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109-725: Joshua Harter (born February 4, 1982), better known by the ring name Chris Sabin , is an American professional wrestler . He is signed to WWE , where he performs on the SmackDown brand , and is one-half of the WWE Tag Team Champions (alongside Alex Shelley as the Motor City Machine Guns ). After being trained by Scott D'Amore , Sabin debuted in 2000 for Border City Wrestling , and quickly began competing for numerous other independent promotions . In 2003, Sabin joined NWA: Total Nonstop Action (NWA-TNA), and quickly won
218-507: A Six Sides of Steel Xscape match . At Sacrifice he retained his title against Sonjay Dutt, and Jay Lethal, by pinning Dutt. Sabin lost his title at Slammiversary , however, to Lethal. Sabin received a rematch on Impact! against Lethal and Samoa Joe, but Sabin was pinned after Joe hit a Muscle Buster . In the summer of 2007, Sabin formed a tag team with Alex Shelley, known as the Motor City Machine Guns . The two had been teaming in several independent promotions prior to their formation as
327-669: A three way match as part of the ROH/NJPW Global Wars '15 event. In May 2016, they teamed with KUSHIDA and Matt Sydal in a loss to Bullet Club at Global Wars '16 . In August 2016, the Motor City Machine Guns returned to Japan, unsuccessfully challenging the Young Bucks for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship . In May 2018, it was announced that Sabin would participate in
436-501: A July PPV event in 2006) with all three members of the original alliance: Daniels, Skipper, and Senshi . Before the reunion in 2007, Daniels had a successful career as a singles competitor. At TNA's March PPV event, Destination X , Daniels won the TNA X Division Championship from Styles in an Ultimate X Challenge match involving Ron Killings and his former partner, Eilx Skipper. Afterward, Daniels went on to make successful defenses and winning
545-523: A bout for the NWA World Tag Team Championships. On March 11, Chris Sabin defeated Alex Shelley and Sonjay Dutt in a 3-way match to represent both the US in the "International X Division Showcase" at Destination X 2006 as well as joining Jay Lethal on Team TNA in the upcoming World X Cup Tournament. Later that month, Sabin was hospitalized with a severe concussion after taking four blows to
654-638: A community college. Harter plays bass in a band called The High Crusade, which also includes Petey Williams and Alex Shelley , and their friends Adam Tatro and Chris Plumb. The band released their debut album, It's Not What You Think , on September 7, 2010. An avid gamer , Harter's ring name is derived from the Final Fantasy VI (originally released in North America as Final Fantasy III ) character Sabin Rene Figaro . Ring name A ring name
763-484: A counter to Williams' finishing maneuver the Canadian Destroyer , which was thought to be uncounterable. The Canadian Destroyer involves Williams grabbing an opponent with his legs around their head, jumping over their back, causing them to perform a backflip, and forcing their head into the mat after they make the full rotation. Making true to his word, Sabin countered the move three times before Turning Point; one on
872-628: A feud with Shocker that abruptly ended when Shocker was unable to return from Mexico for their scheduled match at Unbreakable on September 11. Instead, Sabin faced Petey Williams and won after hitting the Cradle Shock In 2006, Sabin mostly teamed up with Sonjay Dutt , to great effect, beating Team Canada in a number one contenders tag team tournament on TNA Impact! . At the Against All Odds pay-per-view event Sabin and Dutt were beaten by Chris Harris and James Storm (America's Most Wanted) in
981-462: A few others, their real name. One notable exception was made for David Otunga because of his real marriage to singer Jennifer Hudson at the time, which gave WWE some mainstream exposure. Low Ki used the alias "Senshi" during his second TNA stint to reserve his primary ring name for other use. A similar example is the team known as The Dudley Boyz in ECW and WWE and Team 3D elsewhere. WWE trademarked
1090-552: A losing effort against The System ( Eddie Edwards and Brian Myers , as both Shelley and Sabin's contracts expired on April 1, 2024. On the August 24, 2022, episode of AEW Dynamite , Sonjay Dutt announced that Jay Lethal would team with the Motor City Machine Guns at the All Out PPV, where they would take on Wardlow and FTR in a six-man tag-team match, with Sabin and Shelley set to make their All Elite Wrestling (AEW) debut. At
1199-401: A match between the two at Turning Point. Before the event began, a thirty-minute pre-show aired with a match between The Naturals (Andy Douglas and Chase Stevens) and Mikey Batts and Jerrelle Clark. The Naturals won the match by pinfall, after Stevens and Douglas lifted Batts up, placed Batts head and neck onto one of their shoulders, and fell to a seated position to perform a move they dubbed
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#17328845860431308-470: A match with B.G. James and Eric Young , Sabin slapped James in the face. Sabin and Shelley lost a TNA World Tag Team Championship match at Turning Point to Beer Money, Inc. Sabin and Shelley turned face then joined the TNA Frontline . In December 2008, Sabin qualified for the finals in the X Division title tournament after defeating Sonjay Dutt and Kiyoshi . On January 11, 2009, at Genesis , Sabin
1417-566: A padded turnbuckle. Harris then grabbed Skipper and placed Skipper on his shoulders while he held Storm, who remained holding Daniels. Harris then performed a powerbomb on Skipper, while Skipper pulled down Storm, who suplexed Daniels off of the top of the cage. The conclusion to the match saw America's Most Wanted cuff Daniels to the ropes and perform Triple X's signature maneuver, the Powerplex by lifting Skipper up onto Storm's shoulders while Harris held Skipper's head. Storm and Harris then fell to
1526-504: A replacement for Hector Garza. Savage left the company after the event. The Kings of Wrestling later disbanded (not official until after Final Resolution) as a result of Nash being placed in a match where the winner would challenge Jarrett in the main event of Final Resolution for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship; this match also took place at the event. In 2007, Triple X reformed at Victory Road (which became
