Alex Shelley

Patrick Kenneth Martin (born May 23, 1983), better known by the ring name Alex Shelley, is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand. He is widely known for his tenure in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), where he is the TNA 2006 World X Cup Tournament winner, a former one-time TNA World Heavyweight Champion and a former one-time TNA X Division Champion, but is best known for his work as a tag team with Chris Sabin as the Motor City Machine Guns, having become three-time TNA World Tag Team Champions, and won the Gauntlet for the Gold in 2008. He is recognized as the tenth Triple Crown winner in TNA, having won the TNA World Championship, the X Division Championship, and the Tag Team Championship.

Martin first rose to fame on the independent circuit, and gained breakout success while performing for Ring of Honor (ROH), having won the ROH World Tag Team Championship with Chris Sabin as one-half the Motor City Machine Guns. He is also known for his tenures in Japan with Pro Wrestling Zero1-Max and New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where in the latter promotion, he is a former three-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion alongside Kushida as one-half of the Time Splitters, and a former Strong Openweight Tag Team Champion as one-half of the Motor City Machine Guns.

Martin initially started training in early 2002 under Breyer Wellington and Truth Martini. He then joined the Border City Wrestling's Can-Am Wrestling School, and began training under Joe E. Legend and Scott D'Amore. Martin debuted in March 2002 as Alex Shelley, a name he created by combining the forename of Alex, the protagonist of the 1962 novel A Clockwork Orange, with the surname of Pete Shelley, the lead singer of the 1970s punk rock band the Buzzcocks. Six months into his career, he was hospitalized with a shattered jaw when he slipped on a wet ring and hit the unpadded ring apron. Shelley had steel plates inserted into his jaw as a result. After eight months, Shelley joined Ian Rotten's IWA Mid-South promotion. He worked in the IWA for six months before joining the Philadelphia-based Combat Zone Wrestling. Not long after that, he joined Ring of Honor (ROH).

Shelley debuted in Ring of Honor on June 28, 2003, at WrestleRave 2003, facing B. J. Whitmer, Tony Mamaluke and Jimmy Jacobs in a Four Corners Survival match, which was won by Whitmer. He appeared with ROH sporadically throughout the remainder of 2003 and early 2004, feuding with Jimmy Jacobs and Matt Stryker.

At Generation Next on May 22, 2004, Shelley formed a stable, "Generation Next", with Austin Aries, Jack Evans and Roderick Strong. Generation Next, led by Shelley, spent the entirety of the event attacking other wrestlers, claiming that they were "the best that Ring of Honor has to offer". They began feuding with wrestlers with a respect for tradition such as Matt Stryker, Jimmy Rave and R. J. Brewer.

On July 17, 2004, at Reborn: Completion, Shelley lost to Doug Williams in the finals of a tournament for the vacant ROH Pure Championship. That same night, Generation Next attacked Ricky Steamboat during his confrontation with CM Punk, with Punk subsequently siding with Steamboat to fend off Generation Next. This led to a feud between Generation Next and the allies of Ricky Steamboat, culminating in a forty–five-minute-long eight–man elimination match at The Midnight Express Reunion on October 2, pitting Generation Next against CM Punk, John Walters, Jimmy Jacobs and Ace Steel. The match was won by Generation Next, with Shelley and Aries surviving. Following the match, Shelley announced his intention of challenging Samoa Joe for the ROH World Championship. Aries then announced he too was going after the title, with Shelley telling him to "remember where your loyalties lie".

On December 26, 2004, at Final Battle 2004, Shelley and Strong were defeated by CM Punk and Steve Corino. Following the match, Aries, feeling that Shelley was spending far too much time in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) than he was leading Generation Next, came to the ring and demanded that Shelley step–down as the leader. Before Shelley could give an answer, he was attacked by Aries and Strong and kicked out of Generation Next, turning him into a fan favorite in the process.

Shelley feuded with Generation Next throughout early 2005, unsuccessfully challenging Aries for the ROH World Championship at Manhattan Mayhem on May 7. On July 23, Shelley was in a tag match against Aries and Strong, with him choosing a mystery partner. Shelley gave speculation in a backstage promo as to who his partner would be, saying it could be a new wrestler making their debut in Ring of Honor. He later revealed that he did not bring someone in to ROH, but had joined "The Embassy", a heel stable controlled by Prince Nana. Teaming with Fast Eddie Vegas that night, The Embassy won their first match in a feud with Generation Next that would last for the remainder of the year. The feud culminated in an eight–man elimination steel cage match on December 3, with Austin Aries, Roderick Strong, Jack Evans and Matt Sydal of Generation Next defeating Shelley, Jimmy Rave, Abyss and Nana of The Embassy.