WWE announced a fresh set of roster cuts last week, and there’s some talent among the new free agents, starting with The Motor City Machine Guns, Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin, who I see as perfect fits in AEW.
I was disappointed when Tony Khan wasn’t able to lure The Guns to his company when they left TNA in 2024, but I can understand why they wanted to try their lot with WWE, after a long run everywhere else – in TNA, Ring of Honor, New Japan.
WWE gave them a brief six-week run with the tag belts toward the end of 2024, and that was it.
If Khan is able to get Shelley and Sabin on board, their versatility could eventually have them working in feuds over the AEW belts as babyfaces with FTR or as heels with The Young Bucks.
Personally, I’d make them heels, give them a manager – not anybody from the current roster of AEW managers, because there’s not much there, outside of MVP – and give them a long run as my tag champs.
Khan, being Khan, is more likely to job them out to a makeshift team two weeks in and then forget about them.
I digress.
Other cuts
- Kairi Sane: I expect that she’s going to want to return to Stardom, but it would surprise me if Khan doesn’t reach out with a ridiculous-money offer. With Toni Storm on the shelf for at least the rest of 2026, the women’s division could use some more star power.
- Apollo Crews: Perfect addition to The Hurt Syndicate, if he’s interested. The Hurts have felt like they’re a man short since the rollout of the stable. Crews could team with Shelton Benjamin, moving Bobby Lashley over to being the main singles guy in the group. Those three, with MVP as the mouthpiece, would be the dominant heel faction in AEW, if I was booking.
- Aleister Black and Zelina Vega: This is where we see if TK means what he says when guys leave, and he claims that there’s no bad blood. Black left AEW last April, and all seemed amicable at the time. I can see a place for Black as a Raven-type heel stable leader, and Vega would be a nice add to the women’s division.
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Chris Graham
