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Ring of Honor
METZGER'S ROH TV REPORT 6/28: Michael Elgin spotlighted as new ROH World champion, plus check your prostate

Jul 1, 2014 - 12:43:51 AM
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ROH TV Report
June 28, 2014
Report by Mike Metzger (@mD0uble), PWTorch VIP Member


Larry Mercer opened this week’s show on location from Nashville, Tenn. He immediately hyped the "Best in the World" replay, and then announced that Michael Elgin had captured the ROH World Title last week at the PPV. He also announced that tonight’s episode will be dedicated to the career of the new champion.

The ROH TV Opening aired.

A brief Michael Elgin music video aired, featuring some Elgin highlights through the years. Elgin was then shown backstage. A soft-spoken Elgin talked about witnessing his first match at the age of four when he saw Dusty Rhodes face the Big Bossman. He then talked about breaking into the business, having started out in a wrestling camp alongside Ashley Sixx and Tyson Dux. They shot to Tyson Dux, who said it was unbelievable to see how far Elgin has come, but it wasn’t surprising because “Elgin is the real deal.”

1 - MICHAEL ELGIN vs. TYSON DUX

This was from a live event this past March in Chicago. The Code of Honor was adhered to. Both men locked up in the center of the ring to start. (Super Beta Prostate is a new advertiser, and they make it obvious with a large graphic on the screen talking about, what else, prostates.) Elgin took control with a big slam. He charged at Dux in the corner, but Dux countered with an elbow. Dux then lifted Elgin up for a delayed vertical suplex for several seconds, while Kevin Kelly wondered if Elgin had originally learned the move from Dux.

Elgin got right back up and then applied a delayed vertical suplex of his own, only his version included temporarily dropping and then re-lifting Dux over his head several times, before finally suplexing him onto the mat. The show went to commercial at the 2:45 mark.

[Commercial Break]

(Before the commercial, former ROH champ Adam Cole told us to hold on for an important announcement regarding prostate health. Well, at least SPB is targeting a predominantly male audience. Still, I never thought I’d miss the J.G. Wentworth commercials, but mission accomplished.)

Back at 5:15, the fans were chanting “Michael Elgin,” as Elgin was in firm control of the match. He went for a deadlift superplex, but Dux broke it up by snapping Elgin’s leg across the middle rope. Dux continued to work the knee and then delivered some blows in the corner as well. Elgin tried to fight back with some chops, prompting a back-and-forth chop battle between the two. Elgin seemed to come out on top, but Dux immediately dropkicked the knee of Elgin. Dux went to follow up, but was met with a big dropkick from Elgin!

Elgin went for a German suplex, but Dux held onto the ropes. Dux charged at Elgin, but Elgin moved and was then able to apply the German! Elgin followed up with a dead-lift German suplex, but could only score a nearfall. Dux charged at him in the ropes, but was slammed down by Elgin. Elgin started to climb the ropes, but Dux cut him off. Dux went for a superplex and nailed it! He immediately followed up with a fisherman buster, but could only get two.

Both man battled on the apron. Elgin went for a powerbomb across the edge of the ring, but Dux blocked. Elgin nailed him with a dropkick on the apron! On the outside, Elgin threw Dux into the barricade. He brought him back in the ring, but Dux reversed out of nowhere into a running Death Valley Driver into the bottom turnbuckle! Dux couldn’t get the victory, but he did get a chant from the crowd!

Dux went to follow up, but Elgin reversed him into a crossface. Dux rolled out of it, but was mat from some big backhands from Elgin. Elgin hit the Buckle Bomb, followed by spiraling Elgin Bomb for the victory!

WINNER: Michael Elgin vis pinfall at 12:00.

ANALYSIS: Outside-the-box first match to feature on a career retrospective episode, but this totally made sense as a battle between two guys who broke into the business together. Despite never personally seeing Dux before, he did a great job keeping up with Elgin. His running DVD near the end was very impressive as well. (**3/4)

Back to Elgin, he began talking about becoming interested in independent wrestling. Back in 2002, he watched his first ROH show on DVD at a friend’s house. They shot to Jimmy Jacobs, who recalled how Elgin followed ROH all over the country in an attempt to get booked on one of their shows. Eventually, ROH announced training camps and Elgin found his opening. Elgin’s former manager Truth Martini was shown, as he was a trainer at the camp Elgin had attended. He knew right away that Elgin would be the star of the camp. They chronicled Elgin’s early ROH days in the House of Truth with Roderick Strong. Elgin talked about how it made him work harder to be put with more seasoned vets like Strong and Martini. Old ROH clips of a young Michael Elgin were shown throughout.

[Commercial Break]

(During the break, Larry Mercer hyped the Best in the World replay by running down the card of the event.)

After the break, Elgin and Martini talked about Elgin’s break-out match at Showdown in the Sun during WrestleMania 28 weekend in 2012. Kevin Kelly recalled how he and broadcast partner Nigel McGuinness were screaming at their top of their lungs by the end of the contest. Kelly had never seen a match exceed expectations in the manner that Richards-Elgin did in Miami. Truth Martini and Jimmy Jacobs agreed that Michael Elgin had arrived.

Kevin Kelly then recalled how Elgin and Kyle O’Reilly were rising stars around the same time in 2011. He spoke about their Survival of the Fittest tournament finals match from November 18, 2011, which set up the next match.

2 - MICHAEL ELGIN (w/Truth Martini) vs. KYLE O’REILLY

The match was joined in progress. Elgin was in control of O’Reilly, but Kyle applied a crucifix pinning combination out of nowhere. He could only get a two count, as Elgin responded with a few backhands. O’Reilly again reversed Elgin, this time into a guillotine choke. Elgin tried to power out, but O’Reilly immediately re-applied the hold. Elgin eventually did power out, but was again reversed, this time with a DDT, followed up by yet another guillotine choke!

