Below are a couple of top WWE & AEW news stories of the day.
• WWE is poised to acquire the highly sought-after free agent tag team, Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin). Their TNA contracts expired in March, and they wrapped up their commitments at the March 23rd TV tapings.
Since forming in 2007, the duo has achieved significant success in promotions like ROH, NJPW, and TNA, where they both held the World and X-Division Titles and won the Tag Team Championship three times.
Despite previous reports suggesting they were heading to AEW, the pair continued to make independent bookings. The Wrestling Observer reported that “Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley are expected to be coming [to WWE], or at least that’s the talk within wrestling. Nobody has officially said anything.”
The tag team recently bid farewell to indy wrestling at a show in Portland, though they still have a booking set for next month. It appears WWE made the better offer, as within the wrestling community, the belief is that they are WWE-bound. Tommaso Ciampa hinted at their move on social media, and PWInsider has also confirmed the news.
New Video: Former WWE Diva Cameron (Ariane Andrew) Exposes Her Buns (Part 1):
• WWE’s major Premium Live Event, SummerSlam, is set for Saturday, August 3rd, at the Cleveland Browns Stadium in Ohio. AEW is adjusting its schedule to avoid direct competition with this event. According to the TNT schedule, AEW Collision will air at 5 p.m. ET on August 3rd, concluding before SummerSlam begins at 7 p.m. ET.
On that day, TNT will broadcast “Star Wars: A New Hope” and “Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back” during AEW’s usual 8 p.m. time slot. Additionally, the August 3rd episode of AEW Collision will be taped on August 1st at Esports Stadium Arlington in Arlington, Texas, as part of the Path To All In series.
AEW Collision has previously gone head-to-head with WWE events like Royal Rumble and Money In The Bank, notably seeing a viewership drop to 306,000 during the July 5th edition against Money In The Bank. Avoiding a clash with one of WWE’s Big Four PLEs is a smart move for AEW.
