Michael Elgin vs. Adam Cole from ROH Border Wars 2012

Pre-Match Thoughts from Bryan Rose:

I haven’t watched Ring of Honor a ton this year, but I paid more attention to it than ever thanks to WWE’s mostly horrendous writing that makes me want to give other promotions a look. While watching Ring of Honor, it easy to see that two of their top stars (besides the Briscoes, obviously) are Michael Elgin and Adam Cole. So it’s kind of amazing that only two years ago this was considered a “proving grounds” kind of match- neither have made it that far in ROH yet, and while Elgin had that amazing match with Davey Richards a few months before this bout, he was still a guy rising to the top as opposed to an established member of the roster.

An interesting dynamic here is that Elgin is the heel while Cole is the face. I think that if there is one guy who really found himself this year as a top heel, it’s Adam Cole. The dude carries himself well and seems to be the guy ROH should go with in the long run. After that amazing match with Richards, Elgin had momentum as well, and eventually did find himself with the championship. His momentum has kind of stalled as of late, due to what I would assume to be personal reasons, but still seems to be a big part of the ROH roster. It’ll be interesting to see how these two were before they became top guys.

The Match:

First, I must point out Truth Martini’s top hat with his hair flowing out of the top. That’s…something. Elgin does a few power spots early, but Cole sends him to the floor. He goes for a suicide dive, but Elgin grabs him and powerslams him on the entryway. Well, that’s a way to derail momentum! Cole tries for a couple of hope spots but Elgin easily powers out of them. Cole fights back with some elbows. What’s funny is the crowd, because I guess they’re in Elgin’s homeland of Canada, boo the valiant babyface who is getting beaten up by the powerful heel.

Cole comes back with a DDT to the apron (the ROH special) but Elgin comes back and busts out the chaos theory for a nearfall. Cole comes back again with some offense, but Elgin responds with a lariat that had to have knocked Cole’s head into next week. Figuratively, obviously.  Elgin catches Cole on the apron, deadlifts him and busts out a falcon arrow from the top rope for a nearfall. My word, that was a great spot. Elgin puts him in a crossface, but Cole gets up quickly and hits Elgin with a knee for a pinfall. Well, he recovered quickly. Cole goes to the top rope, but Elgin grabs him, buckle bombs Cole then finishes him off with a spinning powerbomb for the victory.

Final Thoughts:

A very good match that told a good story. My only problem with it was the selling, which wasn’t much for either guy. Don’t mind so much for Elgin since he was the monster heel, but Cole could have done better. Like, if I got planted with a falcon arrow off the top rope then got crossfaced, I would not immediately get up and start doing moves. That sometimes flies in New Japan, but it really shouldn’t have in the context of this match. But other than that, this was some good stuff and fun to see considering how far the two have come along since.

Rating: ***1/2