Michael Elgin And ROH on The Rocks

This whole situation with Michael Elgin and Ring of Honor seems quite odd and doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. While Michael Elgin claims that, we do not know the whole story as relates to his situation with Ring of Honor. I still find it all pretty odd. I welcome hearing what exactly these things are the Elgin is referencing but based on what we do know I tend to side with Ring of Honor.

The one thing that I think we can start with that is an indisputable fact is that Michael Elgin was given one hell of an opportunity by Ring of Honor when he became their champion. He defeated Adam Cole who I don’t think it is any secret I am a huge supporter of and think is a tremendous talent and asset for Ring of Honor. I have had the chance to talk with Cole on two occasions and he is an engaging and intelligent young man and quite the wrestling talent.

Cole embraced his role when he was the Ring of Honor Champion. He has been a huge asset in helping grow the product both in the ring and behind the scenes. Adam has mentioned in talking with me and other wrestling journalists about working with Sinclair Broadcasting on the promotion of Ring of Honor. It is something he admits that he enjoys and by all indications is pretty good at doing.

At the time of the "Best in the World" event that was the first ever on live pay-per-view I questioned if it was wise to have Elgin win the title. If this was solely based just on the storyline, heading into the match it did not make a lot of sense to feel that way. Elgin was positioned and booked in a way that he deserved and needed that moment to happen. Still my reservations of just how good Adam Cole was in terms of marketing the product and to use the often over used term he was "the face of the company." Well at least he would be with Kevin Steen departing for WWE developmental and NXT. Even with that massive shadow, that Steen had in ROH as being clearly their top attraction Cole was learning and growing ready to take on the role without Steen. Elgin while a great in-ring performer was not as polished as Cole in terms of the promoting of not just himself but also the brand as a whole. Just my opinion, but I think if you asked many people they would share in this opinion.

Regardless, Ring of Honor went forward and did what made the best wrestling sense for them. Making Elgin the champion and going forward with him. Steen would leave soon after and that was a major blow for Ring of Honor regardless of who was holding the title at the time. Ring of Honor seemed to not be able to follow up on the success of their first venture into live pay-per-view. In which they exceeded their modest goals of pay-per-view buys. Sometimes the thing is in wrestling even when a babyface deserves and he gets that feel good moment, as fans that is the completion of the journey. Once that guy gets the belt and becomes champion the real work begins for him. He now has the task to keep himself interesting and compelling to the audience. Elgin claimed he wanted to become the most decorated Champion in Ring of Honor history breaking the record for title defenses.

Sounds good we have a motivated champion with a goal beyond simply beating his next opponent. One of the issues that have been stated as part of ROH’s problems with Elgin was an interview that he did with Between the Ropes a site that I write for. He in the interview with Brian Fritz, this subject of Elgin wanting to try out for pro baseball in the spring became a topic. It was covered at some length in which Elgin even talking about hiring a hitting coach and changing things about his training to prepare.

While it is nice to have dreams and if Elgin is not the Ring of Honor Champion this might in fact be a cool story for ROH. As the Champion, though you represent more than just you, but the company as a whole. In this admission of this whole idea of wanting to try out of baseball, it gave the impression that Elgin was not focused on being the champion. Not focused on Ring of Honor and looking ahead to something that would take him away from the company for some period of time. Even if Michael Elgin doesn’t understand this, it gave an impression even if it wasn’t the correct one that his title reign, the championship and Ring of Honor were not his sole focus. That is something you need to project in such a high profile position that he found himself.

Just to counter this with examples of Kevin Steen and Adam Cole. Steen it was widely rumored had done well at a WWE tryout and rumors later surfaced about him getting a contract offer to go there. You never heard Kevin directly talk about it, he would instead focus on what he was doing and the company he was in at the time. Even on his exit from the promotion, he made no mention to where he was going after. Adam Cole recently has been the subject of rumors about him being looked at by the WWE. In the recent chat we had, he said little on that subject despite some questions that would allow him to go in that direction. Instead, he always brought things back to ROH and his group the Kingdom. It is showing the respect to a company that you are under contract too. This is something that clearly has gone off the rails in this relationship with Elgin and Ring of Honor, which has spilled into the public domain via social media.

Elgin’s visa issues were another story that was a huge issue for him that now has been solved. This regardless of anything else is great to see. Elgin had been stuck up here in Canada since losing his title due to visa issues. He is now back home with his wife where he belongs. Visa problema is something that is also an issue for Seleziya Sparx and why she was written out of the House of Truth for the time being.  Based on the versions I have heard Elgin’s visa issues ultimately were after the choice to swap the title to Jay Briscoe had been made.

