page_title: Alex Shelley
section_title: Time Splitters (2012–2015)
hierarchical_section_title: Alex Shelley / Professional wrestling career / New Japan Pro-Wrestling / Time Splitters (2012–2015)
caption_attribution_description: English: The TimeSplitters - consisting of Alex Shelley (standing) and KUSHIDA (kneeling) - making their entrance at BCW's East Meets West show in Windsor, ON
context_page_description: Patrick Martin is an American professional wrestler, better known by the ring name Alex Shelley. He is signed to Impact Wrestling, where he is one half of the current Impact World Tag Team Champions as one half of The Motor City Machine Guns with Chris Sabin in their second reign, and is known for his time in Ring of Honor.
  He first gained fame on the independent circuit, working for Ring of Honor, as well as in Japan, for Pro Wrestling Zero1-Max. He has also worked for New Japan Pro-Wrestling, where he is a former three-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion. Aside from wrestling, he is the lead singer of a rock band called The High Crusade, which includes his friends and fellow wrestlers Chris Sabin and Petey Williams.
context_section_description: Following his departure from TNA, New Japan announced on August 13, 2012, that Shelley would be returning to the promotion the following month. Before Shelley's return to Japan, he and A.J. Kirsch unsuccessfully challenged Forever Hooligans (Alex Koslov and Rocky Romero) for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship on August 26 at a Sacramento Wrestling Federation (SWF) event in Gridley, California. Following the match, Kushida saved Shelley from a beatdown at the hands of Koslov and Romero. Shelley wrestled his New Japan return match on September 7, when he, Bushi, Máscara Dorada and Ryusuke Taguchi were defeated in an eight-man tag team match by Alex Koslov, Averno, Low Ki and Rocky Romero. Afterwards, Shelley continued teaming with Kushida with the two forming the tag team "Time Splitters" and scoring several wins over Koslov and Romero in multiple man teamed matches, after debuting their new double-team finishing maneuver, the I-94. On October 8 at King of Pro-Wrestling, Time Splitters unsuccessfully challenged Forever Hooligans for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship. On October 21, the Time Splitters entered the 2012 Super Jr. Tag Tournament, defeating Jado & Gedo in their first round match. On November 2, Shelley and Kushida defeated Suzuki-gun (Taichi and Taka Michinoku) to advance to the finals, where, later that same day, they defeated Apollo 55 to win the tournament and become the number one contenders to the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship. On November 11 at Power Struggle, the Time Splitters defeated Forever Hooligans in a rematch to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship. Time Splitters made their first successful title defense on February 10, 2013, at The New Beginning, defeating Forever Hooligans in the third title match between the two teams. Their second successful defense took place on March 3 at New Japan's 41st anniversary event, where they defeated Jyushin Thunder Liger and Tiger Mask. On April 5, Shelley received his first shot at the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship, but was defeated by the defending champion, Prince Devitt. Two days later at Invasion Attack, Time Splitters defeated Devitt and Ryusuke Taguchi for their third successful defense of the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship. On May 3 at Wrestling Dontaku 2013, Time Splitters lost the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship back to the Forever Hooligans in their fourth defense.
  From late May to early June, Shelley took part in the 2013 Best of the Super Juniors, where he managed to win five out of his eight matches with a win over Ricochet in the final round-robin match of the tournament on June 6, earning him a spot in the semifinals. On June 9, after defeating Taka Michinoku in his semifinal match, Shelley was defeated in the finals of the tournament by Prince Devitt. On June 22 at Dominion 6.22, Time Splitters failed in their attempt to regain the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship from the Forever Hooligans. On September 29 at Destruction, Shelley and Kushida defeated Suzuki-gun (Taichi and Taka Michinoku) to earn another shot at the Forever Hooligans and the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship. However, on October 7, New Japan announced that Shelley had suffered a back injury, which would force Time Splitters to back out of the title match. Shelley later revealed that he had received a severe sciatica taking a sitout powerbomb from Taichi, which marked his fourth injury in the promotion since his September 2012 return. Shelley wrestled his return match on January 4, 2014, at Wrestle Kingdom 8 in Tokyo Dome, where he and Kushida unsuccessfully challenged The Young Bucks for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship in a four-way match, which also included the Forever Hooligans and Suzuki-gun. Time Splitters were victorious in a non-title rematch the following day, after which they asserted themselves as The Young Bucks' next challengers. They received their title shot on February 11 at The New Beginning in Osaka, but were again defea
caption: Shelley (back) and Kushida as the Time Splitters in May 2014
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