AEW Rumors: WWE forces tag team to change finisher name

In AEW, FTR’s tag team finisher “Shatter Machine” is now called “Goodnight Express” thanks to WWE.

FTR, formerly known as The Revival in WWE, are enjoying a great deal of immediate success in AEW. They are already feuding with executives and top stars the Young Bucks, and they could have a tag team title shot against Kenny Omega and Hangman Page on the horizon whenever that slow-burn tag team break-up happens.

In the meantime, the Young Bucks and FTR actually teamed up on Night 2 of Fyter Fest, but they were unable to get on the same page and lost to Butcher, Blade, and the Lucha Brothers.

FTR have been able to wrestle the same, old-school style in AEW with the same moves as in WWE, and they get to do it against tag teams with more varied styles than in WWE, who didn’t want to showcase FTR.

Their finisher is the same and is one of the best tag team finishers in wrestling, but it has a different name. Now, they call it the “Goodnight Express” instead of the “Shatter Machine”, and that’s for a reason.

According to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio, via Cageside Seats’ Rumor Roundup, WWE actually gave FTR legal notice stating that they could no longer use the name “Shatter Machine” for their tag team finisher, therefore the name change.

It’s funny how WWE even bothered doing that, because there doesn’t seem to be any sort of a difference that would affect them at all with a finisher’s name. I get that WWE REALLY wants to beat AEW in the ratings and suppress them, but, one, that’s not going to work, and, two, this doesn’t further that.

But regardless, “Goodnight Express” is a fine name. If only FTR had changed their course from trying to go with the already-taken tag team name “The Revolt” faster…but when it’s a legal notice from WWE, I’m sure it carries a lot more weight to them.