Elgin has of course made his way back to the U.S and it seemed that things were fine. ROH even added him as a late edition to their card in Michigan on Saturday indicated everything seemed back to normal.  Elgin stated that he was unaware of this and it led to him publicly quitting the company on twitter. Everyone always wonders when things like this take place on social media but this seems to be a shoot and not a wrestling angle of any sort. This is not to say, if Elgin and ROH are able to mend their issues it couldn’t become one. It seems unlikely though with Tomasso Ciampa working a similar angle being exiled from the company for abusing officials.  In addition, Matt Taven recently quit the company only to return as part of the Kingdom.

Elgin is a great talent on this everyone can agree. It just seems that his championship reign will be remembered for a lot of drama and not celebrated for the great and real moment it was. He defeated Adam Cole to win the title on a historic night already for Ring of Honor debuting on live pay-per-view.

Elgin is a talented guy and it is unfortunate things have ended up this way in a blame game for who is at fault for what. It has been a big year for Ring of Honor and things will march on with or without Elgin as the one thing Ring of Honor has proven over the years is the ability to move forward with or without people. They have made a habit out of it by producing and ultimately losing some of the best talents in wrestling in the last decade.

While at the end of the day, I feel for Michael Elgin and all he has been through I do understand things from ROH’s point of view. If Elgin has things we are unaware of in all, of this that we are unaware of I would be interested in hearing them and willing to re-evaluate things based on them.

Given everything that is known at this point I have to side with Ring of Honor and hope the best for Michael Elgin who is a talented guy. The issue for Elgin is he is still under contract with ROH which will make this break-up if it ends up being that another sticky situation that he will have to navigate going forward.

It all rather casts a dark cloud on what for the most part has been one of the most successful years for Ring of Honor as a company. I hope that cooler head prevail and everyone can get back on the same page. That is ultimately, what should best for everyone going forward.

Condo On Moon Podcast Ep 12- Madness and Rockets

This week might be the calm before the storm as fingers crossed we have a couple guests coming up from Ring Of Honor Wrestling That to look forward to we look back on a week that had some sad remembrances with Randy Savage passing away 3 years ago earlier in the week and today marks 15 years since the tragic death of Owen Hart. I wrote on both for Between the Ropes today on Owen and earlier in the week on Randy.  I hope I did both many justice by my words. But it is not all doom and gloom as we have fun talking about Chris Walder's ability or lack of ability to know how to talk to divas and women in general. We get into a conversation about ROH and the new the Kevin Steen is on his way to NXT and WWE Developmental.


So next week fingers crossed will have a great guest for you and announcement for another big guest the following week. If you new and you like what you hear please help us spread the word and if you don't already follow us @Condoonthemoon

If you aren't seeing the podcast on your device you are accessing the blog try this direct link to our podcast home and you can listen via I-Tunes from there. So click here for that.  

IWCP Episode 8

Back a little late, but for a little longer as we talk about the news of the week in wrestling. Myself and Chris Walder talk about Mick Foley's comments about WWE, The next NXT Special Event and a lot more. Also we have Steve Muehlhausen from Between the Ropes website to talk about the crossover between MMA and WWE and if we ever get a four horsewomen invasion



Thanks to Steve and make sure to check out his great work along with Brian Fritz over at Between The Ropes. Also make sure to give a like on Facebook. The 10 Count will be back in effect on Sunday and will more people read that than watch the TNA PPV something to wonder about.

I Love Me Some Wrestling Podcasts

I love wrestling podcasts and enjoy a great many people doing them out there. Each podcast is its own unique little world but all have common bond of wrestling. Anyone that is going out of their way to produce a podcast has to at the very least be a fan of the business on some level. There is nothing more fun than stories about this wacky world of professional wrestling. I could spend hours on end listening to stories about this world that is both interesting and has an intrigue of what goes on behind the scenes in this crazy world. From serious stories that relate to real life to the craziest funny stories that just seem too funny to be true. It all is entertaining in its own way.

So I will run through some of my favourites that I do my best to listen too on a weekly basis. I think the original king of the wrestling podcast world is Colt Cabana. His Art of Wrestling show is for me the place where it all begins for wrestling podcasts. Colt has been doing his podcast since I believe somewhere around 2010 or 2011 long before podcasting was the rage it is today. He has interviewed everyone from wrestling legends from the past to guys that work on the independent scene that I knew very little about.