1635-476: A series of events must take place to eliminate a participant. First, a wrestler must be pinned, and then the pinned wrestler has until the referee's count of ten to reach their feet before they are officially eliminated from the match. The first two members of a team to be eliminated lose the contest; America's Most Wanted was victorious in the Elimination Last Man Standing match at Victory Road. On
1744-470: A tag team match. On January 13, 2024 at Hard To Kill , Sabin retained the TNA X Division Championship against Kushida and AAA Mega Champion El Hijo del Vikingo . On February 23 at No Surrender , Sabin lost the TNA X Division Championship in the main event to Mustafa Ali , ending his reign at 167 days. On the March 23, 2024 tapings for TNA Impact! , Sabin, alongside Shelley, wrestled his final matches for TNA in
1853-413: A team in TNA. Sabin and Shelley started a feud with Team 3D , turning face, which stemmed from Team 3D constantly attacking the X Division every week. They defeated Team 3D at Genesis . Motor City Machine Guns later competed in TNA's World X Cup as a part of Team USA/TNA and went undefeated, winning two tag team matches and the 12 man elimination tag team match. Sabin and Shelley turned heel when, after
1962-454: A title shot at Petey Williams. At Turning Point 2004 on December 5, however, Williams was able to secure a victory with the help of a pair of brass knuckles . Sabin got another shot at the title at Final Resolution on January 16, 2005, in an Ultimate X match with Williams and A.J. Styles , but the match and title were won by Styles. Throughout 2005, Sabin feuded with Michael Shane, by now wrestling as Matt Bentley. In September 2005 he began
2071-751: A variation of it, sometimes modifying the spelling to better fit their gimmick , such as Dave Bautista becoming Batista (later reverting to his real name for his Hollywood acting career), Patricia Stratigeas becoming Trish Stratus , Jonathan Good becoming Jon Moxley , Bryan Danielson becoming Daniel Bryan (when he wrestled in WWE), Richard Fliehr becoming Ric Flair and Randall Poffo becoming Randy Savage . Others simply use part of their name, such as Bill Goldberg using Goldberg , Nicole Garcia-Colace using Nikki Bella , Mike Mizanin using The Miz , Cody Runnels using Cody Rhodes , and Michael Wardlow using Wardlow . Many female wrestlers go solely by their first name such as. It
2180-637: Is a highly respected tradition in Mexican lucha libre for performers to hide their true identities, usually wrestling under masks, and revealing a luchador's identity without their permission is considered a serious offence with real-life consequences. Professional wrestlers are often referred to by their contemporaries by their ring name. In interviews, Bret Hart regularly referred to Mark Calaway, Curt Hennig, and Kevin Nash by their ring names ( The Undertaker , Mr. Perfect , and Diesel ). Ring names are often trademarked by
2289-827: Is a type of stage name or nickname used by an athlete such as a professional wrestler , mixed martial artist , or boxer whose real name is considered unattractive, dull, difficult to pronounce or spell, amusing for the wrong reasons, or projecting the wrong image. Since the advent of the Internet , it is relatively easy to discover a fighter's real name. Ring names are much more common in professional wrestling than any other sport; famous examples include Terry Bollea becoming Hulk Hogan , Michael Shawn Hickenbottom becoming Shawn Michaels , Roderick Toombs becoming Roddy Piper , Dwayne Johnson becoming The Rock , Christopher Irvine becoming Chris Jericho , and Phillip Jack Brooks becoming CM Punk . A number of wrestlers adopted their real name or
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#17328845860432398-448: Is also common for wrestlers of all genders to use a nickname in addition to their real name for marketability and other reasons. Ricky Steamboat is an atypical instance of a wrestler adopting a ring name to sound less intimidating, as his legal name of Richard Blood was considered unfitting for his babyface persona. Some (mostly independent ) wrestlers still go to great lengths to ensure that their real names are not publicly known. It
2507-641: Is also known for his appearances with New Japan Pro-Wrestling , where he was a one-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion and one-time Strong Openweight Tag Team Champion , and Ring of Honor (ROH), where he was a one-time ROH World Tag Team Champion . Harter began training as a wrestler in Michigan at the NWA Great Lakes Pro wrestling school . After the school began experiencing difficulties, he travelled to Windsor, Ontario and completed his training under Scott D'Amore and "Amazing" N8 Mattson at
2616-464: The 14th Anniversary Show , Sabin turned on Daniels and Kazarian, re-forming the Motor City Machine Guns with Alex Shelley. At the following day's Ring of Honor Wrestling tapings, Sabin and Shelley defeated Daniels and Kazarian in their return match. Sabin and Shelley then formed a stable named "Search and Destroy" with Jay White , Jonathan Gresham , and Lio Rush . On September 22, 2017, at Death Before Dishonor XV , The Motor City Machine Guns defeated
2725-496: The Canadian Online Explorer website rated the event a 7 out of 10, which was the same as the 2005 event's rating. Turning Point featured eight professional wrestling matches involving wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds, plots , and storylines . Wrestlers were portrayed as either villains or heroes in scripted, tension-filled events that culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches. The main event
2834-514: The IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship . After three successful title defenses, two of which took place in TNA, Sabin and Shelley lost the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Titles to Apollo 55 ( Prince Devitt and Ryusuke Taguchi ) on July 5, 2009, at New Japan Pro-Wrestling's Circuit 2009 New Japan Soul . On November 8, 2010, New Japan Pro-Wrestling announced that the Motor City Machine Guns would be returning to
2943-605: The Jackass: Number Two movie by imitating stunts performed on the film to display the lighter side of the X-Division, something then champion Senshi disapproved of. Since then, Sabin would attempt to take Senshi's title on several occasions. On October 22, 2006, Sabin defeated Senshi after using an inside cradle to become a 3 time X Division Champion at Bound for Glory 2006 . On the November 2, 2006 episode of TNA Impact! , he lost
