While AEW has continued to lag behind WWE in attendance and ratings, one area where the promotion has gotten the better of its competitor is in the free agent market. Over the past five months, AEW has outbid WWE for the services of Will Ospreay, Kazuchika Okada, and Mercedes Mone, arguably the three biggest free agents to hit the open market during that time. And it appears they’ll now be adding another big free agent acquisition to the mix.

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Bodyslam.net reports that Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin, aka the Motor City Machine Guns, are finalizing a deal to join AEW. While it was noted that there would be a period before the deal was closed, Shelley and Sabin are said to have made their decision, with only the particulars left to be worked out before the duo become “All Elite.”

Considered by many to be one of the most influential tag teams of the modern era, Sabin and Shelley are former nine-time Tag Team Champions, having held titles in AAW, Deadlock Pro Wrestling, GCW, New Japan, Ring of Honor, and TNA Wrestling. The duo achieved their greatest success in TNA, where they had been working before their contracts expired last month, winning the Tag Titles there three times, while also achieving singles success, with Sabin and Shelley holding the X-Division Title a combined 11 times, along with a reign each as TNA World Heavyweight Champion.

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Sabin and Shelley are no strangers to AEW either, having previously worked one match for the promotion back at All Out 2022. The duo teamed with long-time TNA/ROH co-worker Jay Lethal to take on Wardlow and Cash Wheeler and Dax Harwood of FTR, with the former Pinnacle members emerging victorious after Wardlow pinned Lethal with the Powerbomb Symphony.