MICHAEL ELGIN – 30%
Some might say Michael Elgin deserves to be ROH World Heavyweight Champion. He's been called the best big man in wrestling. He holds a rare five star rating from Dave Metlzer. He holds a couple of not-so-rare five star ratings from me, for whatever that's worth. He's been in the main event picture in ROH for longer than most. For all intents and purposes, Elgin is next in line. Outside of Adam Cole, he has the most momentum of anybody in the entire tournament. Hell, he had a definite title match against Jay Briscoe lined up, until this whole thing turned into what it did, and Elgin opted to prove his worth by beating four people on his way back to the top. Michael Elgin deserves to be champion…unfortunately, there's a lot of guys who "deserve" a lot of things, and it's pretty impossible to accommodate all of them at the same time, and still come out the other end with a great product.
For example, you might also say Adam Cole deserves to be world champion. You might say Kevin Steen, who held the title through some of the company's best work in years, deserves to be world champion again. One thing I can say for certain: if Michael Elgin hits that Elgin Bomb, and the referee counts to three, the roof is going to blow off the state of Pennsylvania. Even if his first opponent happens to be Kevin Steen, I'm not so sure the fans won't get behind the perceived "underdog" in that match. Is this his time? Is this finally the time ROH makes him world champ? That's going to be the million dollar question tonight. There's no doubt he deserves the title, maybe more than anybody else. I think the money is on Elgin going over Steen. You put Adam Cole and Michael Elgin, the two top seeds (in my opinion) in the final round, people are going to be on the edge of their seats. And that's a situation where, really, wrestling fans just can't lose.
Check out Michael Elgin's Death Before Dishonor blog on ROHWrestling.com!
So that's it. Those are our four finalists. By the end of tonight's event, either Kevin Steen, Adam Cole, Tommaso Ciampa or Michael Elgin will be your new ROH World Heavyweight Champion. And because it's not TNA, you don't have to worry about Hulk Hogan booking a last minute gauntlet match for 20 extra shots, thereby rendering the entire summer-long tournament completely pointless.
ROH Death Before Dishonor XI is tonight at 8:00PM ET. Join Wrestlezone.com for complete live coverage of the event, and check out @MikeKillam on Twitter for live tweeting throughout!
