Steve Maclin and Josh Alexander will clash at IMPACT Victory Road in a bout months in the making.
Maclin and Alexander were scheduled to meet at IMPACT Rebellion for the IMPACT World Title, but Alexander had to pull out of the match with an injury. Maclin went on to defeat KUSHIDA to win the vacant title.
Alexander returned at IMPACT Slammiversary to confront Alex Shelley, who won the title from Maclin at IMPACT Against All Odds. Maclin was sidelined at the time, but returned at IMPACT Emergence to attack Alexander.
The two men are considered to be the top two contenders to the title, and IMPACT World Champion Alex Shelley has a vested interest in the bout.
"They're both so good. Personal discrepancies aside, they both work so hard and are so talented. When I first met Maclin, it was in the tag team tournament at NXT. It was KUSHIDA and I against him and [Westin Blake]. I thought he was so awesome. 'This guy is really phenomenal.' He reminded me so much of Bobby Roode. I tell him that to this day. He loves wrestling. I can say the same thing about Josh Alexander. They pursue it in different ways but they're about the same age, the same size, and they have a lot of the same attributes. They're hard, tough, solid wrestlers. I've gone toe to toe with both. Maclin and I went 25 minutes, Josh and I went over 30. They're just so good. I love being tested that way. Either one of them as challengers, that's phenomenal to me. If they can take the belt from me, by all means, attempt to do so. Ultimately, I view championship reigns as Darwinistic. If I can't maintain it, it's not mine to hold anymore. They're both worthy of being champion," Shelley said while speaking to Jeremy Lambert & Joel Pearl on In The Weeds.
Steve Maclin sent in a question to the show, asking Shelley when he would get his rematch for the title.
Shelley replied, "We don't make the matches at IMPACT. At IMPACT, the wrestlers do not have the authority to do so. That's not my question to answer."
If Maclin wants his rematch, he'll likely have to defeat Alexander at IMPACT Victory Road.
Elsewhere during the interview, Shelley commented on the rise and future of Trey Miguel, who he'll be in tag team action against at Victory Road. You can find his full comments on Miguel by clicking here.
Watch the full interview with Shelley in the video above.
