ROH signs PCO

All the signs point to Ring of Honor (ROH) losing the services of the handful of talents who helped make their past couple of years such a success. One way or another, it appears Cody Rhodes and the Young Bucks, along with Adam “Hangman” Page, will go from headliners to competitors for the Sinclair Broadcasting-owned fed. So, what’s the plan to replace them?

It logically appears to be to lock up whatever name talent from the independent circuit they can. A few weeks back they signed Jeff Cobb, and yesterday (Nov. 30) PWInsider learned that a wrestler long-rumored to be headed to WWE, Silas Young, was re-signing with ROH.

Today, Insider reported that another popular indie act is joining ROH under a “full time, exclusive contract” to start with the company “immediately” - Pierre Carl Ouellet, aka PCO.

It’s an interesting move, and PCO is an interesting star. Fans who never watch the indies may know him from his WWF and WCW runs in the 90s when he teamed with Jacques Rougeau in The Quebecers. As you’d guess for someone who was a featured tag star during the last century, Ouelet is not young - he’ll turn 51 later this month. The gimmick he’s adopted for his 21st century renaissance is an interesting one, as well. PCO is a Frankenstein’s monster type who’s gotten over as much for his extreme workouts and ability to take painful offense as he has his impressive workrate.

Will that type of act work in the more reality-based world of ROH? Can stars like PCO and Young keep fans who embraced ROH as the U.S. home of The Elite buying tickets to their shows?

Stay tuned.