Match Point is an ongoing series at Last Word on Pro Wrestling, where we look at intriguing matchups in indie wrestling and beyond. They may be dream matches, first-time matchups, or hotly anticipated rematches. In this edition, we will focus on the upcoming trios match with FTR and Wardlow taking on the Motor City Machine Guns and Jay Lethal.
AEW returns to the NOW Arena (formally known as the Sears Center) for All Out 2022. Arguably the biggest show on AEW’s calendar, the promotion returns to the building where its spiritual predecessor All In took place in 2018. One trios match with cross-promotion participants will take place. Jay Lethal will team with IMPACT Wrestling tag team The Motor City Machine Guns to take on FTR and Wardlow. Let’s take an in-depth look at this cross-promotional match.
FTR and Wardlow vs The Motor City Machine Guns and Jay Lethal: What to Know
AEW and IMPACT’s History
This is far from the first time that AEW and IMPACT have crossed paths since AEW’s formation in 2019. At the end of 2020 IMPACT Wrestling executive, Don Callis began to corner Kenny Omega for his matches. Most notable so when Omega challenged Jon Moxley for the AEW World Championship at the Winter is Coming edition of AEW Dynamite. Callis’s interference helped Omega pick up the win and become AEW World Champion. As they ran out of Daily’s Place they made a shocking announcement, Omega would appear on Tuesday night on Callis’s show IMPACT Wrestling.
Omega’s appearance was not a one-off. He would go on to win the IMPACT Wrestling Championship and appear in both AEW and IMPACT with both titles. Soon after IMPACT Wrestling tag team The Good Brothers would appear on AEW and would align with Omega and The Young Bucks. AEW competitors Frankie Kazarian and Christopher Daniels would also make their way to IMPACT where both have a storied history. For weeks it seemed to be a question of who would appear on which show. Even Private Party made their way to IMPACT for a brief time.
Christian Cage who had quite the history with IMPACT made his way to AEW at Revolution 2021 shortly after the crossover began. He would open the first ever Rampage challenging Kenny Omega for the IMPACT World Championship. Cage was victorious and brought the title back to IMPACT. He held the title until Bound for Glory 2021 where he lost the title to Josh Alexander. This ended the working relationship between the two promotions until now.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vosJJVn5qXA
Machine Guns and Jay Lethal’s Journey
The Motor City Machine Guns and Jay Lethal have a history with each other as part of IMPACT Wrestling when it was known as TNA Wrestling. Their history goes back to the early TNA days of The Machine Guns as Kevin Nash left his alliance with Lethal and Sonjay Dutt to manage The Machine Guns although it was a short-lived alliance.
In 2007 Team 3D would declare war on the X-Divison following a loss to The Machine Guns. The Machine Guns and Jay Lethal were in the center of the feud as they teamed against Brother Ray, Brother Devon, and Brother Devine as Team 3D had attacked Jay Lethal and Sonjay Dutt shortly after their loss to The Machine Guns. The feud advanced into 2008 as The Machine Guns and Lethal took on Team 3D in a no disqualification match at Against All Odds. The stakes were high as Team 3D had stolen the X-Divison Championship belt from Lethal and if The Machine Guns and Lethal lost the X-Division would disband. The Machine Guns and Lethal were triumphant and Lethal retook possession of the X-Division Championship.
The TNA Frontline
Lethal and the Motor City Machine Guns teamed up once again in 2008 alongside A.J. Styles, Samoa Joe, Consequences Creed, PeteyWilliams ,Eric Young, and ODB. They were known as the TNA Frontline and were created to oppose the recently formed Main Event Mafia. The Motor City Machine Guns would turn on Lethal and his partner Consequences Creed months after the alliance formed after losing a tag match to the duo. Later that year Lethal and The Machine Guns attempted to unmask Suicide in an angle that lasted a few months.
This ended their major time together in TNA. They would go on to have a few one-off appearances together before both parties departed TNA in 2011.
Going All Elite
Jay Lethal made his AEW debut at the Full Gear pay-per-view in November of 2021. Shortly after he, Sonjay Dutt, and, Satnam Singh became locked in a feud with Samoa Joe as part of the rebooted Ring of Honor. Following this feud he called out Wardlow for a match for the TNT Championship at Battle of the Belts III. Wardlow accepted and retained successfully against Lethal. The following week on Dynamite Lethal, Dutt, and Singh came to the ring claiming they weren’t done with Wardlow yet. Wardlow came to the ring but he wasn’t alone. FTR came out alongside him as backup for the three-on-three showdown.
The following week on Dynamite Lethal defeated Dax Hardwood of FTR in a singles match. He laid out that the match at All Out would be a trios match and introduced his partners….The Motor City Machine Guns. Now they are ready to go #AllEllite and step into an AEW ring for the first time ever. With the history of this trio both teaming with and against each other the chemistry is undoubtedly there.
FTR and Wardlow’s Journey
The Year of FTR
FTR and Wardlow come into this match against Lethal and the Motor City Machine Guns both having a great 2022. With FTR having extremely memorable and incredibly well-received matches against The Briscoe Brothers, and the reactions they get any time they enter a building they are in contention for many year-end awards. The duo is the current AAA World Tag Team Champions and this year alone have captured the ROH World Tag Team Titles and IWGP Tag Team Titles.
FTR has long been regarded as one of the best tag teams in modern wrestling. One could argue that 2022 has been the year that allowed them to take center stage and show what they can do. With two match of the year candidates against The Briscoes in the books and matches against the Rock and Roll Express, CM Punk/Jon Moxley, Hermanos Lee, Roppongi Vice, United Empire, and The American Wolfes the duo is having a year to remember.
Wardlow Breaks Out
As for Wardlow, he started this year as the heavy for MJF. Things broke down between the two and Wardlow finally turned on MJF during MJF’s match against CM Punk at Revolution 2022. Wardlow feuded with MJF for the first part of 2022, ending at Double or Nothing when he defeated MJF in just under eight minutes. This was after he had to complete a few stipulations including taking 10 belt lashings, and defeating Shawn Spears in a cage match with MJF as the referee.
From there Wardlow entered the TNT Championship picture. He defeated Scorpio Sky in a street fight to win the TNT Championship. Now parts of The Pinnacle will reunite to take on the Motor City Machine Guns and Jay Lethal at All Out.
FTR and Wardlow vs The Motor City Machine Guns and Jay Lethal Takes Place at All Out 2022
Jay Lethal and The Motor City Machine Guns will square off against FTR and Wardlow on Sunday, September 4th, 2022 at All Out. Live from the NOW Arena, the match will take place on the main card starting at 8 pm eastern time. The show can be ordered on BR Live in the United States or FITE TV internationally.
Stay tuned to the Last Word on Pro Wrestling for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the important news in the wrestling world. As well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world. You can catch AEW Dynamite Wednesday nights at 8 PM ET on TBS and AEW Dark: Elevation (Monday nights) and AEW: Dark (Tuesday nights) at 7 PM ET on YouTube. In addition, AEW Rampage airs on TNT at 10 PM EST every Friday.
