The Motor City Machine Guns have put one of professional wrestling’s most compelling tag-team rivalries-in-waiting on the table. During AEW Dynamite, Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley confronted FTR and challenged Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler to a best-of-five series, with the opening match now set to take place at WrestleDream.
The segment began with FTR appearing on the entrance ramp for an interview with Tony Schiavone. Harwood used the opportunity to address AEW World Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks, calling them out as FTR continued to make its case for a championship opportunity. Instead of Matthew and Nicholas Jackson answering the call, however, the interruption came from a pair with a major legacy of its own: Sabin and Shelley.
The Motor City Machine Guns’ appearance immediately shifted the focus from the current title picture to a potential measuring-stick program between two of the most accomplished teams of their era. Sabin made clear that the challenge was based in respect rather than hostility. He praised FTR and pointed to AEW’s depth in the tag division before explaining that the Machine Guns want to establish themselves as the best by beating a team with FTR’s credentials.
Sabin also drew upon FTR’s own argument for being natural challengers to The Young Bucks. FTR has emphasized its three-out-of-five record against the Bucks, and Sabin proposed that the Machine Guns settle their own standing with FTR under the same standard. The challenge was straightforward: win three matches before the other team can do the same.
For more background on this topic, read Adam Copeland Says 2027 Will Be His Final Year In Professional Wrestling.
“We want to prove that we’re the best by beating you,” was the core of Sabin’s message. The proposed series gives both teams an unusually definitive framework. Rather than one match being treated as a final answer, a best-of-five format demands durability, adaptation and consistency. It leaves room for momentum to swing from one contest to the next while ensuring that the eventual winner has earned three victories over an elite opponent.
A Major First-Time Traditional Tag Matchup
Despite the long resumes of both teams, FTR and the Motor City Machine Guns have not previously met in a traditional two-on-two match. They have shared the ring once before, at All Out 2022, but under very different circumstances. On that occasion, FTR teamed with Wardlow to defeat the trio of Jay Lethal, Sabin and Shelley.
That prior six-man result provides history, but it does not answer the question that the WrestleDream match will address. A straight tag-team contest places the emphasis squarely on the styles, chemistry and decision-making that have defined both FTR and the Motor City Machine Guns throughout their careers. It also removes the variables that come with a third teammate and turns the meeting into a direct comparison between two teams that have each built their reputations around polished tandem wrestling.
Shelley pushed for the series to begin immediately on Dynamite. That suggestion carried a sense of urgency: the Machine Guns did not arrive merely to state their intentions or wait for an opportunity. They wanted the first contest then and there. Before that could happen, Stokely Hathaway stepped in and argued that starting the series on the spot was not the best idea.
Hathaway instead proposed WrestleDream as the setting for the opener. The idea was accepted, and the two teams shook hands to make the agreement official. The handshake reinforced the tone established by Sabin’s remarks. At least at the outset, this is a competition grounded in mutual esteem and a shared desire to determine which tandem can prevail when given multiple opportunities.
Why The Best-of-Five Stipulation Matters
A best-of-five series is a different challenge from a single high-profile match. In one bout, an opening mistake, one flash of momentum or one decisive sequence can determine everything. Across as many as five matches, each team has time to study what worked, identify what failed and alter its strategy. The first match at WrestleDream will be important, but it will not necessarily settle the rivalry. It will establish the first layer of the story.
For FTR, the format fits a team that has repeatedly presented itself as a standard-bearer for tag-team wrestling. Harwood and Wheeler have built much of their identity around being able to outlast and outwrestle opposition in matches where teamwork and execution are paramount. Their existing three-out-of-five record against The Young Bucks is central to the case they have made in pursuit of the AEW World Tag Team Championship. Sabin’s challenge puts that same type of benchmark back on FTR.
The Machine Guns, meanwhile, are not asking for a shortcut into a title match. Their stated goal is to defeat FTR and use that achievement to show they are the premier team. That makes the proposal notable within a division where championship positioning is often the immediate objective. Sabin and Shelley are seeking a proving ground first, and they have selected an opponent whose standing makes every match in the series meaningful.
The stipulation may also create a fascinating tension around the tag title landscape. FTR began the segment focused on The Young Bucks, who currently hold the AEW World Tag Team Championship. Now, before any potential championship match can be fully resolved, FTR has agreed to enter a series against another established contender. A loss in the series would not erase FTR’s past record against the Bucks, but it could strengthen the Machine Guns’ claim to be included in the conversation about the division’s hierarchy.
Respect Sets The Opening Tone
There was no physical confrontation on Dynamite, no ambush and no immediate betrayal following the agreement. That does not mean the series will remain free of tension, particularly once wins and losses begin to accumulate, but the first chapter has been presented as a sporting challenge. Sabin’s respect for FTR was explicit, and the eventual handshake between the teams gave the WrestleDream opener a firm foundation.
That approach places added importance on the wrestling itself. The central question is not whether the teams can coexist or whether a personal grudge will explode. The question is which pairing can claim superiority after meeting under a format designed to produce a clear winner. The stakes are reputational as much as they are practical.
Shelley’s desire to start on Dynamite also showed that the Machine Guns believe they are ready now. Hathaway’s intervention delayed the start, but it did not dilute the challenge. If anything, placing the first match at WrestleDream gives the series a larger opening stage and allows the encounter to arrive as a featured attraction rather than an impromptu Dynamite bout.
There is also a natural element of unpredictability in a series that has no prior two-on-two blueprint. Fans can look to the 2022 six-man tag for a small piece of shared history, but neither team has a conventional head-to-head result to lean on. The first WrestleDream meeting will therefore reveal how their respective approaches translate against one another when no partners are available to absorb pressure, create an opening or change the pace.
WrestleDream Will Set The Direction
The series will begin at WrestleDream, but the ultimate destination remains open. If either team wins the first three matches in succession, the rivalry will end quickly. If the wins are traded, the matchup could build toward a decisive fifth contest with neither side able to afford another mistake. Either outcome would give the teams a platform to make their arguments inside the ring rather than solely through declarations.
For now, FTR remains focused on The Young Bucks and the AEW World Tag Team Championship, while the Motor City Machine Guns have made it clear that defeating FTR is a priority of their own. Those paths now intersect in a formal series that has the potential to affect how both teams are viewed within AEW.
Sabin and Shelley came to Dynamite seeking a test worthy of their ambitions. Harwood and Wheeler accepted it. At WrestleDream, the Motor City Machine Guns and FTR will finally meet in their first traditional tag-team match, with the first victory in a best-of-five battle on the line.
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Darryl Polo
Darryl Polo is a passionate wrestling fan covering WWE, AEW, TNA and beyond. He loves great rivalries, breakout stars and the moments that keep fans talking long after the bell. How we work.