If you are one of the few that has not heard the Art of Wrestling it is an hour of Colt talking with his guest with the listeners getting to be a fly on the wall. It is based on wrestling and stories but sometimes dives into real life stuff both funny and serious. Colt makes an effort to steer away from the negative aspects of the wrestling business aside from the struggle that wrestlers go through. At the end of an episode of Art of Wrestling you will feel you have got to know someone better that you already knew or got to know someone you never knew and get to know someone you might not have ever known or heard of.

Perhaps the most popular podcast that has burst on the scene is Stone Cold Steve Austin’s show on Podcast One. It has led to a couple other WWE personalities getting involved with Podcast One in Chris Jericho and Jim Ross. Austin obviously can right his own ticket and booking whoever he wants on his show likely isn’t too difficult. Still Austin is an entertaining guy and if you are an Austin fan he is giving you everything you love about Stone Cold in his podcasts. He can be just as entertaining complaining about driving etiquette in L.A as he is at interviewing his guests.

What is great with Austin is while he can book pretty much his choice of wrestling talents he has not just stuck to the WWE world or just the Attitude Era wrestlers that he was a part of.  Austin has had great podcasts talking with MMA fighters and with guys like Kevin Steen who wrestles in ROH. Even a nice tip of his hat to the aforementioned Colt Cabana as they both appeared on each others podcasts about 6 months ago. Even having fans on episodes taking calls has been something Austin has done most recently. The one thing that has become some what of a cult hit with people is Austin reading the ad copy for the sponsors on his podcast. It is something to be experienced rather than explained. He claims to bring a can of “Audio Whoop Ass” to every podcast and does his show for the “Working Man” but what he does is just give you everything you love about Stone Cold. He has taken this venture seriously and has improved a lot as an interviewer which is something that prior to this was not likely in his wheelhouse. What? What he was use too. What? Oh hell you get the idea.

I do also enjoy Chris Jericho and J.R’s podcasts that have started more recently. They are both entertaining guys and also seem to fit in very easily to this podcasting format. I am sure like Austin they will grow a comfort level and get better and better at it. Ross really already is fit like a glove for this type of thing. Jericho has done a variety of various things in entertainment and his natural humour comes shining through in something like this.

Before there was podcasts there was Radio and Live Audio Wrestling is a show that has lasted for over 15 years in one form or another on the airwaves in Canada. The days of just two hours of The Law on Radio late on a Sunday night are in the past. They still do that show currently on TSN 1050 in Toronto at 11-1 or if actual “Real” sports gets in the way 12-2am on Sundays.

However as part of The Fight network they have expanded to include a laundry list of podcasts that are just excellent wrestling content. Let’s see we have Review-a-Raw and Review-an-Impact which is pretty self explanatory. John Pollock and Wai Ting recap the goings on of a Raw Episode or Impact episode. Well they do but it also has a ton of side talk about a great many things including MMA to the hate of some but not myself. In fact I credit The Law for turning me around and making me a fan of MMA. It also is some just hilarious stuff that has nothing to do with wrestling at all.

John and Wai have a unique way of making a connection with their audience that allows me to feel like they are friends of mine even though I have never met either. I feel I have got to know them through all of the crazy stories that have nothing to do with wrestling. But they do eventual get to giving you a detailed rundown of Raw or Impact with great thoughts from both a business and fan prospective on the shows.  Than at the end they take feedback from fans via their law message board in which you hear what the audience has to say if they are able to write it in plan English which sometimes is a struggle for some.

Review-A-Wai is a show where the two review old mostly wrestling based shows be it PPVS or old episodes of Raw. But they have more than a few times stepped out of the box reviewing documentaries and all kinds of things you would never expect. It is by far the most fun show they produce on a weekly basis and really is an enjoyable history lesson or trip down memory lane depending on how old you are.

What’s NXT is the newest Law Podcast that features Law Host Jason Agnew and newest member of Law Family Braden Harrington. It is like Review-a- Raw and Impact a review of WWE NXT but. Like the Pollock and Ting shows though it dives into the personal lives of the co-hosts as well. It gets a lot more out there than the chatter between Wai and John but is amusing and entertaining in its own way. The format is pretty much the same with a recap of the show and some thoughts on the product and upcoming talents in the WWE Developmental Show. Also they have feedback on both NXT and their podcast which can be somewhat entertaining given Jason’s lack of patience for stupidity if it is reflected in the feedback. This is a much kinder and gentler version of the Agnew that we get in comparison to The Law.

