WWE Star Says Triple H Was ‘Huge Factor’ In Signing With The Company

Published: May 14, 2025 by Jamie Toolan | Last Updated: May 16, 2025 by Jamie Toolan

Jamie has been covering the world of wrestling for four years and currently holds the position of Assistant Editor of WrestleTalk.com. During his time working for WrestleTalk.com he has written and published over 4,000 news and feature articles covering events and happenings from WWE, AEW, TNA and a variety of international and independent wrestling promotions.

WWE

A SmackDown star has named WWE Chief Content Officer Triple H as a “huge factor” in their decision to sign with the company.

Back in October 2024, Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin) were officially unveiled as WWE superstars – joining the company following two decades of competition on the independent scene, as well as for companies such as TNA Wrestling, NJPW and ROH.

On just their second week on WWE TV, they won the WWE Tag Team Championships, and have since become fixtures on Friday Night SmackDown, most recently competing in a highly acclaimed three-way TLC match alongside The Street Profits and DIY on April 25.

Speaking with CBS Sports’ Shakiel Mahjouri, Shelley and Sabin discussed their move to WWE – with the former naming Triple H as a “huge factor” behind their decision to join the company.

Shelley said:

“We talked directly to Paul [Levesque], Triple H, and he treated us with the utmost respect, a huge factor in our decision was wanting to be players on his team.

“We wanted to be a part of the WWE machine, specifically with him leading the charge.”

Discussing their WWE Tag Team Championship win on the October 25 SmackDown, just one week following their debut for the company, Sabin revealed that they only found out about the result on the night of the show:

“We didn’t know until the day of, when we arrived at the building that day, we learned we were winning the championships… ‘Is this a dream? Wake me up? Pinch me?'”

Shelley then added:

“You go into the same mode you’ve been in for 20-plus years as pro wrestlers who’ve been fortunate enough to wrestle all over the world against legends, you’re going to kill it, but how will it actually go?

“We don’t have to think about these things because it’s second nature to us. It’s a huge honor, but it’s a match. We’re expected to do certain things. We were hired because we’re a product, and we were hired to do XYZ. Well, it’s time to do XYZ.”

In the same interview, Shelley discussed the reasoning behind his decision to turn down a WWE contract offer in 2019 – click here for full details.

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