'You can be Lucky' - Alex Shelley on why John Cena & 3 Stars Found WWE Success

It was a case of better late than never for MCMG, who had established themselves as one of the most celebrated tag teams in pro wrestling outside WWE. Their peak came in TNA, where they became three-time TNA World Tag Team Champions, and Shelley even claimed the TNA World Heavyweight Championship.

Shelley, 42, and Sabin, 43, also held the Ring of Honor tag titles and many other honors in promotions on the independent circuit. They had long been touted as potential WWE signings but had to wait until their forties to become fully-fledged members of the roster, claiming the World Tag Team Championships on their debuts.

Making it to WWE is just as hard as remaining in the company, and Shelley feels there are three requirements to be a success. He said (via WrestleTalk):

"There are three ways to be successful in wrestling. You can be chosen, you can be lucky, or you can be a master of the craft."

Shelly used four examples, including 17-time world champion Cena, who fit the criteria:

"Your superstars, your John Cenas, your Cody Rhodes, your Roman Reigns, your CM Punks - they're all three."

Cena became WWE's golden boy during the PG era and perhaps is the biggest babyface in history, thanks to his connection with young fans. Cody Rhodes had to bide his time before making it to the top of the business despite being the son of the late WWE Hall of Famer Dusty Rhodes, but he is now a two-time WWE Champion.

Roman Reigns similarly has wrestling running through his bloodline as he too is from a family of WWE Hall of Famers, including his father Sika. The Tribal Chief failed to get over as a singles star before tweaking his character and helping the company enter a boom period as the fourth-longest-reigning WWE Champion in history.

The most intriguing example Shelley gave was CM Punk, who definitely wasn't lucky given the trials and tribulations encountered during his career. But the Best in the World, chosen by Paul Heyman, has cemented his legacy as an all-time great and a seven-time world champion.

Shelley added that MCMG only ticked one box that led to their late WWE arrivals:

"Us, that third one is what got us in the door. We've made the most of every opportunity, we're going to continue to do so, and it's been a dream come true."

MCMG will go down as one of the best tag teams in history when they decide to call time on their careers. They were members of a TNA roster that put up a fight against the mighty WWE back in the 2000s.

"Should Have Always Been Here" - Kevin Owens on MCMG

Kevin Owens was a familiar face to MCMG when they joined SmackDown last year after encountering one another in Ring of Honor years ago. While Shelley and Sabin were competing on the indies and in TNA, Owens was rising through the ranks in WWE and eventually became Universal Champion.

The Prizefighter gave his thoughts on the duo's SmackDown debuts a month after and told Yahoo! Sports:

"The Machine Guns joining WWE recently was really surreal, because it’s almost like we all made it. Many of us from that time all got to the mainstream wrestling level or whatever, but the Guns, the Machine Guns, they had done TNA, but they never got to WWE. I guess you assume after a while, it’s not going to happen."

Owens added:

"For them to finally end up here, it was pretty crazy. Yet when I see them at SmackDown, it’s like, ‘Oh yeah, of course those guys are here.’ It’s like they’ve always been here because they probably should have always been here."

It's a shame MCMG took so long to land in WWE, as they may well have helped revive the promotion's tag team division, which was faltering in the late 2000s and early 2010s. This period often saw main event singles stars placed in unfriendly partnerships to further storylines, prioritising this over tag team wrestling.