World Wrestling Insanity interview with Pierre-Carl Ouellet
Host: James Guttman
Interview available at WorldWrestlingInsanity.com via ClubWWI.

In 2006, ClubWWI.com brought you a one hour interview with "The Mountie" Jacques Rougeau. This week's guest is not the Mountie. He's former WWF Tag Team Champion Pierre-Carl Ouellet who has joined ClubWWI.com for a hard-hitting 55 minute shoot interview that addresses his entire career.

From his early WWF days as a Quebecer to his run as pirate Jean-Pierre LaFitte to his masked X-Division squashing days, Pierre has been everywhere. Now, as he embarks on a fresh journey in his career as P.C.O. (see him on PCOStyle.com), Ouellet joins James Guttman to talk about a ton of topics including his tumultuous relationship with WWE. PCO talks about the night he was jumped by Vince McMahon's bodyguards, why it happened, how Shawn Michaels made sure it didn't happen again, his feelings about Shawn, heat with the Klique, what WWE told him about creating characters and their style, plus much more. One such topic was his tryout at Smackdown…

"After the show, I asked Mike Rotunda, I said, 'Should I wait for their phone call or should I wait and thank Vince for the opportunity?' Mike said, 'No Carl. You should wait for Vince and thank him. So it'll be fresh in his memory, you know? ' So I'm just waiting at the end of the Smackdown show. He's coming out and it's maybe 12:30 or 1AM. And I go, "Vince, I just want to…" And he shoved me into the wall like I was a piece of crap. I felt pretty bad. Right after that, I got to my hotel room and called John Laurinaitis…"

Carl tells ClubWWI.com listeners about Johnny's response on the phone, why he drove all night to return one of Johnny's phone calls, Laurinaitis's shock at seeing PCO in his office, The Quebecers and other WWE Canadian Sterotypes, the story behind his TNA Masked X gimmick, the person who was pushing for him there, comparisons to Samoa Joe's debut, why it didn't last, and more.

One thing about PCO that sets him apart is that he's had a number of memorable gimmicks - all independent of each other. One gimmick was the swash-buckling pirate, Jean-Pierre LaFitte. The character was Pierre's first foray into the WWF singles scene and it seemed to be going over well. It was also something he had come up with himself…

"The idea was my idea because actually I have only one eye. The other, I can't see nothing because I got shot with a pellet gun when I was 12 years old. I always wanted to use the negative and turn it into a positive. Any benediction that's not accepted becomes a malediction. So, I try to accept that handicap and turn it into something good the same way that any slap in the face I got and any no that I received from the WWE or TNA or for any other big project or aspect as not coming through as I wish it would, I'm just trying to accept it and get turn it into something better."

PCO explains that he wanted the character to be inspirational. But because of gimmicks at the time, it was brought down the lowest common denominator. Eye Patch = Pirate and that's what it became.

"When I proposed the scenario, what I meant with the eye thing was turning a negative into a positive. I think (Vince McMahon) liked that and the whole thing, that's why I was eight months undefeated. They were giving me a good push. It was getting over, but it could have gotten over better if it was done a little bit in a different way. They had me stealing things and turned it into a joke a little bit too much. And if they would have kept it serious, maybe have a name instead of a pirate. You know, a name. Maybe not make it so much a pirate. More or less just someone with an eye patch and explain why, it would have gotten over better."

There is so much more to this ClubWWI.com shoot. Pierre speaks frankly about tons of other topics like working the dying days of ECW, the future of wrestling, MMA, creating his new character, wanting to turn baby face, journeying to the Pyramids, determination, Kevin Steen, Steve Austin, El Generico, Bastion Booger, Justin Credible, and more!

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