3052-853: The NWA World Tag Team Championship . Harris and Skipper then proceeded to lose the championship to Storm and Daniels on the September 24 episode of TNA's primary television program, TNA Impact! . After Storm and Daniels lost the championship to Team Canada ( Bobby Roode and Eric Young ) on the October 15 episode of Impact! , tensions between the teams during the respective title reigns gave way to an official rivalry between America's Most Wanted and Triple X. The teams fought against each other in an Elimination Last Team Standing match at TNA's previous and first monthly three-hour PPV event, Victory Road . In an Elimination Last Man Standing match,
3161-544: The Natural Disaster . In the first match, the 3Live Kru (B.G. James and Ron Killings) defended the NWA World Tag Team Championship against Team Canada (Bobby Roode and Eric Young), who were accompanied by Coach D'Amore . Team Canada won the match and the championship after another Team Canada member, Johnny Devine , interfered and hit B.G. with a hockey stick . Roode followed up by pinning B.G. to win
3270-717: The PWG World Tag Team Championship , although they never won. In April 2008 Sabin and Shelley returned to ROH, losing to The Age of the Fall (Jimmy Jacobs and Tyler Black ) and defeating the Briscoe Brothers (Jay and Mark) on the 18 and 19 respectively. In August 2008 Sabin and Shelley once again returned to ROH, wrestling Austin Aries and Bryan Danielson to a 25-minute time limit draw and losing to Kevin Steen and El Generico on
3379-680: The ROH World Championship . He returned to ROH along with tag team partner Alex Shelley on March 30, 2007, following the Briscoe Brothers winning the ROH World Tag Team Championship . The two challenged Jay Briscoe for a shot at the title on April 28 in Chicago , then attacked him after he accepted. The two would ultimately lose the match and leave the company. They also worked for Pro Wrestling Guerrilla , and challenged for
Chris Sabin - Misplaced Pages Continue
3488-509: The TNA X Division Championship in one match on the undercard. Diamond Dallas Page defeated Raven in another match. Turning Point is remembered for the disbanding of Triple X and for Elix Skipper pulling Chris Harris off the top of a cage with his legs to perform a move he named the New School . The PPV was also the final televised match of Randy Savage's career. The professional wrestling section of
3597-554: The TNA X Division Championship , which he later unified with the WWA International Cruiserweight Championship . Throughout the next few years, Sabin competed mainly in TNA's X Division, until forming the Motor City Machine Guns with Shelley in mid-2007. Sabin won 14 total championships while with TNA, including one reign as TNA World Heavyweight Champion , a record 10 reigns as TNA X Division Champion , and three reigns as TNA World Tag Team Champion . Sabin
3706-524: The losing team would disband . America's Most Wanted ( Chris Harris and James Storm ) defeated Triple X ( Christopher Daniels and Elix Skipper ) in this match. A Six Man Tag Team match on the event's card ended in Jeff Hardy , A.J. Styles , and Randy Savage defeating The Kings of Wrestling ( Jeff Jarrett , Kevin Nash and Scott Hall ). The event's undercard featured different varieties of matches. Petey Williams defeated Chris Sabin to retain
3815-482: The promotion that creates a character or gimmick for a performer. It is common to see one performer use a variety of ring names throughout their career, even if their overall persona remains similar. This is especially true in WWE , which has largely forced most wrestlers that have debuted since 2006 to use a WWE-owned ring name instead of a ring name that they used on the independent circuit or, such as with Daniel Bryan and
3924-680: The "Dudley Boyz" name, leading them to have to change their name when they went to TNA. The members' individual names were also trademarked by WWE, forcing them to have to change their names. WWE partially repealed the policy in 2015, allowing wrestlers who were well known in other promotions such as Samoa Joe , A.J. Styles , Shinsuke Nakamura , Austin Aries , Bobby Roode , and Eric Young to use their long-standing ring names (or, in Nakamura's and Roode's cases, their real names) as well as wrestlers who sign "Tier 2" NXT brand contracts such as Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa , who wrestle both on NXT and
4033-715: The 1st and 2nd respectively. They were scheduled to return to ROH on October 24 and 25, but were pulled from the events by TNA and replaced by The Latin American Xchange . On February 13, 2010, Ring of Honor announced at their 8th Anniversary Show that the Motor City Machine Guns would return to the company on May 8 in New York City . On May 8 the Motor City Machine Guns were defeated by the ROH World Tag Team Champions The Kings of Wrestling ( Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli ) via disqualification, when
4142-565: The 2018 Best of the Super Juniors tournament, he finalized the tournament with 3 wins and four losses, failing to advance to the finals. In October 2018, it was announced that Sabin would participate in the 2018 Super Junior Tag League 2018, teaming with Kushida . The team ended with three wins and four losses, failing to advance to the finals. After defeating the Strong Openweight Tag Team Champions , Aussie Open on
4251-480: The April 20 episode of Impact! , Sabin, Shelley and Kushida defeated Jonathan Gresham , Mike Bailey and Impact X Division Champion Trey Miguel , where Sabin pinned Miguel to win. On May 1, Impact confirmed that Sabin will be getting a title match against Miguel at Under Siege . On May 26 at Under Siege, Sabin unsuccessfully challenged Miguel for the X Division Championship after getting blinded by spray paint away while
4360-540: The Briscoe Brothers interfered in the match. On August 25, 2006, at Korauken Hall's ZERO-1 MAX show, Sabin and Alex Shelley became ZERO-1 MAX International Lightweight Tag Team Champions by defeating Ikuto Hidaka and Minoru Fujita . They held the titles for nearly two years, before dropping them to Minoru Fujita, and his new tag team partner, Takuya Sugawara , on April 6, 2008. On January 4, 2009, Sabin and Shelley defeated No Limit ( Tetsuya Naito and Yujiro ) at New Japan Pro-Wrestling 's Wrestle Kingdom III to win
