PCO Wins Ring Of Honor World Championship
Yes: Jean-Pierre LaFitte is a world champion as we head into 2020.
Last night, PCO, 51, became Ring Of Honor World Champion.
The Québécois saw off incumbent Rush in the main event of the company's Final Battle pay-per-view. At the close of a violent encounter, PCO laid Rush out on a table before hitting him with a moonsault to claim his first world championship in the company.
The victory marks the apex of a remarkable late career run for Pierre Carl Ouellet, who way back in the early '90s performed in WWE alongside Jacques Rougeau as one half of The Quebecers, before being repackaged as nefarious, jacket-stealing pirate Jean-Pierre LaFitte.
As hokey as the gimmick was, Ouellet nevertheless had the utmost respect of his perennial rival and fellow Canadian Bret Hart for his in-ring work. However, his recent relevance has been largely based around his ability as a punishment sponge - alongside the novelty of PCO bumping like Cactus Jack in his 50s. Last night's championship match involved chairs, barricades, doors and even a hearse - onto which's windshield PCO took a suplex.
Defeat brings to an end to a 77 day run with ROH's top title for Rush, sparking fresh speculation about his future. In September, CMLL fired Rush shortly after he breached his contract by appearing at ROH's Death Before Dishonor event. He announced he was going independent shortly afterwards.
Elsewhere on Final Battle, Dragon Lee beat Shane Taylor for the ROH TV title, whilst The Briscoe Brothers fell to Jay Lethal & Jonathan Gresham in a contest for the tag team straps.