PogChamp
You might remember it as Gootecks PogChamp, Pog blooper video
Biggest memes ever31 of 32
2010·The social era
A small picture of a man with his mouth open in exaggerated surprise, typed into Twitch chat when something exciting happens.
At a glanceThe facts
- Remembered as
- Gootecks PogChamp
- Spread in
- 2010
- Format
- Meme
- Who or what it shows
- Ryan “Gootecks” Gutierrez
- Taken from
- A video uploaded to his channel Cross Counter TV on 26 November 2010
- Used to say
- Excitement, surprise or joy at something happening live
- Record
- The third most-used emote on Twitch
- Origin
- Origin not yet established
- Available
- Playable from the source
What this wasThe story
A meme, described as fail.
Why it matteredWhat changed
For nine years it was the face of excitement on a live-streaming platform, used more than eight hundred million times. Then the platform removed it because of something the man in it had said, and replaced it with a lizard chosen by vote.
TimelineIn order
- Made
The video the face is taken from is uploaded to Cross Counter TV.1
- Made
Gutierrez appears in a promotional video called Pogs Championship, in which he wins a game of Pogs. The emote takes its name from it.1
- Posted
Twitch adds PogChamp to the emotes available in every channel.1
- Taken down
Twitch removes the emote after Gutierrez posts in support of further unrest following the attack on the United States Capitol.1
- Later
Twitch begins showing a different streamer’s face under the name every twenty-four hours.1
- Later
Viewers vote for a permanent replacement. A Komodo dragon wins with 81 per cent.1
The version you rememberNot the same thing
The emote as it was used from 2012 to January 2021.1
What the name PogChamp shows on Twitch now. The dragon already existed as another emote, so the same picture now has two names.1
What people misrememberSet straight
Commonly remembered asPog stands for “play of the game”.
ActuallyThat is a later explanation. The name comes from a video about the game of Pogs.1
Commonly remembered asPogChamp is a person’s face.
ActuallyIt was until January 2021. It is now a Komodo dragon.1
Why it is here: copied, redrawn and reused until the original stopped mattering · it got out of its own corner of the internet fast · still being watched and quoted years later
This is the copy ViralWorld can show you. Whether it is the first is not established.
Where it came fromWhat we know
Original source uncertain. This is the earliest copy currently known.
No original upload has been established for this record. The index is showing the earliest copy it currently knows about, and says so rather than guessing.
Not established. This index only names a creator where the evidence supports it.
- When
- The sources below date the original to 2010-11-26. ViralWorld records this as a cited claim rather than an established publication date, because it holds no copy to check it against.
- Where
- Known on YouTube.
More from 2010You were there
More from the social eraMore of the archive
SourcesWhat was read
Sources last read on . That date is about the history on this page. Whether the media still plays is checked separately and can change any day. How ViralWorld documents things