4469-549: The Can-Am Wrestling School. He debuted in 2000 after four months training as "Chris Sabin", and began working for D'Amore's Border City Wrestling promotion and for independent promotions in Michigan. Sabin joined NWA Total Nonstop Action (TNA) in April 2003. He won the TNA X Division Championship on May 14 by defeating champion Amazing Red and Jerry Lynn in a three-way dance, after an assist from Triple X . After
Chris Sabin - Misplaced Pages Continue
4578-503: The December 24 episode of Impact! to earn the chance to challenge them at TNA's next PPV, Final Resolution. At the event, America's Most Wanted defeated Team Canada to win the championship. The rivalry between The Kings of Wrestling (Jeff Jarrett, Scott Hall, and Kevin Nash) and Randy Savage, Jeff Hardy, and A.J. Styles slowly died down after the event. Styles went on to Final Resolution to win
4687-698: The July 11 episode of Impact Wrestling , Sabin vacated the title in exchange for a shot at the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. The following week, Sabin defeated Bully Ray on the Destination X episode of Impact Wrestling , to win the World Heavyweight Championship, making him TNA's sixth Triple Crown Champion in the process. However, Sabin thought it was too soon to give him the title. On August 15 at Hardcore Justice , Sabin lost
4796-591: The Knights of the Rising Dawn, a group that had been interfering in championship matches. He helped The Addiction ( Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian ) defeat reDRagon to become the new ROH World Tag Team Champions . On the May 9 episode of Ring of Honor Wrestling , Sabin made his in-ring return to ROH in a match against Kyle O'Reilly . Sabin won the match with help from both Daniels and Kazarian. In February 2016, at
4905-583: The Motor City Machine Guns coming out victorious. On December 5 at Final Resolution the Motor City Machine Guns defeated Generation Me in a Full Metal Mayhem match to retain the World Tag Team Championship. The following month at Genesis , Sabin and Shelley lost the World Tag Team Championship to Beer Money, Inc., after Robert Roode rolled up Sabin following a miscommunication between the Machine Guns. Sabin and Shelley received their rematch for
5014-515: The Motor City Machine Guns defeated Beer Money, Inc. to win the vacant TNA World Tag Team Championship for the first time. After Victory Road, the Motor City Machine Guns entered a Best of Five Series with Beer Money, Inc. for the TNA World Tag Team Championship. Beer Money won the first two matches, a ladder match and a Street Fight, after knocking out Sabin and Shelley with beer bottles. However, Sabin and Shelley came back to win
5123-466: The Motor City Machine Guns retained their titles in matches against Generation Me, who turned heel at the former event. Also at Bound for Glory, Team 3D announced their retirement from professional wrestling, but requested one final match against the Motor City Machine Guns, whom they called the best tag team in wrestling. The Motor City Machine Guns accepted and the match took place on November 7, 2010, at Turning Point , where they defeated Team 3D to retain
5232-435: The November 12, one of the November 19, and the last on the November 30 episodes of Impact! . Another match announced for Turning Point was between Raven and Diamond Dallas Page . On the November 12 episode of Impact! , Page cost Raven a match against Monty Brown , creating a rivalry between the two. On the November 19 episode of Impact! , Page attacked Raven once again, costing him another match. TNA later scheduled
5341-444: The November 19 episode of Impact! , Daniels insinuated that the two teams were scheduled for a Six Sides of Steel cage match at Turning Point. Later in the episode, newly appointed authority figure Dusty Rhodes announced that the match was indeed scheduled, with the added stipulation that the losing team would have to disband and never team together again in TNA under any circumstances. A Six Man Tag Team match scheduled pitting
5450-787: The September 15th episode of Impact! , Sabin and Shelley made their return to New Japan Pro-Wrestling at Rumble on 44th Street on October 28. At the event, the duo defeated Aussie Open to win the Strong Openweight Tag Team Championships, in a three-way match, also involving The DKC and Kevin Knight . The duo retained the titles in February at Battle in the Valley , defeating the West Coast Wrecking Crew ( Royce Isaacs and Jorel Nelson ). On April 15 at Capital Collision ,
5559-514: The TNA Maximum Impact tour, Sabin attacked Sky, aligned himself with Alpha Female . Then, he disappeared from TV until May 9, 2014, when his departure from the promotion was confirmed. Sabin made his debut for Ring of Honor on June 14, 2003, in a four-way match, won by Homicide . He would wrestle for the company sporadically before leaving in February 2004. He would return on November 4, 2005, to unsuccessfully challenge Bryan Danielson for
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#17328845860435668-570: The TNA World Tag Team Championship. Sabin also became one of only 2 people to kick out of the Dudley's 3D finisher, along with Masato Tanaka . After Jeremy Buck pinned Sabin in an eight-person tag team match, where the Motor City Machine Guns teamed with Jay Lethal and Velvet Sky and Generation Me with Robbie E and Cookie , on the November 18 episode of Impact! , the Motor City Machine Guns challenged Generation Me to an Empty Arena match . The match took place later that same night on Reaction with
5777-513: The TNA World Tag Team Championship. Sabin and Shelley received their title shot on the April 12 episode of Impact! , but were defeated by World Tag Team Champion Matt Morgan and Amazing Red, who replaced the injured Hernandez in the match. The following month at Sacrifice , the Motor City Machine Guns defeated Beer Money, Inc. and Team 3D in a three-way match to earn another shot at the Tag Team Championship. On July 11 at Victory Road ,
5886-444: The TNA X Division Championship in an Ultimate X match , which also involved Chris Sabin and Petey Williams. In an Ultimate X match, four pillars are set up at ringside with steel red ropes attached at the top, which are criss-crossed to form an "X" over the center of the ring. The championship belt is hung on the center "X" with the objective being to remove it and fall to the mat below to win. Hardy defeated Hall at Final Resolution as
