Ever since his weekend-stealing match with WALTER at Game Changer Wrestling’s (GCW) “Joey Janela’s Spring Break 2” — but really, several months before that if you’ve been paying attention — Quebecer Pierre, better known as PCO — has had the social media sphere alight with buzz that is both organically earned and overwhelming in nature. Over the span of a handful of matches and accompanying hype videos, he has risen his own stock to epic proportion, drawing attention from promotions all across the country, and garnering interest of fans far and wide, including those out in California who want him booked for PWG’s annual Battle of Los Angeles tournament in mid-September.
But how did a 50-year-old man whose mobility is somewhat limited inside the ring, who can see out of only one eye, who, despite run in the WWF in the mid-90s that included holding their Tag Team Championships, was never really a household name, draw such positive and long-lasting attention? While a lot of that falls on PCO and his “PCO Style,” and a lot more falls on the fans’ utter willingness to embrace him, there are a few key elements to his rise I would like to point out.
Middle Aged and Crazy
Pierre Carl Ouellet is, of course, one half of the Quebecers, who worked the World Wrestling Federation from 1993 and 1994, where he and partner Jacques Rougeau captured the Tag Team Championships three times. He also appeared as Jean-Pierre Lafitte, who once stole Bret Hart’s iconic jacket, leading to a match that you should watch as soon as possible. That run of prominence coming some 25-odd years ago means, yeah, the man is up there in age, especially for a guy looking to make a name for himself on today’s independent circuit, which is typically dominated by fresh meat in their 20s and 30s. PCO has always had a wild side to him, and any number of GIFs from his time in the WWF and NWA-TNA could attest to that, but for whatever reason, the man has ratcheted up the intensity as he’s gotten older, putting off a real Terry Funk “middle aged and crazy” vibe, to tremendous effect. He even does a dangerous-looking moonsault, which is just par for the course for him at this point.
At “Joey Janela’s Spring Break 2,” PCO went all out in a battle with WALTER, taking so many stiff knife-chops to his chest that it turned a literal black, he was powerbombed through a table, and he did more flips than a man his age should have been allowed, all in a show- and-weekend-stealing performance. This was exciting as it was unexpected, though anybody with a keen eye knew PCO would have tested the limits of human endurance and resolve, as his match with “All Ego” Ethan Page several months prior at Black Label Pro’s “We’re Not The Mounties” put him on many people’s radars as a wrestler to look out for. The match with WALTER was in a way an extension of that willingness to go all out that the match with Page first realized.
A Viral Sensation
Since his first video promoting his match at “Joey Janela’s Spring Break 2,” in which PCO’s rugged, shout-happy trainer who looks like a frenzied Jimmy Hart asks him to “cut the deck” of playing cards on the table in front of him — which PCO does, with his own two hands — the man has been escalating things in further videos to the point of absolute lunacy. It’s almost ridiculous at this point the determination he shows to put over himself, his matches and his opponents. Below is a list of “feats” achieved by PCO that he and his trainer partner are responsible for in video format:
- PCO rips a deck of cards in half with his bare hands in preparation of WALTER
- PCO does several chin-ups before bending the bar over his neck, again in preparation of WALTER
- PCO gets smacked in the chest with a frying pan while doing leg lifts, then bends the frying pan with his bare hands, also in preparation of WALTER
- PCO oversees a ballerina exercising, stretching her legs, but not to be outdone, he stretches his legs out into a complete split, all set to Eric Prydz’s “Call On Me,” in preparation of Chris Dickinson
- PCO stands on spikes while curling a dumbbell and being shocked with a TASER and choked by his training partner in preparation of Joey Janela
- PCO is shocked with jumper cables while hoisting a 200-pound pair of propane tanks above his hand with one arm, then has a baseball bat broken over his leg, in preparation of Matt Riddle
These videos have gained a ton of traction online, and after a new one drops, my own Twitter timeline is nothing but retweets of the videos for a solid half-hour straight, with comments ranging from “crazy” and “insane” to “Do you ever feel pain or do you just recycle it into energy?” The world is watching, and anybody booking PCO right now is the beneficiary, as he is a one-man hype machine the likes the independents have never seen, or ever will see again. Equal parts character and batshit crazy that may or may not be part of the act, PCO has gone out of his way to promote his matches while making his opponents look good, and making himself look like the scariest person in all of wrestling. Seriously, would you like to see this dude in a dark alley? I didn’t think so.
For fun, here are some more comments on his videos, directly from Twitter:
“Ok what are you because you’re not human. I’m a human. I get bothered by pizza that burns my mouth. We surely cant be the same species.” – Alan4L
“If someone told me I had to go up against @PCOQuebecer I would pack my damned suitcase and go into witness protection. I’m sleeping with the lights on tonight. #frightened” – Paul
“I’m shitting myself and I’m all the way over in Australia.” – Efanga_80
“Not sure but I just watch[ed] the new trailer for Fifty Shades of Grey.” – Maurice
“And that’s his normal Monday routine.” – Andrew
On top of everything else, PCO’s social media game is above and beyond that call for someone who otherwise spends his time holed up in a sweat box pumping iron. One look at his Twitter and you will find PCO to be among the most humble, good-natured wrestlers out there, retweeting and “liking” the best his fans have to offer him, and responding to them at a fever clip. He always keeps humble, though, never letting whatever success he finds go to his head, keeping positive and never pushing an agenda outside his own as a professional wrestler. He doesn’t devolve into argument, he refrains from political commentary, and he’s rarely, if ever, “gotten to” — because Lord knows a man his age and stature has the time for that, or the patience. One might say he is “really good at Twitter” and actually mean it this time.
PCO’s love for his fans resonates through the screen, and many of his followers have gone on to praise the man formerly known as Jacques, to be rewarded in kind with a lengthy response back that shares a little bit of his history while remaining all-the-while thankful. Through these responses, a backstory of PCO’s life is being carefully pieced together over time, and a character is being developed in a way that is both natural and heartening. According to recent tweet responses, we have learned that PCO’s upbringing is what forced him into his hard-as-nails lifestyle, and that he enjoys sleeping on a cold cement floor because that’s what works best for him.
PCO’s Twitter escapades provide a window into the reality, perceived or actual, that is the mad French Canadian. Whether or not he ate glass for breakfast as a child or was dragged behind horses to toughen him up in place of attending high school is anybody’s guess, but that’s the best part of pro-wrestling, isn’t it? The willful suspension of disbelief? And there is nobody out there who suspends disbelief more, or fights harder to make fans believe in the possibility of this cold, harsh, often amusing reality, than PCO.
The Future is Wild
PCO has matches coming up against the likes of Joey Janela and Matt Riddle, and if there is any indication of it, he is not going to slow down anytime soon. In recent bouts, PCO has carried a gun to the ring, firing it during his entrance, and he even set off a cannon while his theme music played, because why the fuck not. With time admittedly limited — because, if we’re being realistic, how much longer can he possibly go? — PCO is the perfect combination of throwing it all out there while one still can and the Internet age rewarding one of its own. And while this train might arrive at its final destination sooner than later, he seems content to let his supernova of a star burn for a long as will be allowed.
