Moose Gets Candid About Alex Shelley Before Showdown At TNA: Hard To Kill 2024

This weekend at TNA's Hard to Kill pay-per-view, Moose challenges Alex Shelley for the TNA World Championship, cashing in his Feast or Fired world title opportunity. Appearing on "Busted Open Radio," Moose was asked if he could match Shelley's wrestling ability.

"I think he's one of the best wrestlers out there," Moose said. "Fortunately, he works for our company. I have tons of respect [for] his in-ring work. But let's be honest here, in all of his title defenses, he has never wrestled somebody [like] me. Nick Aldis couldn't step on my shoes. Steve Maclin, as much as I respect him, he can't fill my shoes ... He defended it against [Josh] Alexander, the guy I beat in what? 10 seconds? He can't fill my shoes. He's never wrestled a guy like me ... I'm stronger than him. I mean, he might be a smaller guy, but I mean, none of you will argue that I'm probably faster than him and quicker than him. So the only thing he has over me is he's been wrestling longer."

Moose has crossed paths with Shelley multiple times before, but never in a one-on-one encounter. They initially collided in a tag team match on night five of ROH's Road to Best in the World back in 2016. That evening, Moose and Lio Rush lost to the Motor City Machine Guns (Shelley and Chris Sabin). Notably, Moose has only ever been on the winning side once against a line-up that included Shelley, and that was at last year's Emergence, when he, Bully Ray, Rush, and Brian Myers defeated Shelley, Sabin, KUSHIDA, and Josh Alexander in an eight-man tag. Shelley also won a six-way Impact World Championship number one contender's match that they both participated in last May.

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Busted Open Radio" with an h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.