5995-537: The World Heavyweight Championship back to Ray in his first title defense, contested inside a steel cage, following interference from Mr. Anderson and Tito Ortiz . On the September 19 episode of Impact Wrestling , Sabin turned heel after he attacked X Division Champion Manik after a match before being chased off by Jeff Hardy . The following week, Sabin unsuccessfully challenged Manik for his title. On October 20 at Bound for Glory , Sabin defeated Austin Aries, Jeff Hardy, Manik, and Samoa Joe in an Ultimate X Match to win
6104-415: The X Division Championship but failed. After winning a three-way match against former allies Sonjay Dutt and Jay Lethal for a number one contender's match, he once again challenged Daniels at Turning Point but lost. At Final Resolution 2007 , Sabin won the X Division Championship from then champion Christopher Daniels in a three-way match which also involved Jerry Lynn. Sabin went on to feud with Lynn over
6213-562: The X Division Championship encounter was "a fantastic match which really showcases the talents of both men." Regarding the main event, Kapur described it as "a fantastic match filled with exciting high spots from bell to bell". TNA released a list of their top 50 moments in their history in 2006 in a DVD release titled "TNA: The 50 Greatest Moments", with the main event between America's Most Wanted (Chris Harris and James Storm) and Triple X (Christopher Daniels and Elix Skipper) being ranked number 6. On September 20, 2005, TNA Home Video released
6322-454: The X Division Championship for a record-breaking seventh time. Sabin lost the X Division title to Austin Aries at the November 23, 2013 Impact Wrestling tapings (airing December 12), but then won it back in a rematch at the December 5, 2013 tapings (airing January 2, 2014) for his record-breaking eighth reign. However, he lost the title against Aries on TNA Impact Wrestling:Genesis, on January 16, 2014, after Velvet Sky turned on him. During
6431-418: The X Division Championship. Sabin received his title shot on the May 16 episode of Impact Wrestling , but was defeated by defending champion Kenny King in a three-way match, also involving Petey Williams. On June 2 at Slammiversary XI , Sabin defeated King and Suicide in an Ultimate X match to win his fifth X Division Championship. Afterwards, Hulk Hogan came out and announced to Sabin that sometime during
6540-508: The Young Bucks to win the ROH World Tag Team Championship for the first time. They would retain the titles until March 9, 2018, when they lost them against The Briscoe Brothers at ROH 16th Anniversary Show. In June, Shelley suffered an injury. On July 20, 2018, Shelley announced he would be leaving the promotion and retired from active competition, disbanding the tag team. In August 2018, Sabin defeated Silas Young to become
6649-404: The bout. Badd won the encounter after he lifted Gilberti up onto his shoulders, spun him around, and fell to his back to perform a move known as a TKO . Badd followed by covering Gilberti for the pinfall. Diamond Dallas Page (DDP) and Raven fought in the fifth match. The officiating referee was scripted to be knocked out in the beginning of the match and was later replaced. DDP claimed victory in
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#17328845860436758-435: The championship three times; Skipper's singles career was not as victorious. Writer Bob Kapur of the Canadian Online Explorer rated Turning Point a 7 out of 10, which was the same as the rating for the 2005 event . The TNA X Division Championship bout was rated an 8 out of 10. The Six Man Tag Team match between The Kings of Wrestling (Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, and Jeff Jarrett) and A.J. Styles, Jeff Hardy, and Randy Savage
6867-485: The duo lost the titles back to Aussie Open in a three-way tag-team match also involving the team of Kazuchika Okada and Hiroshi Tanahashi . On March 21, 2019, Sabin returned to Impact Wrestling to work as producer while he recovered from an anterior cruciate ligament injury . At Slammiversary , Sabin made his in-ring return from injury where he teamed with Alex Shelley to reform the Motor City Machine Guns, defeating The Rascalz after answering their open challenge. On
6976-427: The encounter between Jarrett and Hardy, the 3 Live Kru ( B.G. James , Ron Killings , and Konnan ), and Styles came out to Hardy's aid. Nash, Hall, and Jarrett quickly won the fight. Savage then made his debut in TNA aligning himself with Styles and Hardy. After multiple fights between the two teams, Savage challenged The Kings of Wrestling to a match at Turning Point on the November 19 episode of Impact! . The match
7085-527: The event, Wardlow and FTR would win the match, with assistance from Samoa Joe , who attacked Satnam Singh early in the match. In September 2024, it was reported that Sabin and Alex Shelley had signed with WWE . They made their debut on the SmackDown brand on October 18. One week later, they won the WWE Tag Team Championship by defeating The Bloodline . Harter, as Chris Sabin has appeared in
7194-570: The following episode of Impact, they defeated The North to capture the Impact World Tag Team Titles for a second time, ending their 383 days reign. Over the next few months, they would retain their titles against The Rascalz and Ace Austin and Madman Fulton . At Bound for Glory , The Guns lost their titles back to The North in a four-way tag team match also involving The Good Brothers ( Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson ), and Austin and Fulton, ending their reign at 97 days. Before
7303-661: The head during a show for the Northeast Wrestling (NEW) promotion on March 25 in Bristol, Connecticut . He was released after undergoing a CAT scan . Sabin acted as the captain of Team USA at World X Cup 2006 , defeating Puma of Team Mexico, earning 3 points, and on May 18, defeating Petey Williams in a sudden death tiebreaker singles match, winning the World X Cup for Team USA. On the June 1, 2006 episode of TNA Impact! , Sabin rushed to
