Michael Elgin
Aaron Michael Frobel is a Canadian professional wrestler and promoter, better known by his ring name Michael Elgin. He is known for his work with New Japan Pro-Wrestling, where he was a one-time IWGP Intercontinental Champion, a one-time NEVER Openweight Champion and a one-time NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champion. He is also known for his work in Ring of Honor, where he is a one-time ROH World Champion. He has also worked for the Southern California-based company Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, where he is a one-time PWG World Tag Team Champion with Brian Cage, as well as the Japanese company Pro Wrestling Noah, where he was a one-time GHC Tag Team Champion with Masa Kitamiya.
Frobel debuted in late 2004 using his ring name Michael Elgin, and by the age of 18, he was a regular on the independent circuit. He has competed for promotions including Combat Zone Wrestling, World League Wrestling, Alpha-1 Wrestling, and the Independent Wrestling Association Mid-South, where he won the IWA Mid-South Strong Style Championship in 2008. Elgin first appeared for Ring of Honor in 2007. He started competing regularly in 2010 as part of the House of Truth and signed a contract with the company in 2011. That November, Elgin won the 2011 Survival of the Fittest tournament. In 2015, Elgin won the 2015 Survival of the Fittest tournament and became the first wrestler to win the tournament twice. In 2015, Elgin made his debut for NJPW, signing a contract with the promotion the following year. After three years with the promotion, Elgin left New Japan Pro-Wrestling in March 2019 and signed with Impact Wrestling the following month. In June 2020, Impact released Elgin after allegations were made against him during the Speaking Out movement.
Professional wrestling career
Training and early career
Frobel had begun training at a wrestling school at the age of 14. He later moved to training at Squared Circle Training in Toronto, Ontario, Canada under Rob Fuego in early 2004.In late 2004, Frobel made his professional wrestling debut in Hamtramck, Michigan using the ring name Michael Elgin. By the age of 16, Frobel, as Elgin, was a regular competitor on the independent circuit. The Ontario Athletic Commission did not allow people under the age of 18 to wrestle professionally in the area, so Frobel travelled to Montreal, as well as to the United States to wrestle in the states of Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana.
Independent promotions (2005–2010)
Frobel, as Elgin, has been a mainstay in several independent promotions, both in the United States and Canada, since 2005.He has wrestled for the Combat Zone Wrestling and Independent Wrestling Association Mid-South, where he won the IWA Mid-South Strong Style Championship. Frobel attended a World Wrestling Entertainment tryout camp in mid-2010. Elgin also wrestled for the canadian promotion Great Canadian Wrestling, where he won the GCW Nationa championship twice and the Tag Team Championship four times.
Ring of Honor (2007, 2008, 2010–2016)
Frobel had his first tryout match with Ring of Honor in 2007, and made appearances in 2007 and 2008. In 2010, Elgin appeared at Survival of the Fittest 2010, where he was presented as part of the House of Truth faction led by Truth Martini. As part of the stable, Elgin feuded with Christopher Daniels and El Generico. He signed a contract with ROH on March 19, 2011, tying him to the company through December 2012.Elgin appeared at both days of the Honor Takes Center Stage pay-per-view, defeating Generico on night one, before losing to Daniels on night two.
File:"Unbreakable" Michael Elgin.jpg|thumb|Elgin earned a five-star rating for his match against Davey Richards for the ROH World Championship.
On November 18, Elgin won the 2011 Survival of the Fittest tournament. He won a four-corner survival match against Kenny King, Adam Cole, and Tommaso Ciampa to advance to the tournament final, a six-man elimination match, in which he last eliminated Kyle O'Reilly to win the tournament and a guaranteed ROH World Championship match. At the Showdown in the Sun pay-per-view on March 31, 2012, Elgin unsuccessfully challenged Davey Richards for the ROH World Championship. Elgin later defeated fellow break-out star Adam Cole at Border Wars, in his hometown of Toronto. On July 20, ROH announced that Elgin had signed a long-term contract extension with the promotion. After months of teasing dissension between Elgin and the rest of the House of Truth, Elgin finally turned on the faction on September 16 at Death Before Dishonor X: State of Emergency by attacking Roderick Strong. At the following internet pay-per-view, Glory By Honor XI: The Unbreakable Hope on October 13, Elgin unsuccessfully challenged Kevin Steen for the ROH World Championship. After the match, Elgin was attacked by Roderick Strong. The attack led to a match on December 16 at Final Battle 2012: Doomsday, where Elgin was defeated by Strong, following interference from Truth Martini. On March 2, 2013, at the 11th Anniversary Show, Elgin defeated Strong in a two out of three falls match, during which Martini was banned from ringside. On April 6, at Supercard of Honor VII, Elgin defeated Jay Lethal to become the number one contender to the ROH World Championship. Before Elgin got his title shot however, the ROH World Championship was vacated and he was entered in the tournament to determine the new champion. In August, Elgin defeated Paul London and Karl Anderson to advance to the semifinals of the tournament. The following month, at Death Before Dishonor XI, Elgin defeated Kevin Steen to make it to the finals of the tournament, where he was defeated by Adam Cole. On October 26 at Glory By Honor XII, Elgin earned himself another shot at the ROH World Championship by pinning Cole to win a four-on-four elimination tag team match between ROH's champions and their top contenders. Elgin received his title shot on December 14 at Final Battle 2013, but was defeated by Cole in a three-way match, which also included Jay Briscoe. In May 2014, Elgin took part in a tour co-produced by ROH and New Japan Pro-Wrestling. On May 17 at War of the Worlds, Elgin unsuccessfully challenged A.J. Styles for NJPW's top title, the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, in a three-way match, which also included Kazuchika Okada.
