Alex Shelley says fans could have seen the Time Splitters compete more in WWE if not for the COVID-19 pandemic.
Shelley competed for WWE in 2020, as he was revealed as KUSHIDA's partner in the 2020 Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. The tournament marked the first time Shelley and KUSHIDA teamed up together in New Japan Pro-Wrestling since 2015. They worked two live events before they lost an opening-round match-up to the Grizzled Young Veterans (James Drake & Zack Gibson).
During a virtual signing with Captain's Corner, Shelley shared his thoughts on teaming with KUSHIDA. First, he looked back on the origins of the team.
"Oh, I love Time Splitters. We started in 2012, so I left TNA in 2012, went to New Japan. I was under contract for three years, and the first thing I did was start teaming with KUSHIDA, and we had met him before because he had trained in Canada at the same school that we trained at. He was a few years after us, so our first time face-to-face meeting was 2008, and then he finished his excursion, which a lot of Japanese wrestlers do to gain some seasoning, and he went back to Japan. When he got back, I remember watching some of his matches for a smaller company, and oh my god, he looked just like the Motor City Machine Guns. Just like us, like if you mashed both of us together, you got this. He wrestled the part too, but he was always really, really good. We became best friends. I was best man at his wedding. He was there for me for a lot of different parts of my life and [we] stayed in touch," Shelley said.
Shelley then noted that, at one point, he and KUSHIDA could have worked in WWE more. He referenced their time in NXT, which ended when Shelley and KUSHIDA lost in the first round of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. While KUSHIDA stayed in WWE, Shelley left the company. The veteran noted that they could have been in WWE more if the COVID-19 pandemic never happened.
"There was almost a point in 2020, before the pandemic, like if the pandemic hadn’t happened, you might have saw Time Splitters in WWE a lot more. But because that happened and things worked out the way they did, we got Time Splitters elsewhere. GCW, some independents, and IMPACT. Most importantly, we got Time Machine in that too, which to me is the most fun. That is my favorite thing to do. How lucky am I to have [Sabin] and KUSHIDA, and we all work together really, really, really well. So those are really special matches for me. Not to discount anything here [points to world title], but at the same time, my heart is with Time Machine in a lot of ways," Shelley said.
Shelley is currently the reigning IMPACT World Champion; he won the title by beating Steve Maclin at IMPACT Against All Odds 2023. KUSHIDA left WWE in 2022, and he has competed for NJPW and IMPACT since his departure. He won the Ultimate X match at IMPACT Slammiversary 2023.
The Time Splitters will compete on the July 27 episode of IMPACT Wrestling. More information is available here.
Check out the card for the July 25 episode of WWE NXT here. Fightful will have live coverage of the show as it airs.
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