7412-477: The independent circuit to keep their ring names (or, in Gargano's case, his real name). Gargano and Ciampa have since signed exclusive WWE contracts. "In-house" WWE wrestlers still use WWE-owned ring names. In rare cases, the rights to a wrestler's ring name may be owned by a company with little or no connection to professional wrestling, such as Marvel Comics ' ownership of the name Hulk Hogan until early 2003, which
7521-475: The losing team disbanding forever. Mid-way through, Skipper handcuffed Harris to the ropes and kept the key away from the referee. Storm later took the key from Skipper and freed Harris from the cuffs. At one point in the match, Skipper and Daniels double teamed Harris and performed America's Most Wanted signature finishing maneuver, the Death Sentence by holding Harris in place while the other member climbed to
7630-439: The mat, forcing Skipper's neck into Harris's shoulder and mat while slamming his back into the mat as well. Storm then pinned Skipper for the pinfall victory. As a result of Triple X's loss, the team had to disband forever. Following Turning Point, America's Most Wanted (Chris Harris and James Storm) began a rivalry with Team Canada (Bobby Roode and Eric Young) over the NWA World Tag Team Championship. They defeated Team Canada on
7739-544: The match Sabin turned heel and joined Triple X in Sports Entertainment Xtreme . His reign ended after three months when he lost to Michael Shane in the first ever Ultimate X match on August 20. On September 3, 2003, Sabin, now a face , won the TNA 2003 Super X Cup Tournament , thus becoming the number one contender to the X Division Championship. He regained the X Division Championship on January 7, 2004, defeating Shane, Christopher Daniels and Low Ki in
7848-477: The match by themselves. After several minutes of Hardy and Styles fighting off all the members of The Kings of Wrestling, Savage returned to the arena and walked down to the ring, where he was tagged into the match by Hardy. A few moments later, Savage pinned Jarrett after a punch to the jaw. The main event was a Six Sides of Steel cage match contested between America's Most Wanted (Chris Harris and James Storm) and Triple X (Christopher Daniels and Elix Skipper), with
7957-654: The match with the Diamond Cutter . Accompanied by Coach D'Amore, Petey Williams defended the TNA X Division Championship against Chris Sabin. During the match, Sabin countered the Canadian Destroyer and attempted to perform his signature maneuver, the Cradle Shock . Williams countered the Cradle Shock into a Sharpshooter . While the referee wasn't looking, Williams hit Sabin with a pair of brass knuckles and gained
8066-535: The match, Shelley was attacked by The North, leaving Sabin to defend the titles by himself. Following Bound for Glory, Sabin started teaming with James Storm for the next two months, defeating XXXL ( Acey Romero and Larry D ) at Turning Point on November 14. Sabin and Shelley would reunite on the December 1 episode of Impact! , resuming the team with another victory over XXXL, The Guns were scheduled to team up with Rich Swann to face Kenny Omega and The Good Brothers at Hard To Kill on January 16, 2021, but Shelley
8175-406: The match. The next encounter pitted the team of Héctor Garza , Sonjay Dutt , and Sonny Siaki were pitted against the team of Kid Kash , Michael Shane , and Frankie Kazarian , who were accompanied by Traci , in a Six Man Tag Team match. Garza, Dutt, and Siaki won the match after Garza jumped off the top rope backwards and twisted in mid-air to perform a corkscrew moonsault onto Kazarian for
8284-567: The number one contender for the ROH World Television Championship . At Death Before Dishonor XVI , Sabin unsuccessfully challenged Punishment Martinez for the championship. During the January 12, 2019 ROH television tapings, Sabin suffered a fully torn ACL during a six-man tag team match, with a forecast recovering time of eight to twelve months. He left ROH in March 2019. In May 2015, Sabin faced KUSHIDA and Kyle O'Reilly in
8393-696: The number one contenders for the TNA World Tag Team Championship. On the October 29 episode of Impact! , Sabin suffered a concussion during a match with Team 3D after landing on his head. At Turning Point , The British Invasion ( Doug Williams and Brutus Magnus ) defeated Sabin and Shelley and Beer Money, Inc. in a three-way match to retain the TNA Tag Team titles. The following month at Final Resolution , British Invasion defeated Sabin and Shelley to once again retain their titles. At Destination X , Sabin and Shelley defeated Generation Me ( Jeremy Buck and Max Buck ) in an Ultimate X match to earn another shot at
8502-489: The pinfall victory to end the match, retaining the TNA X Division Championship. Next, the Kings of Wrestling (Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, and Jeff Jarrett) fought the team of Jeff Hardy, A.J. Styles, and Randy Savage in a Six Man Tag Team match. Earlier in the night, The Kings of Wrestling attacked Savage and stuffed him into the trunk of a limo, which sped off out of the arena's parking lot. Without Savage, Styles and Hardy had to work
8611-413: The pinfall victory. The third match was a Serengeti Survival match between Monty Brown and Abyss . In this match, there were no disqualifications and the only way to win was by pinfall, submission, or by slamming the opponent into a pile of thumbtacks . Mid-way through the match, Brown grabbed a bag of tacks and poured them on the ring-mat. Afterwards, Brown and Abyss fought to slam each other into
8720-587: The prefix "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. Numerous boxers have used ring names or nicknames as their mode of identification during their professional boxing careers, particularly during the late 19th century and the early 20th century. The ring name "Kid" was particularly popular, indicating the boxer's comparative youth. Since the mid 20th century, ring names for boxers have typically been less common, although nicknames have become more popular in recent years. Famous examples of boxers who used ring names include: Turning Point (2004 wrestling) The 2004 Turning Point
8829-406: The promotion the following month, competing at events on December 11 and 12. On December 11 the Motor City Machine Guns were defeated by No Limit in their New Japan return match. The following day they defeated Apollo 55 in the fourth match between the two teams. Sabin returned to Ring of Honor in early 2015. On the April 25 episode of Ring of Honor Wrestling , Sabin was revealed to be a member of
