By Sean Radican, Torch columnist

RADICAN’S ROH “MICHAEL ELGIN: UNBREAKABLE OBSESSION” DVD REVIEW
RELEASED BY ROH IN 2014
BY SEAN RADICAN, PWTORCH COLUMNIST

“Michael Elgin: Unbreakable Obsession” was released by Ring of Honor shortly after Elgin beat Adam Cole for the ROH World Title at “Best in the World 2014” in June. This is a compilation features the complete episode of ROH TV that spotlighted Elgin’s path into ROH and his early years in the company as well as several of his best matches from late 2012 into 2014.

The ROH TV included on the set is a very good look at Elgin and his path into ROH up until he began feuding with House of Truth stable mate Roderick Strong in 2012. It is by no means a complete look at Elgin’s path to the ROH World Title, but the documentary was an excellent way to spotlight Elgin after he beat Adam Cole for the title.

Elgin embraces his mentor Dux after their match in ROH earlier this year.

The strength of this release is that it focuses on Elgin’s desire and work ethic. Elgin’s trainer and friend Tyson Dux is featured throughout the documentary and Dux does a good job of talking about how Elgin stood out when he came to train under him. It was also a nice touch to include the match between Elgin and Dux from “Raising the Bar: Night 2” earlier this year.

Elgin has talked about his path to ROH before in other interviews, but this documentary did a nice job of letting Elgin’s peers talk about him and giving the ROH audience a better idea of the sacrifices he made trying to carve a spot on the ROH roster.

Jacobs discusses Elgin's path into ROH.

The narrative of the documentary paints Elgin as someone with an incredible desire to succeed in the wrestling business. Jimmy Jacobs appears and talks about how Elgin would drive 16 hours to Minnesota from Canada just to try to get a spot on an ROH show and how Elgin drove to several other ROH makes with no guarantee of a spot on the card or making any money.

Elgin finally got his first break after attending an ROH tryout camp in 2010 and Jacobs talks about how at the time, Elgin was getting looks, but wasn’t capturing people with his work. Elgin appears and talks about how Martini chose him to team with Strong in The House of Truth.

It was really good to see Kevin Kelly appear on this release to talk about Elgin as a performer. ROH should do more spotlight pieces on the performers on their roster and use Kelly as a talking head, as he really did a good job of putting over Elgin’s ability to do the unimaginable in the ring and it was also a nice touch to listen to Kelly talk about sitting next to Nigel McGuinness during Elgin’s breakout match for the ROH World Title against Davey Richards at “Showdown in the Sun: Night 2,” which established Elgin as an elite performer in the company.

The other portions of the documentary highlight Elgin’s win over Kyle O’Reilly in the finals of “Survival of the Fittest 2011” and things wind down with a look at the beginnings of Elgin’s feud with Roderick Strong when they were both in the House of Truth together.

Elgin discusses how all his sacrifices to get into ROH were worth it.

The conclusion of the documentary does a really good job of establishing Elgin as a special talent in the ring. Although his run with the ROH World Title was cut short due to a variety of issues with ROH management that came to a head before “All Star Extravaganza VI” last month and he dropped the title to Jay Briscoe, this release showcases Elgin in a very positive light and highlights his strengths as a performer.

Dux appears towards the end of the documentary and talks about how he believes Elgin will be remembered alongside Bryan Danielson and C.M. Punk as Elite ROH wrestlers. Kelly and Jacobs also appear and put Elgin over in a positive light before Elgin closes things by saying all of his sacrifices to get into ROH were worth it because people can look back and see that he accomplished something.

The documentary doesn’t focus on how Elgin lost steam over time as his feud with Roderick Strong dragged on throughout much of 2012 and into early 2013, which is for the best. It would have been interesting to see how ROH would handle Elgin’s time in the company from late 2012 up until winning the ROH World Title back in June.

Elgin went on to become one of the best in-ring performers on the independent scene during this period and put on some great matches, but after being put in a drawn out feud with Roderick Strong, he constantly came up short in his quest to capture the ROH World Title and continued to lose steam this year, despite becoming the #1 Contender to the ROH World Title after beating A.J. Styles at “Second to None.”

This release features a fantastic selection of Elgin’s best matches in ROH from late 2012-2014. His matches against Jay Lethal at “Supercard of Honor VII” and Tommaso Ciampa at “Best in the World 2013” were some of the best matches in ROH in 2013.

One of my favorite ROH TV matches of 2013 is also included with Elgin teaming with Kevin Steen and Tommaso Ciampa against The American Wolves & B.J. Whitmer in a crazy Six Man Tag that I had the pleasure of seeing live in front of a red hot crowd in Providence, RI. Elgin’s entire run through the ROH World Title Tournament last year is also included and he put together a great string of matches before ultimately losing to Adam Cole in the finals.

Overall thoughts: (8.5) – This is a very good release overall. The documentary portion of the release highlights Elgin and his journey into ROH. Jacobs, Kelly, Martini, Dux, and Elgin all did a good job of narrating Elgin’s journey into the company and establishing himself as a new star.

Elgin wasn’t pushed very well leading into his win over Adam Cole for the ROH World Title earlier this year and this release doesn’t highlight his ups and downs, but this was a good showcase of Elgin and made him come across like a star when it aired after his ROH World Title win. ROH should do more showcase episodes like this. The producers got a chance here to flex their muscles and show their talent in terms of putting together a compelling piece that made Elgin come across like a big deal.

As I said before, the match selection on this compilation is really good. Elgin is a lot of fun to watch as a performer and given his recent difficulties in the company, this is a good reminder of what he’s capable of doing in the ring and showcases his ability to put on high caliber matches with a wide variety of opponents. His run through the ROH World Title Tournament, his matches with Ciampa and Lethal, and his match #1 Contender for the ROH World Title match against Styles are worth the price of admission alone.

You can purchase ROH’s “Michael Elgin: Unbreakable Obsession” by clicking HERE or by visiting ROHWrestling.com.

***

Please visit Facebook.com/SeanRadicanRWC on Facebook and click “like” to join the Radican’s Wrestling Community Facebook fan page.

Follow Sean on Twitter at Twitter.com/SeanRadican

We suggest these recent related articles...

RADICAN'S Beyond Wrestling "Greatest Rivals Round Robin" review 9/26 - incredible show of the year contender, Busick-Edwards top-flight MOTYC, more!

RADICAN'S "The Pull List" (Vol. 5) "Young Bucks Too Sweet Journey" doc review, The Flash season 1 Blu-Ray, Top Ten MOTYC for 2015

RADICAN'S ROH "All-Star Extravaganza VII" PPV BLOG 9/18: Booking issues dampen excellent in-ring action