#170: Alex Shelley vs. Chris Sabin, TNA Genesis (1/11/2009).
This is a Tournament Final to crown a new X Division Champion. Both of these men are teammates in the Motor City Machine Guns.
The bell sounds, and both men shake hands. They lock up, and Sabin takes control of the arm. Shelley escapes, and both men are up on their feet. They lock up again, and Shelley has Sabin on the mat. Front face lock by Shelley, and Sabin hammerlocks the arm. Shelley with a single leg takedown on Sabin, and he ties his legs up on the mat. Sabin is able to apply a body scissors to Shelley, and Shelley is able to turn it into a guillotine.
Sabin with a side headlock, and an arm drag. Shelley with one of his own, and they exchange nearfalls. We have a stalemate, as the crowd cheers them on. They grab the wrists, and kick at each other. Sabin unloads with some shots to the head. Sabin drives his knee into the midsection of Shelley. More nearfall attempts, followed by a dropkick by Sabin. He applies an Octopus Hold next on the mat, and Shelley is able to get his foot on the bottom rope.
Shelley avoids an attack in the corner, and he sends Sabin to the floor. Shelley dives over, and Sabin avoids it, returning to the ring, and hitting a dive to the floor, sending Shelley into the announcer’s table. Shelley cuts Sabin off while returning to the ring, and he hits a senton from the top rope onto Sabin’s back! Big chop to the chest of Sabin, who responds with one of his own. Nice chop battle ensues. Shelley applies an abdominal stretch next.
Sabin is able to escape, but Shelley spins around and hits his friend with an elbow. Shelley blocks a Cradle Shock attempt, and Sabin fires back with a kick to the face. They’re back to their feet and they exchange forearms on each other, and then chops to the chest. Diving elbow to the head in the corner by Sabin, and a running clothesline by Shelley in the opposite corner, and Sabin follows that with a dropkick in the corner! Nice fast offense from both men.
Sabin with a diving DDT from the ropes to Shelley, and that gets a close 2 count. Sabin dives off the ropes, and gets caught in the Crossface by Shelley. Sabin is back to his feet, and Shelley hits the Sudden Stop to Sabin, driving him face first into the middle turnbuckle. Shelley goes for a DDT, but Sabin turns it into a Tiger Suplex for a 2 count. Shelley with paint brush style slaps, and Sabin with a kick to the side of the head.
Shelley clotheslines Sabin, and hits the Air Raid Crash for a 2 count. Shelley goes to the top rope, but Sabin cuts him off with a series of chops. Sabin joins him up there, and goes for a hurricanrana. Shelley holds the ropes to avoid it, then hits a powerbomb. Shelley hits the frog splash, but lands right on Sabin’s knees! Sabin goes for a missile dropkick, but Shelley avoids it! He goes to the top and hits a frog splash to the back! He’s back up top, and he hits the proper frog splash! He covers, and Sabin just barely kicks out!
They have another brief exchange of strikes, and then Sabin just levels Shelley with a nasty lariat! He hits the Cradle Shock, but Shelley is just barely – and I mean barely – gets his shoulders off the mat. Sabin tries for the Cradle Shock off the top rope, but Shelley avoids it and superkicks Sabin in the face. He’s able to hit the Sliced Bread on Sabin, and he’s still able to kick out! The crowd is losing their minds at this point.
A superkick by Sabin, and Shelley goes for Sliced Bread one more time. Sabin shrugs him off and he’s on the apron, as Shelley is down on the mat, checking on his foot. He seems injured – except he’s not! He tricked Sabin, as he rolls him up and gets the 3 count to win the vacant X Division Championship! Sabin looks genuinely stunned. Despite the shoddy finish, both Sabin and Shelley embrace post match.
A really exciting and crisp match between two guys who could do this shit in their sleep. You can’t go wrong with a match featuring Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin. They just do not miss! Shelley had a great strategy, working on the neck throughout the match to weaken Sabin, while Sabin stuck to fast offense to keep Shelley on his toes. The back half of the match really picked up, and the crowd ate on some of those final nearfalls. The finish, with Shelley faking an injury, is very much a Motor City Machine Gun tactic around this time. They were cocky and arrogant, with Shelley arguably being the worst offender of that.
This was an awesome X Division showcase, and one that helped to make the title feel super important. When guys are putting in this kind of effort, it makes the championship shine even more.