What is being said about why The Motor City Machine Guns have made limited appearances on AEW television

The Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin) made their official AEW debut on the July 30th 2026 episode of Collision in Detroit, Michigan. Since then, the duo have made limited appearances on AEW television.

The team appeared at AEW All In: London as part of a face-off involving Cope & Cage, The Young Bucks, FTR, and The New Level. They wrestled their first match since signing with AEW on the September 5th episode of Collision, defeating Blake Christian and Lee Johnson of The Swirl.

According to Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful,com, the belief is that MCMG wanted to complete their music tour before making regular wrestling appearances. Sapp also noted that Shelley and Sabin were not necessarily eager to debut on the Detroit episode, but AEW wanted to use their hometown as the setting for their debut.

Shelley and Sabin formed the band Grpplng in 2025, with Shelley handling guitar and vocals and Sabin playing bass. The band’s song “Sleep” is also used as the Motor City Machine Guns’ AEW entrance music. Grpplng’s recent tour is scheduled to conclude on September 21st at Sanctuary Detroit, where the band will support The Iron Roses.