This month’s TNA teleconference call is with the Motor City Machine Guns, Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley, to discuss this Sunday’s Destination X PPV, the MCM appearing on MTV’s reality show MADE this Saturday, and TNA iMPACT! airing live on SpikeTV 3/27.
Steven Godfrey welcomed everyone to the conference with a reminder that the Destination X PPV will air this Sunday from Norfolk, VA.
Matches announced so far:
Christian Cage, Kevin Nash, and Samoa Joe vs. Tomko, AJ Styles and Kurt Angle
Elevation X: Rhino vs. James Storm
“Black Machismo†Jay Lethal vs. “Maple Leaf Muscle†Petey Williams
Booker T vs. Robert Roode, with the match stipulations still to be announced
Amazing Kong vs. Gail Kim vs. ODB for the TNA Knockout Title
More matches will be announced on iMPACT! tonight
The Motor City Machine Guns will appear on MTV’s reality series MADE this Saturday, along with numerous other TNA wrestlers, in an episode called Pro Wrestler. They said that it would air at noon EST, but both the MTV website guide and my TV listings show it as airing at 3:00pm, so if you tune in at noon and see Making the Band, check back in at 3:00pm.
Chris Sabin said that he was a little surprised that they were named TNA Tag Team of the Year for 2007, but it was also what he’d been hoping for. Everything just came together and clicked for them.
Alex Shelley said he was also a little surprised, since they didn’t come together as a team until around the middle of the year. He believes the fans like them because they represent an emphasis on wrestling, which is what the fans want, plus they wrestle in the style that the fans prefer. He thinks it may also have something to do with them being younger than most of the other wrestlers, and the younger demographic that TNA attracts identifies with them better and appreciates their sense of humor.
They were asked to tell practical joke stories. Chris said that the only story he could think of related to his liking to jump onto the bed when he gets back to the hotel room. One time Alex hid the ironing board under his blankets and made the bed, so when he jumped on the bed , he landed on the hard ironing board.
Alex said he couldn’t remember that. Then he told of the time they and Petey Williams used towels to camouflage a broken lawn chair. Then Petey talked a series of people into sitting in the chair to watch him do card tricks. Every time someone sat down, the chair collapsed.
Sabin said he can’t do an impression of any other wrestler.
Shelley said that even if he could do any wrestler impersonations, he probably wouldn’t, or TNA might make that his gimmick. Then as an afterthought, he admitted that it has worked very well for Jay Lethal, who does a very complimentary Macho Man impersonation.
Alex acknowledged that the X Division hasn’t been at the forefront in TNA recently, and he hopes that it will get more attention soon. He understands, however, because TNA has so much on its plate now, with the women’s division, and so much going on with the heavyweights.
Chris said that working with Kevin Nash helped them a lot, as he has so much experience to share with them.
Alex agreed that working with Nash was 100% positive. He learned a lot about how to work in the ring, cut promos and present himself. He felt “Kevin elevated us up to his level,†and didn’t talk down to them in any of his promos.
Alex said even though he left TNA for a while after his pairing with Goldilocks fell apart, he really wanted to come back to TNA. At the time, he was talking to WWE and also had offers from Japan, but he chose to come back to TNA because they would allow him to still work in Japan, the whole company was on an upswing at the time by getting the tv deal with Spike, he worked with great people in TNA.
Chris said that he felt the internet has barely any influence on TNA’s booking decisions, because if it did, TNA would be vastly different from what it is now.
Alex added that internet fans are important and have a place in TNA’s plans, but they can’t just cater to one segment of fans, they have to try to have a broad based appeal. He said they don’t read what is said on the websites, but that fans shouldn’t pay attention to all the rumors that are out there, as most of them are false.
Sabin said his favorite matches as a team was their match in Zero One Max on New Years against Dick Togo and Ikuto Hidaka, as well as their match with the Briscoe Brothers.
Alex said both of those matches were very good. His favorite matches were in the TNA house shows, because the fans are great, and they get the chance to think and try new things.
Steven Godfrey answered a question about the upcoming TNA video game by saying that they have a lot of major events coming up with Midway Games.
Chris and Alex said that they are happy about the upcoming live iMPACT! on March 27, but it won’t really be much different for them to wrestle on that show, since they always wrestle in in front of a live crowd, and they do live broadcasts on the PPVs. Chris added that he enjoys the more intimate settings of the house show venues, as well as the special vibe they get at the house shows, and he hopes they will be able to run some live shows from house show venues.
In answer to a comment that they are being favorably compared to the Midnight Express of Stan Lane and Bobby Eaton, they both chuckled. Alex explained that Jim Cornette has been coaching them. He gave them a “monster stack of Midnight Express DVD’s,†and they have been studying those and picking them apart.
Chris added that he likes their style, especially using a partner as a weapon. He enjoys the tag team style where the wrestlers are always involving their partners.
Alex said that his style was influenced by Dean Malenko. He admires the way Dean makes everything looks real, and he moves so fluidly and everything is so smooth.
Sabin said that early on, he was influenced by Hulk Hogan and Bret Hart, and later on, when he saw the cruiserweights, he was excited because they were his size, and he knew he could do what they did.
Shelley said that he thinks they got a great rub from Team 3D, and so did Jay Lethal. He thinks Lethal is “a tremendous talent,†and he hopes they “push him to the moon.â€
Chris said that Steven Godfrey helped them get the part on MTVs MADE. He added that the schedule was brutal, and that reality tv is not as much of a reality as some people might think. Godfrey said that MTV had researched TNA on the internet and was impressed with what they saw. Also, the kid on that episode is from Michigan, so it made sense to choose the Motor City Machine Guns.
Alex agreed that tag team wrestling was in trouble for a while, and at one time it was just wrestlers thrown together, but he feels that TNA and ROH are bringing back real tag teams, so tag team wrestling is having a resurgence.
Alex said that he doesn’t care whether they are called the Motor City Machine Guns or the Murder City Machine Guns. They are still the same team regardless of what they are called.
— Karen Belcher
Courtesy of ProWrestlingDigest.com