Meaning
What does PogChamp mean?
PogChamp, also known as Pog Champion is one of the original Twitch emotes, based on the facial expression of Ryan “Gootecks” Gutierrez, a popular fighting game pro and live stream commentator.
The emote shows Gootecks with a shocked and excited face, while looking to his left all because of a blooper on set by one of the crew members.
On Twitch, it is predominantly is used to express excitement, shock or even surprise, reacting to a momentuous occasion in the stream.
“PogChamp” has spawned many variants of it own, all based on the original reactions by Gootecks and sometimes Pepe the Frog like:
Origin
What's the origin of PogChamp?
The original memewas created by an isolated frame from a blooper reel, uploaded to the YouTube channel of Counter CrossTV featuring, Gootecks.
The video was uploaded to YouTube by Crounter Cross TV on November 26th, 2010.
One of the earliest posts containing the image macro was shared on the message board 4chan’s /v/ – Video Games board in 2011.
Given the exaggerated reaction by Gootecks, it has quickly spread on the internet and later was given the name “Pog Champ” in 2011, referencing the the upolad of Counter Cross TV, titled Pogs Championship: gootecks vs Mike Ross – Madcatz Promo.
A unique emote was created for the streaming website Twitch in 2012, making it one of the first emotes on the platform.
Spread & Usage
How did PogChamp spread?
Given its early debut, “PogChamp” is one of the most used emotes on Twitch, as well as a popular reaction image all across the internet.
The emote also spawned countless other versions, all displaying the uncanny facial expressions of Gootecks.
Among the gaming community, “PogChamp” is an iconic meme, used both across the channels of Reddit, as well as Twitch, YouTube and 4chan.
As of December 10th, 2019, “PogChamp” is 6th on the top 100 most used emotes list according to the website StreamElements.
External resources
- Dictionary.com – What does PogChamp mean?