AJ Styles Didn’t Agree With WWE Releases Of Motor City Machine Guns And The New Day

AJ Styles has not held back on the releases of some of his friends from WWE.

While WWE releases are unfortunately par for the course in the modern day, this year in particular has seen some shocking departures. With regard to the tag team division, both the Motor City Machine Guns and The New Day have left the company, with the latter coming as a result of a contract dispute, leaving many fans disappointed that more wasn’t done to keep both legendary teams as key parts of the roster. Now, it seems viewers weren’t alone in feeling aggrieved by the respective WWE exits of Motor City Machine Guns and New Day.

Today, AJ Styles dropped the first episode of his reborn “AJ Styles Show” and, as part of the “New Beginnings” episode, he talked about some of the releases that happened earlier in the year in WWE. Two that he spotlighted were the releases of the Motor City Machine Guns and New Day, as he felt it was a mistake for both to be let go:

“I love those boys [New Day]. That’s all I can tell you. I love them. I think somebody’s about to get something good. I love these boys [Motor City Machine Guns], too. It’s difficult because I want to see them do well because they work really hard… I have so much respect for these two tag teams and know what they’re capable of. I don’t know if it was the smartest decision letting those two tag teams go. I don’t know. I can tell you I wouldn’t bet that it was a smart decision. I am biased. Two guys that I’ve known forever in Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin, and then Austin Creed, who I have literally known for over two decades. We go way back. And Kofi is such an awesome dude. I can’t say enough good things about these four guys. They’re amazing. I hope they kill it because I love these guys. Those are my boys. I freaking want to see them do well.”

-AJ Styles

His comments mirror a lot of what’s been said amongst fans and critics in the wrestling space. Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin were let go as part of the post-WrestleMania talent cuts back in April, while, around a week later, Kofi and Austin Creed took their release after TKO attempted to restructure their contracts for lower pay.

Both were huge losses for the company, further depleting a tag team division that many feel isn’t being given enough of a spotlight. It’s worth noting that there were no tag team championship matches on either night of SummerSlam this past weekend.

With their non-compete clauses expiring on July 23, the Motor City Machine Guns have already debuted for All Elite Wrestling, coming in on the most recent episode of Collision, with reports later indicating that many in the locker room were happy to see them become “All Elite”. You can read more about that here.

As for Austin and Kofi, many expect them to be in AEW soon, with Creed going out of his way to repeatedly talk to, and talk about, his gaming rival Kenny Omega, which you can read more about here.

As always, we’ll aim to provide any further updates on both the Motor City Machine Guns and the former members of New Day as soon as we hear more.

If you use the quote above, please credit the original source with a h/t and link back to WrestlePurists.com for the transcription.