Absent AEW star reacts ahead of major debut on WWE SmackDown

Earlier tonight, it was announced that some top stars had signed with WWE SmackDown and were set to make their in-ring debut. A major AEW name has just reacted to the news.

Lee Moriarty, who has been absent from AEW television lately talked about the Motor City Machine Guns. Just a few hours ago, WWE posted a video showing MCMG meeting up with Nick Aldis ahead of tonight's episode of SmackDown to sign their contracts.

The General Manager of the blue brand also announced that there would be changes to the MCMG's debut match and that they were set to compete in a Triple-Threat tag Team contest instead. Aldis also mentioned that this bout had tag team title match implications.

Taking to his X (fka Twitter) account Lee Moriarty responded briefly to the debut, acknowledging the iconic duo. Motor City Machine Guns are well-known across the industry, and they have had runs in ROH, TNA, NJPW, and even a one-off appearance in AEW.

​

"MCMG 🖤" the AEW star wrote.

Check out his Tweet below:

---

The duo originally had talks with AEW before signing with WWE

Back in April, Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin's contracts with TNA expired making them free agents. It was believed at the time that they could land with AEW, but as time passed, things changed.

PWN Nexus reported that this was indeed the case, and they were close to landing with the Tony Khan-led promotion before talks fell through. They ended up signing with WWE a few months later.

​

"Motor City Machine Guns also had talks with AEW, and for a short while seemed likely they would sign there, but those talks had fallen through," stated the report. [H/T: WrestlePurists]

Now that a tag team of high caliber in MCMG has landed on SmackDown, they will be joining the already stacked list of duos competing on the blue brand. It remains to be seen how they'll fare, and fans can stay tuned to their debut happening later tonight.

​