What show has become my favourite though in the Bauer and Pollack show which they jokingly call the King and the Fish. This however is perhaps the least joking show of the lot with a lot of hard news on the wrestling industry and mixed martial arts. Court Bauer is a former member of the WWE creative team, he ran his own promotion called MLW and now hosts his own Podcast with former WCW Talent Konan and a wacky character known as MSL. Will get to that podcast in a minute. But Pollock and Bauer is a real good education for people that want to understand the business side of this sport. Bauer also currently is working with ROH Wrestling in some former of advisory role that he has never truly defined.

There are fun moments but for the most part this is hard hitting analysis of the world of wrestling in all promotions not just the WWE and TNA. It is really interesting to hear things from the insider prospective the Bauer brings to this program. It is something that I honestly can’t miss on a week to week basis. When the show went a brief hiatus I was concerned it may not return with Bauer’s new role in Ring of Honour but it has. In fact I respect Court some much he is one of the people I reached out too when starting this blog back up. I got his opinion on it and if I was wasting my time here by writing this blog. His feedback was fairly positive so that meant a lot for me to get inspired to keep this idea going.

MLW Radio the podcast the Bauer is a part of is without a doubt the most off the wall podcast I have listened too. It is mix of the strange and bizarre with a lot of pop culture to pro wrestling all mixed with some humour that may not be for everyone. It is however just a crazy fun laid back show that offers some great stories from the past from K-Dawg and Bauer. MLS is a somewhat strange guy that has also worked in the business. I can’t really explain him he has to be experienced.

The show has its own language to some extent with phrases and expressions that you will come to understand as you listen over time. They shoot the breeze about wrestling and a variety of pop culture based things and on some episodes have a guest that joins in and becomes part of the mix. It is somewhat like an interview but more like having a fourth person in the mix that becomes the focus on the conversation. At the end of MLW episode you likely have laughed and maybe even learned a thing or two about the wrestling business.

MLW like The Law has other shows but some of them are part of a VIP package that you have to pay 15 dollars/year to listen too. The other free show they have is with Jim Cornette who has been a fixture in the wrestling business for decades. I started off listening to this as well but fell off after I just had my fill of Jim Cornette. If you love Jim you get a ton of him on this podcast. I like Jim but at times get burned out on him and can only take so much. What had me jump off that train was his bashing of Kevin Steen who I really like as a performer. Kevin and Jim have had their very public differences about Jim’s time in ROH. I just had heard enough and stopped listening after that. Cornette has the people he likes and people he does not and that is painfully obvious in anything he does.  I can only take so much.

Between the Ropes is also like The Law a hub for a lot of great wrestling content. Brain Fritz and his crew do some excellent work with interviews and podcasts that are entertaining and informative stuff. Lots of news mixed with opinions done in a very professional way.  A weekly podcast summing up Raw and live google hangout show is provided on a weekly basis with some great interviews with people in the business on a regular basis.

If your into the Google + Hangouts Straight Shoot with Aubrey Sitterson is also world a look. He actually took a suggestion I had for a game I had called Push, Re-Package and Fire and has really run with it. He has a really great guest list of people that act as his co-host for re-caps of Raw and Preview and Reviews of PPVs.

Last but not least are Mike and Maria in Wonderland which is a podcast with former WWE Diva Maria and her soon to be husband and ROH Wrestler Mike Bennett. This show is my guilty pleasure wrestling podcast. It isn’t all about wrestling and goes into other areas of life like politics and pop culture. What it reminds me of is the old reality show newlyweds with Jessica Simpson and Nick whatever his name was.

Not saying that Maria comes off like Jessica in fact she is a pretty smart cookie and nothing like the somewhat ditsy lovable character. Mike Bennett was/is a guy that a lot of people disliked in wrestling. I am not sure why exactly. I have never had that opinion but listening to him on this podcast would change some minds I think. He comes off as a pretty cool guy and very genuine. He is not afraid to express his opinions on any topic from gun control in the U.S to the pro wrestling business.

It is not for everyone as I found out when I professed my love for it but for me it is a great fun hour to 90 minutes that flies by with lots of laughs and the zany out of control nature the show has a tendency to do. This show does not work with much of a format but if it did likely wouldn’t be as fun as it is.

So that about covers the gambit of what I am listening to on a regular basis. Not a pod cast but if you don’t watch Kevin Steen’s Weekend Escapades or Colt Cabana’s World’s Worst Promo with Marty DeRosa you’re also missing some things that are pretty amusing.




Who needs the WWE Network I got podcasts for days up here in Canada.

There is a sea of wrestling podcasts and I am thinking about jumping into that ocean with one of my own in the not to distant future. I hope it can be as entertaining and fun as the ones I enjoy on this list. The Internet Wrestling Channel Podcast is coming soon. Get it IWC which is a term that I think needs to be put in the trash.