WWE Rumors: Signing Alex Shelley Would Give Tag Team Scene a Much-Needed Boost

Rumors recently surfaced that the contract of TNA star Alex Shelley had expired and that he intended to leave the company. It now appears as though there was merit to those rumors and that Shelley may be on the verge of joining the WWE.

According to Nick Paglino of WrestleZone.com, the WWE has contacted Shelley, but he has not yet signed a contract. The 29-year-old Shelley burst onto the scene with ROH and he has been a part of TNA since 2004. He is perhaps best known for forming the Motor City Machine Guns tag team with Chris Sabin.

WrestleZone.com is reporting that the WWE may covet Shelley for a cruiserweight project that has been in the works, and while he would likely be great in that role as he was a strong X Division performer in TNA, the WWE could really bolster the tag team division in a big way if they can find him a partner.

Shelley and Sabin are former TNA Tag Team Champions and were considered by most to be the best team in the company, along with Beer Money. Sabin's contract status with TNA is uncertain, but even if the WWE is unable to get him into the fold as well, there are plenty of great choices to pair with Shelley in order to form a legitimate tag team.

It is no secret that the WWE's tag team division has been in shambles for quite some time. The thrown-together team of Kofi Kingston and R-Truth currently holds the titles, with squads like The Usos, Primo and Epico, Jack Swagger and Dolph Ziggler and Darren Young and Titus O'Neil also in the mix. All of those teams have talent, but none are pushed properly and none get a chance to build any momentum.

Perhaps the biggest reason why the tag team division is awful is that it isn't given ample television time, but new and exciting teams need to be thrown in the mix as well. Shelley is an entertaining high flyer with great in-ring skills, and there is no shortage of wrestlers already on the WWE roster who could complement him nicely.

A few that come to mind immediately are Justin Gabriel, Tyson Kidd, Trent Barreta and the suspended/injured Evan Bourne. None of them are doing much of anything at the moment, but they all possess great skill sets that would allow them to act in a similar role that Sabin did along with Shelley as the Motor City Machine Guns.

It isn't the case any longer, as most of their top teams have broken up, but the one thing that TNA seemed to have on WWE was a great tag division. Shelley was a huge part of it, and it would be a shame for the WWE to waste his talents as a tag team competitor if they were to sign him. There aren't a lot of guys currently in the company with a lot of tag team experience since it has been phased out, so Shelley could be invaluable.

There has been talk that the WWE brass is interested in making tag team wrestling relevant again, but it hasn't happened to this point. One way to prove their commitment, though, is to sign Shelley and pair him up with another capable superstar. There are available pieces that can come together to form a great tag division, but it's up to the WWE to make it happen.

Fans as a whole want to see great tag team wrestling in the WWE again, and Shelley is a guy who can help provide it to some degree. Regardless of how Shelley is used, he would be a great signing since he is a fine wrestler, but the company has a chance to strengthen something that is a major weak link, so they might as well take it.

The WWE has done a nice job of bringing in talent from lower-level organizations as of late, and Shelley would be another example of that. The true test is whether the new talent is utilized correctly, and to find that out, we'll just have to wait and see.

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