via ROHWrestling.com:
There has been a great deal of speculation regarding the future of the ROH World Title since Baltimore when Jay Briscoe was assaulted by S.C.U.M following his championship bout with Matt Hardy. There has also been rampant speculation about the future of Jay and Mark Briscoe as it pertains to ROH and their injuries suffered at the hands of Steve Corino’s crew.
As we saw here in a video Jay Briscoe sent to ROHWrestling.com, the World Champion is obviously injured but also obviously upset at the speculation and rumors about his & Mark’s future as well as the future of the World Title he fought so hard for the last eleven years to finally win.
Now, after anxiously waiting since Baltimore, we have received an official statement from ROH Match Maker Nigel McGuinness regarding the issues mentioned above:
To recap, for the very first time since Low Ki became the first champion, the World Title will be vacant BUT for the first time since the “Road To the Title/Crowning A Champion” events of 2002 there will be a tournament held to crown the new ROH World Champion!
Starting in Providence on July 27th and continuing in Toronto on August 3rd, NYC on August 17th, and culminating during “Death Before Dishonor XI” weekend in Philadelphia on September 20th & 21st, this tourney will feature 16 men battling it out for the right to hold the most prestigious wrestling championship in the world today!
The first man entered, as Nigel stated in his video, will be the top contender to the championship: “Unbreakable” Michael Elgin! Elgin had been patiently waiting for a title opportunity he earned back at “Supercard of Honor VII” when he defeated Jay Lethal but was one of many people sidetracked by the S.C.U.M situation. Now he finds himself the first man entered into the tournament that kicks off later this month and his 1st round match-up will go down in the city where he was originally scheduled to challenge for the World Title: Toronto on August 3rd!
Expect more competitors to be announced EVERY DAY until the field is complete so make sure you are checking out ROHWrestling.com each day, even over the holiday weekend!
The war with S.C.U.M has ended, the rebuilding phase has begun, and that post-war reconstruction can take a long time before there is a rebirth. With SCUM no longer around to serve as a distraction Ring of Honor can focus on rebuilding to what it is truly about. The road to purity has begun…
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