10 LIVE Observations From The NJPW/ROH G1 Supercard
8. How To Make Your Gimmick Ironic
PCO is not human, as the gimmick goes.
The thing is is that he very much is, and there's a grim chance of irony manifesting, if he performs on a stage as grand as this again. Near the finish of an enthralling Fatal 4-Way match, a more stiff and committed version of an already inherently dramatic genre, the Guerillas of Destiny powerbombed PCO over the top rope and to the floor. There was nobody there to catch him, for PCO's kink is absurd masochistic punishment. The landing was so brutal that I could only stand up, and stifle a scream through the hand clasped over my mouth in a state of gleeful sadism and shocked revulsion. I felt weird after watching it.
The bump contravened everything that pro wrestling is, but the maw of the beast sucked me in. The escalation of danger is becoming unsustainable. I don't want to be complicit in it, but at the same time, that bump was the absolute t*ts. I'm not meant to be putting the guy over, because he's an enemy of the Brand, but I had to pop at Tama Tonga's wildly enthusiastic celebration. Without flinching, as his colleague lay half-dead on the outside, he crotch-chopped as if he'd just won a major title. This at least attempted to accomplish something beyond an invitation to brain damage.
Tonga has never looked more like a Bad Boy. Impeccable sh*thousery.