Elgin continued to feud with Adam Cole over the ROH World Championship; the storyline saw Cole attack Elgin and cut off his hair, before expanding to include Elgin's real-life wife MsChif, who Cole also attacked. On June 22 at Best in the World 2014, Elgin defeated Cole to become the new ROH World Champion. Elgin would go on to defend the title seven times before losing it to Jay Briscoe on September 6 at All Star Extravaganza 6, ending his reign as ROH World Champion at 76 days. The following day it was reported that behind the scenes Elgin had not only fallen out of favor with ROH management, but was for the moment also unable to get out of Canada due to a work visa issue.
On October 6, ROH announced that Elgin was returning to the promotion the following weekend. However, just hours later, Elgin quit the promotion on Twitter, claiming that ROH had promoted him for an event he was not going to appear at. Elgin returned to ROH as a villain with a new, disgruntled character on October 25, first walking out on an interview with Kevin Kelly and then refusing to wrestle Caprice Coleman. On November 7, 2015, it was reported that Elgin had signed a new deal with ROH. In November 2015, Elgin participated in the 2015 Survival of the Fittest tournament, which he won after pinning Jay Briscoe in the finals. Elgin became the first wrestler to win the tournament twice. On December 15, 2016, Elgin announced that outside of joint shows with NJPW, he would no longer be working for ROH.
Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (2012–2017)
On May 25, 2012, Elgin made his debut for Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, losing to Willie Mack. On July 21 at Threemendous III, PWG's nine-year anniversary event, Elgin defeated Sami Callihan for his first win in the promotion. On September 1, Elgin entered the 2012 Battle of Los Angeles, defeating Davey Richards in his opening round match. The following day, Elgin first defeated Brian Cage in the quarterfinal round, then Ricochet in the semifinal, before losing to Adam Cole in the final round of the tournament. On October 27 at Failure to Communicate, Elgin unsuccessfully challenged Kevin Steen for the PWG World Championship in a three-way match, which also included Ricochet.On January 12, 2013, Elgin and Brian Cage formed a tag team called the Unbreakable F'n Machines and participated in the 2013 Dynamite Duumvirate Tag Team Title Tournament. In the opening round, they captured the PWG World Tag Team Championship by beating the previous year's winners, the Super Smash Bros.. The Unbreakable F'n Machines then lost the championship to The Young Bucks in the semifinal round of the tournament later that same day. On August 30, Elgin entered the 2013 Battle of Los Angeles, defeating Rich Swann in his first round match. The following day, Elgin first defeated Roderick Strong and then Johnny Gargano to advance to the finals of the tournament, where he was defeated by Kyle O'Reilly.
New Japan Pro-Wrestling (2015–2019)
Intercontinental Champion (2015–2016)
Through ROH's working relationship with NJPW, Elgin made his debut for the Japanese promotion by taking part in the 2015 G1 Climax between July 23 and August 15. He finished his tournament with a record of four wins and five losses, failing to advance from his block. Elgin quickly became popular among Japanese crowds and his performance in the tournament was called a "career resurgence". In November, it was announced he would team with Hiroshi Tanahashi in the 2015 World Tag League. They finished the tournament with a record of four wins and two losses, narrowly missing the finals due to losing to block winners Togi Makabe and Tomoaki Honma in the head-to-head match.On January 4, 2016, at Wrestle Kingdom 10 in Tokyo Dome, Elgin unsuccessfully challenged Jay Lethal for the ROH World Championship. On February 20, it was reported that Elgin had signed a two-year deal with NJPW. This was confirmed by NJPW on March 3. In his first tour under a NJPW contract, Elgin made it to the semifinals of the 2016 New Japan Cup, before losing to Hirooki Goto. On March 20, Elgin received his first title shot in NJPW, when he, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Juice Robinson unsuccessfully challenged The Elite for the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship.
On April 10 at Invasion Attack 2016, Elgin won his first title in NJPW, when he, Tanahashi and Yoshitatsu defeated The Elite to become the new NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champions. They made their first successful defense on April 23 against Bad Luck Fale, Kenny Omega and Yujiro Takahashi. Four days later, Elgin unsuccessfully challenged Omega for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship. This marked the first time two Canadians had main evented a NJPW show. On May 3 at Wrestling Dontaku 2016, Elgin, Tanahashi and Yoshitatsu lost the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship back to The Elite.
On June 19 at Dominion 6.19 in Osaka-jo Hall, Elgin replaced an injured Hiroshi Tanahashi and defeated Kenny Omega in NJPW's first ever ladder match to become the new IWGP Intercontinental Champion. From July 22 to August 13, Elgin took part in the 2016 G1 Climax, where he finished with a record of five wins and four losses. Elgin failed to advance to the finals due to losing to Katsuhiko Nakajima on the final day. On September 25 at Destruction in Kobe, Elgin lost the IWGP Intercontinental Championship to Tetsuya Naito. On October 10 at King of Pro-Wrestling, Elgin suffered a broken left eye socket taking a dropkick from Naito. The injury would require surgery and forced Elgin to pull out of all future events, including a scheduled IWGP Intercontinental Championship rematch with Naito at Power Struggle.