Matt Taven: The MCMG Don’t Get The Credit That They Deserve For Pioneering Tag Team Wrestling
Matt Taven praises the Motor City Machine Guns.
Since 2006, the Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin) have dominated tag team wrestling in a number of promotions such as IMPACT Wrestling/TNA, PWG, New Japan Pro Wrestling, and Ring Of Honor. In recent years, the team has also been competing in various independent promotions such as Prestige Wrestling and Game Changer Wrestling.
Throughout his fifteen year career, Matt Taven has shared a locker room with both Sabin and Shelley on numerous occasions. In a new interview with Fightful, Taven had quite a few nice things to say to about the tag team.
“I love the Guns. They were so good to us, whether it was Shelley in Japan or when the Guns were in Ring of Honor. They were almost like a Roderick Strong, you could always go to and ask for advice. But personally, just like Roderick Strong as well, I was a huge Motor City Machine Guns fan. I think they don’t get the credit that they deserve for pioneering what tag team wrestling is today. Them and the Young Bucks, Generation Me at the time in TNA, were some of the most innovative tag team matches ever. I think that it kinda changed a lot of the environment of tag team wrestling and what people thought a good tag team wrestling match could be. So I was always a huge Motor City Machine Gun fan. At that time they kinda knew we were on the way out, I was like, ‘Oh, one of our last matches is going to be against the Guns? Sign me up.’”
The Motor City Machine Guns have had a very successful 2023, as they’ve held the IMPACT World Tag Team Championships, the GCW Tag Team Championships, and the NJPW STRONG Openweight Tag Team Championships at various points in the year.
Elsewhere in the interview, Taven said that the ROH World Championship is always in the back of his mind. Fans can learn more by clicking here.
Fans can see Fightful’s full interview with Matt Taven linked above.