8938-452: The referee's back was turned. However, Sabin defeated Miguel at Against All Odds to win his ninth X Division Championship, breaking his own record again. On June 29 episode of Impact , Sabin successfully defended his title in his first title defense against Miguel via disqualification after he was attacked by Zachary Wentz . On July 15 at Slammiversary , Sabin lost the X Division Championship to Lio Rush , ending his reign at 36 days. At
9047-464: The ring in a move he dubbed the New School . This move caused Harris to fly off of the top of the cage and land on his back in the middle of the ring. A brief time later, all four men were positioned at certain points on one of the padded turnbuckles to perform what TNA calls the "Tower of Doom". In a variation of the move, Daniels was being held upside-down by Storm, until Skipper grabbed Storm and placed his head between Storm's legs to lift him off of
9156-483: The ring to clear out Alex Shelley and Kevin Nash , who were attacking Jay Lethal in another of Nash's X Division beatdowns. Nash would avoid a physical confrontation with Sabin, only to be challenged to a match by Sabin at Slammiversary 2006 which Nash was able to win. Sabin later became the number one contender for the TNA X Division Championship by defeating Alex Shelley at Hard Justice 2006 . Sabin would enter into an angle with fellow X-Division wrestlers to promote
9265-424: The ring. Sabin returned on the April 5 episode of Impact Wrestling , where he and Shelley defeated Mexican America in a tag team match, before announcing their intention of going for the TNA World Tag Team Championship, held by Magnus and Samoa Joe. On April 15 at Lockdown , The Motor City Machine Guns unsuccessfully challenged Magnus and Joe for the TNA World Tag Team Championship in a steel cage match. On May 21, it
9374-497: The same day Shelley made his return, Sabin suffered a knee injury in his match with Anarquia. Sabin underwent surgery on his right knee in early May. On the June 2 episode of Impact Wrestling , Shelley announced that Sabin had torn his ACL and MCL and would be out for the rest of 2011. On March 18, 2012, at Victory Road , TNA started promoting the returns of Sabin and the Motor City Machine Guns. On March 27, TNA president Dixie Carter announced that Sabin had been cleared to return to
9483-421: The second Ultimate X match. He was stripped of the title on March 31, 2004, after a knee injury left him unable to defend it. After returning from injury, Sabin took part in the TNA 2004 World X Cup Tournament in May 2004, forming Team TNA with Jerry Lynn, Christopher Daniels and Elix Skipper . On May 26, Team USA defeated Team Mexico , Team Canada and Team Japan in a two-hour pay-per-view event which saw
9592-459: The summer he may trade in the X Division title for a World Heavyweight Championship match. On the June 27 episode of Impact Wrestling , he lost the X Division title to an impostor Suicide (who was later revealed to be Austin Aries) in a three-way match, which also included Kenny King, but defeated Aries and the newly christened Manik the following week, to regain the title for a record-tying sixth time. On
9701-422: The tacks until Brown lifted Abyss up onto his shoulders and threw him forward down to the ring-mat. Brown's throw caused Abyss to fall on the tacks with his head and back, giving the win to Brown. A tag team match followed in the fourth match, with Pat Kenney teaming with Johnny B. Badd to fight The New York Connection ( Johnny Swinger and Glenn Gilbertti ). Jacqueline was the special guest referee for
9810-453: The tapings of Impact 1000 on September 9, Sabin defeated Rush to win his tenth X Division Championship. On September 28 episode of Impact , Sabin successfully defended his title in his first title defense against Alan Angels . On October 21 at Bound for Glory , Sabin successfully defended the X Division Championship against Kenta . On December 9 at Final Resolution , Sabin and Shelley were defeated by Josh Alexander and Zack Sabre Jr. in
9919-559: The team of Jeff Hardy , A.J. Styles , and Randy Savage against The Kings of Wrestling ( Jeff Jarrett , Kevin Nash , and Scott Hall ) was another highly promoted match. At Victory Road during the main event for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship between Jarrett and Hardy, Nash and Hall interfered and cost Hardy the match. Afterwards, Nash, Hall, and Jarrett joined forces and dubbed themselves "The Kings of Wrestling"; they then proceeded to attack Hardy Following
10028-533: The teams fight one another in a variety of matches. The finals saw Sabin wrestle the Canadian Petey Williams and the Mexican Héctor Garza in an Ultimate X match, which Sabin won when he retrieved a large red "X" which had been suspended above the ring on steel cables. For the remainder of 2004, Sabin contended for the X Division Championship. He won another Ultimate X match on November 9 to win
10137-406: The title on the following episode of Impact! , but lost again due to a miscommunication. For the next three months, the Motor City Machine Guns went inactive, as Shelley suffered a collarbone injury and Sabin returned to the X Division. On the April 28 episode of Impact! , Shelley made his return, saving Sabin from a beatdown at the hands of Mexican America ( Anarquia and Hernandez). Ironically,
10246-558: The title to A.J. Styles in the Fight for the Right tournament. Prior to the match, Sabin showed signs of turning heel when he expressed his disdain for X-Division pioneer, and face, Jerry Lynn for doubting his focus in an interview with Christy Hemme . Sabin completed his heel turn two weeks later when he refused to help fellow X-Division star Sonjay Dutt from an assault from Samoa Joe . Sabin went on to challenge Christopher Daniels at Genesis for
10355-429: The title; defeating him at Against All Odds 2007 by using the ring ropes for leverage. At Destination X , Sabin defeated Lynn in a two out of three falls match to retain the X Division Championship. After the match, however, a masked man, who was later revealed to be Christopher Daniels, attacked both Sabin and Lynn. At Lockdown Sabin retained his title against Alex Shelley, Sonjay Dutt, Jay Lethal, and Shark Boy in
10464-438: The top rope and performed a leg drop across Harris's neck and head. Skipper followed by covering Harris for a pinfall, however, he kicked out before the count of three. Harris later climbed up to the top of the cage. While Harris sat on top of the cage, Skipper climbed up at another corner and walked across the top similar to walking a tightrope . Skipper then jumped and grabbed Harris's head with his legs, falling backwards towards
