more talented wrestler of the duo but that really does not matters if you do not do anything with your talent.

When it comes to charisma, Shelley has him beat. Everyone wants to see the cocky heel get his ass kicked. Shelley has done a great job at being a heel and making the fans want to see him get beat up by a babyface. He has actually given the fans a reason as to why they should watch him, because he is a cocky heel and the fans cannot wait until someone shuts him up.

When it comes to mic skills, Shelley has him beat there too. He is by far more interesting on the mic and the fans are always hearing what he has to say. He knows how to keep the fans interested in his promos and he just overall has the better mic skills.

Now when it comes to actual wrestling skills and what they can do in the ring, Sabin is probably the more talented one so he has him beat here. However, Shelley is talented enough to hold his own in a match and still keep the fans watching. He may be the lesser talented one but he can still keep fans interested in his matches, which is the main goal of a match.

So overall, I would say that Shelley would be the more successful one but I still hope that Sabin will find success too.

 

[G3]

I'm pretty sure Sabin will come out on top. He was favored in early TNA as a main x-division guy. I just hope Shelly gets the X-Division Title sometime.

 

[MisterRob]

I don't know how anyone can choose Sabin with a clear conscience. There is no way that Chris Sabin will be more successful long term or is the better of the two stars. Absolutely no way. They're both great in the ring and entertaining but I personally don't think Sabin has any psychology at all and certainly not the presence of mind Shelley does in the ring.. so all the flashy moves of Sabin doesn't add up to Shelley who has the same flashy moves and entertaining wrestling, but also has psychology and a far better skill at playing the crowd and playing his role in the ring. Sabin might have 4 X division championship reigns, but that was back in the day.. how long ago? What state was TNA in? He hasn't been used or pushed in that way in ages, and there's a reason. Shelley was the one who was given the chance to be champion and given the spotlight for a short stint RECENTLY with the X division title. Shelley is by far, and there's no way someone could argue this unless they're blind and deaf, the better on the mic. Shelley can do anything on the mic, in promos, to entertain if given the chance.. where Sabin clearly lacks. Sabin doesn't have the charisma or natural ease Shelley does in that way. Shelley has the potential to really go somewhere and run with the ball if they actually, truly gave him the opportunity and got behind him.. Sabin would get about as far as Kaz did.