O’Reilly applied the hold for about 30 seconds, before Elgin backed him into the corner. Somehow, though, O’Reilly remained in position and reapplied the choke! Elgin eventually reversed into a powerbomb, but could only get two, as the show went to commercial at the 2:30 mark.

[Commercial Break]

Back from break, Elgin was still in control. He delivered a Buckle Bomb to O’Reilly, and then went for his Elgin Bomb, but O’Reilly reversed into a reverse huracanrana! O’Reilly hit a suplex into a pinning combination, but could only get two. O’Reilly immediately followed up with a cross armbreaker. He applied the hold for about a minute, until Elgin powerlifted him up and dropped him.

The fans were into it, as O’Reilly charged at Elgin and kicked him. Elgin dared him to kick him again and Kyle obliged. Elgin no-sold the kicks and got to his feet. He stared down O’Reilly in the middle of the ring. Both men exchanged fists and then slaps. O’Reilly won the battle and then delivered some kicks. Elgin tried to fight back, but was kicked in the head. Right back up, Elgin clotheslined O’Reilly, but could only score a nearfall. Elgin then hit a tombstone, but still couldn’t put away Kyle.

Elgin went to follow up, but O’Reilly nailed him with an enziguiri. He tried to powerbomb him from the apron to the outside, but Elgin blocked. O’Reilly persisted and was then able to deliver a belly-to-back suplex to the floor! O’Reilly had the crowd behind him, as he delivered his running dropkick from the apron to Elgin in the hockey boards! O’Reilly went up top, but Elgin caught him! He followed up with a Buckle Bomb, followed by his revolution Elgin Bomb for the victory!

WINNER: Michael Elgin via pinball at 11:20 (shown on TV).

ANALYSIS: Excellent match between these two. One minor critique was that I totally forgot that O’Reilly was the babyface in this match until the closing moments. Nitpicking aside, this was an amazing contest and I would recommend seeking it out if you haven’t seen it. It’s hard to rate because the match was joined in progress, but the full match seemed like it was in four-star-plus territory.

[Commercial Break]

(This break featured the Briscoes pitching Super Beta Prostate. For some reason, the Briscoes do not seem like poster boys for a supplement that’s intended to reduce nighttime bathroom breaks.)

Back from commercials, Truth Martini talked about the “monster” that Elgin had become over the years. He went on to say that Elgin once said he would not stop until he could no longer “wipe his own ass.”

3 - MICHAEL ELGIN vs. RHINO

This match was from the Survival of the Fittest 2012 tournament. For those who don’t remember, Martini was managing both men at the time, as evidenced by his pre-match promo where he asked Elgin to “do the right thing” and forfeit the match. Elgin obviously did not comply, and the bell rang!

Rhino charged at Elgin, but Elgin knocked him to the ground. Elgin fought Rhino in the corner and delivered some stomps. Rhino attempted to throw Elgin out of the ring, but Elgin springboarded off the top rope and clotheslined Rhino! Both men began brawling on the outside, as fellow House of Truth member Roderick Strong made appeared in front of the entranceway.

Back in the ring, Elgin slammed Rhino for a two count. Rhino reversed with a belly-to-belly suplex. He went for a gore, but Elgin moved out of the way and scored a quick roll-up for two. Elgin came off the ropes, but Rhino reversed into a spinebuster and got a two count. Rhino remained in control for the next minute or so with some plodding offense, culminating with a chinlock.

Elgin dropped Rhino into the corner and then delivered an enziguri. Both men were down on the mat, but they got up at the same time and traded blows. Elgin got Rhino in the corner and nailed him with several clotheslines. He followed up with a bicycle kick and then a Black Hole Slam, but could only get a two count! Elgin went to follow up with a powerbomb, but Rhino fought out. Elgin fought back, however, and scored a German suplex into a bridge for two.

Elgin went for another powerbomb, but Rhino reversed into a backdrop. Rhino followed up with a modified TKO, but still couldn’t put Elgin away. Roderick Strong protested on the apron, allowing Martini to get in the ring. His interference backfired, however, as Elgin was able to hit his spinning Elgin Bomb for the victory!

WINNER: Michael Elgin via pinfall at 7:50

ANALYSIS: Okay match. For some reason, I’m not upset that Rhino hasn’t been used by ROH in a long time. (*1/2)

[Commercial Break]

When the show returned, Kevin Kelly spoke about how Michael Elgin seemed unstoppable. They shot to John Cena-lookalike Tyson Dux, who predicted that Elgin was on the “elite level” of guys like C.M. Punk and Bryan Danielson. Elgin said that the only thing that would stop him would be him “being six feet under.”

They shot to some more Elgin clips, with Elgin’s theme music playing in the background. Elgin closed the show by saying that all his sacrifices were worth it because people would look back and see he accomplished something. Sporting his full mullet, Elgin did not specifically mention the ROH World Title, however, as this was taped before the Best in the World PPV.

FINAL REAX: Great show that really broke the stale TV taping routine. ROH went this route last December with a similar hour-long feature on then-ROH champ Adam Cole, and that episode really got me excited about Adam Cole’s title reign and the ROH product in general. While the first two match selections were fine, I wasn’t sure why they included the Rhino match. He obviously has some name value, but I think clips of the Steen-Elgin five-star classic from Glory By Honor 2012 would have been a much better choice.

As mentioned on Radican’s Wrestling Audio Community this past weekend, It will be very interesting to see where Michael Elgin goes from here. An immediate rematch with Adam Cole is possible but not a given, and we are a few weeks away from A.J. Styles’s return to the promotion. Regardless of where they go, this episode was definitely a first step in the right direction.


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