10573-467: The two following matches, a steel cage match and an Ultimate X match, to even the score to 2–2 and set up a deciding match for the August 12 episode of Impact! . On the August 12 episode of Impact! the Motor City Machine Guns defeated Beer Money, Inc. in a Two Out of Three Falls match to win the Best of Five Series and retain the TNA World Tag Team Championship. At both No Surrender and Bound for Glory ,
10682-456: The video games TNA IMPACT! , TNA Impact!: Cross the Line and TNA Wrestling Impact! . In 2008, Sabin, along with Alex Shelley, appeared in an episode of MTV MADE , teaching a student the basics of professional wrestling. Harter was inspired by Hulk Hogan and Bret Hart . Harter used the money he earned from working at Subway to pay to attend a wrestling school, but also took classes at
10791-455: The wrestler's gimmick changes, either subtly or dramatically. After debuting in WWE as the " Connecticut Blueblood " Hunter Hearst Helmsley, Paul Levesque's character later morphed into Triple H . A more drastic change sometimes occurs when a wrestler turns heroic or villainous , such as when Hulk Hogan joined the villainous nWo (New World Order) and became "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan. His new attitude
10900-557: Was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), which took place on December 5, 2004, at the TNA Impact! Zone in Orlando, Florida . It was the first event under the Turning Point chronology. Eight matches were featured on the event's card . The main event was a Six Sides of Steel cage match with a pre-match stipulation that
11009-425: Was announced that Sabin had torn his left ACL during the match. On the July 5 episode of Impact Wrestling , Sabin returned to talk about his injury, but was interrupted and eventually attacked by TNA World Heavyweight Champion Bobby Roode. Sabin underwent surgery on his ACL the following day. Sabin returned to Impact Wrestling on May 2, 2013, defeating Sonjay Dutt and Zema Ion in a number one contender's match for
11118-625: Was contested inside a 16-foot (4.9 m) high steel structure with six sides—known as Six Sides of Steel; to win a wrestler must either gain a pinfall or submission , with the losing team disbanding . Participants in the main event included the tag team pairings of America's Most Wanted ( Chris Harris and James Storm ) and Triple X ( Christopher Daniels and Elix Skipper ). The storyline build to this match on September 8 at TNA's last weekly PPV event (#110) . During this event, Harris replaced an injured Daniels and teamed with Skipper to defeat The Naturals (Andy Douglas and Chase Stevens ) for
11227-475: Was defeated by his tag team partner Alex Shelley for the X Division title. Sabin and Shelley then floated began competing in minor matches. The two eventually began popping up in the crowd with various signs, such as "Yes, we still work here." They would then be given their own broadcast table and would occasionally do commentary for various matches. On the October 22 episode of Impact! , Sabin and Shelley won an Ultimate X match against Lethal Consequences to become
11336-596: Was due to Hogan being advertised as " The Incredible Hulk Hogan" early in his career, while Marvel owned the trademark for their comic book character. Sometimes, a wrestler will buy the rights to their own ring name; for example, Steve Borden owns the rights to the name Sting and licenses it to the musician of the same name . The wrestler formerly known as Test took this one step further and legally changed his name to "Andrew Test Martin". Jim Hellwig, known as The Ultimate Warrior , had his name legally changed to simply "Warrior". In many cases, ring names evolve over time as
11445-595: Was enhanced by changing his costume color scheme from his famous red and yellow to nWo's black and white. Steve Williams adopted the ring name Steve Austin to avoid confusion with the then-more established performer "Dr. Death" Steve Williams . Austin would wrestle under that name for several years before signing with the WWF and being given the name "the Ringmaster". This gimmick failed to catch on, and Austin reverted to his established name, reaching his greatest level of success with
11554-415: Was later made official by TNA without The Kings of Wrestling agreeing to it. A featured preliminary match on Turning Point's card was for the TNA X Division Championship , in which the champion, Petey Williams , defended the championship against Chris Sabin . The match was promoted for Turning Point on the November 12 episode of Impact! . In the weeks leading to the encounter, Sabin stated he had found
11663-531: Was rated a 3 out of 10, while the Six Sides of Steel cage match main event was rated a 9 out of 10. In his review, Kapur stated that he felt the Six Man Tag Team match was "an overbooked train wreck whose only saving grace was Styles's performance, as he tried to wring out something decent out of the old-timers". The X Division Championship and main event bouts gained better reviews from Kapur. According to Kapur,
11772-645: Was replaced by Moose . On the March 10, 2022 episode of Impact! , Sabin would reunite with Shelley in his feud with Jay White , leading to a match scheduled against White and Chris Bey on the March 17 episode. On December 9, 2022 episode of Impact! , The Guns defeated Heath and Rhino to capture the Impact World Tag Team Championship for a third time, ending their 62 days reign. On the March 2, 2023 episode of Impact , The Motor City Machine Guns lost their titles to Bullet Club members Ace Austin and Chris Bey, ending their reign at 78 days. On
11881-520: Was reported that Shelley had left TNA, disbanding the Motor City Machine Guns. Sabin made his first appearance since Shelley's departure from TNA on the live May 31 episode of Impact Wrestling , unsuccessfully challenging Austin Aries for the X Division Championship. On the June 14 episode of Impact Wrestling , Sabin unsuccessfully challenged Aries for the X Division Championship in an Ultimate X match, which also included Zema Ion , during which Sabin appeared to injure his left knee. The following day, it
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