Kushida teaming with Alex Shelley in NXT’s Dusty Classic

The Time Splitters are reuniting in NXT’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic.

It was announced during tonight’s NXT that Kushida will be teaming with Alex Shelley in the tournament. When the list of teams was originally announced, Kushida was listed with a mystery partner.

Kushida & Shelley will face The Grizzled Young Veterans (Zack Gibson & James Drake) in the first round of the Dusty Classic next week. Matt Riddle & Pete Dunne vs. Mark Andrews & Flash Morgan Webster will also take place next Wednesday, with those matches completing the opening round.

The tournament began with The Undisputed Era (Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish) defeating Gallus (Mark Coffey & Wolfgang) and Imperium (Marcel Barthel & Fabian Aichner) defeating The Forgotten Sons (Wesley Blake & Steve Cutler) on NXT tonight.

O’Reilly & Fish will face either Kushida & Shelley or The Grizzled Young Veterans in the semifinals. Imperium will face either Riddle & Dunne or Andrews & Webster. 

Next week will be the first time Shelley has wrestled for NXT. He did a stint guest coaching at the Performance Center in October 2019.

Kushida & Shelley held the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team titles twice in NJPW.