TNA always tried to develop a strong tag team division with great duos getting pushed hard. The two teams that stand out most when looking back at the company’s history were Beer Money and the Motor City Machine Guns. Bobby Roode and James Storm thrived as a unit, finding instant chemistry as Beer Money, proving that singles wrestlers could become a great team.
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The close friendship between Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley saw them wanting to work together when forming the Motor City Machine Guns. TNA had one of their best ideas when the two teams had a best of five series to establish the division. But looking back at both teams' significant impact on TNA, who will go down as the greatest tag team in Impact Wrestling history?
10 Beer Money: Topped Their Former Tag Teams Instantly
The track record of Bobby Roode and James Storm before forming Beer Money saw them both involved in previous successful teams. Roode teamed up with Eric Young as part of the hated Team Canada faction.
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The duo of Storm and Chris Harris was arguably TNA’s top team as America’s Most Wanted before their split. Any team forming with two former successful tag wrestlers is a tough task, but Roode and Storm instantly shed their prior reputations to establish their new duos.
9 MCMG: Feud With The Young Bucks
TNA often limited the younger wrestlers from moving further up the card. Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley played a huge role in recruiting The Young Bucks to TNA and helped them get signed after facing off in their tryout match.
The run of The Young Bucks was a disappointment in TNA, but that didn’t stop them from having good matches. TNA hosted an outstanding series of matches between the Bucks and Motor City Machine Guns that spotlighted them.
8 Beer Money: Comedic Moments
The versatility of James Storm and Bobby Roode allowed them to contribute to various character depths. Both could mix it up for the intense matches with violence and layered storytelling. However, they started to get over more by showing new sides to their characters.
Storm and Roode had hilarious moments of mixing comedy with their great matches. The funnier backstage skits as heels and even funnier segments as faces helped them get over as bigger than the average tag team. Beer Money’s time in Fortune saw the humor becoming a strong part of their gimmick.
7 MCMG: International Success
TNA allowing Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley to team up saw them getting to take bookings elsewhere as well. The working relationship with TNA and New Japan saw the Motor City Machine Guns wrestling in NJPW on a few occasions.
Sabin and Shelley represented TNA when winning the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Championship during their feud with Apollo 55. The international success added to their TNA reputation when returning to bigger pushes.
6 Beer Money: Bigger Star Power
The rise of Beer Money saw Bobby Roode and James Storm having strong singles runs before becoming a duo. Fans developed more respect for them as a team since they presented the ability to thrive in singles action whenever they wanted to.
Beer Money never jumped the shark since they had the star power to move around the card and mix it up with the occasional main event duos. The drawing ability of Beer Money was given a bigger opportunity to break out.
5 MCMG: Important Reunion
TNA still benefits from the success of the Motor City Machine Guns as seen with their recent return in 2020. The company trying to gain attention by playing to their history saw Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley reuniting in a surprise moment at Slammiversary.
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Sabin joined TNA as a producer, but the appeal of the team having another run convinced Shelley to join as a talent as well. TNA gained a lot of positive attention for the first time when the Motor City Machine Guns created momentum moving forward.
4 Beer Money: Split Was Emotional
The legacy of a great tag team can grow when the ending adds to the memory. Beer Money still teamed up when Bobby Roode and James Storm tried to move forward in their singles career during a series of matches with a title shot on the line.
Roode won the title shot, but he lost his match to Kurt Angle. The shocking aftermath saw Storm defeating Angle when getting an opportunity to win the TNA World Championship. Roode turned on Storm in a singles match between the two to steal the title and end their tag team.
3 MCMG: Better Matches
The Motor City Machine Guns were considered the top in-ring tag team during their rise in TNA. Both Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley were already top-tier performers in the X-Division when they eventually started teaming up.
The matches of MCMG were guaranteed to find success regardless of how much time TNA gave them. Sabin and Shelley made the most of their opportunities even though things didn’t work out in the long run.
2 Beer Money: Most Tag Title Reigns
Beer Money dominated the TNA tag team scene for their entire run by always having a role in the title picture. James Storm and Bobby Roode became synonymous with the TNA Tag Team Championship and are still thought of when discussing the belts today.
The five tag title reigns for Beer Money is tied with the American Wolves for the most in TNA history. Fans loved having Roode and Storm as the faces of the tag division during various important chapters. Beer Money accomplished something special as the flag bearer of the division.
1 MCMG: Kicked Out of Team 3D's Finisher To End Their Run
The Dudley Boyz moving to TNA as Team 3D added another strong chapter of their careers. TNA moved Team 3D to the top of the tag team division for their entire run until it reached the point where a change was needed. Both wrestlers teased retirement heading into a tag title shot against the Motor City Machine Guns.
Chris Sabin was the second wrestler to ever kick out of the 3D finisher after Masato Tanaka did it in ECW. The win for the Motor City Machine Guns cemented them as the elite tag team in TNA before Team 3D split up following their defeat.
