| Jacques Rougeau | |
|---|---|
| Ring name(s) | Jacques Rougeau, Jr. Jerry Roberts[1] Jacques Rougeau[1] Jacques The Mountie[1] Quebecer Jacques |
| Billed height | 1.85 m (6.1 ft) |
| Billed weight | 109 kg (240 lb) |
| Born | June 13, 1960 Saint-Sulpice, Quebec[1] |
| Resides | Rawdon, Quebec[1] |
| Billed from | Montreal, Quebec Canada (as The Mountie) |
| Trained by | Jacques Rougeau, Sr. Raymond Rougeau[1] |
| Debut | 1977[1] |
| Retired | May 28, 2011 |
Jacques Rougeau Jr.[1] (born June 13, 1960)[1] is a retired French-Canadian professional wrestler from Saint-Sulpice, Quebec, best known for his appearances in the 1980s and 1990s with the World Wrestling Federation under his own name, and as The Mountie. Rougeau has held fifteen championships during his career. Among other accolades, he is a former Intercontinental Champion and three-time World Tag Team Champion (with Carl Ouellet) in the WWF.
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The Rougeau family as a whole has been very involved in professional wrestling; Jacques is the younger brother of Raymond Rougeau, the son of Jacques Rougeau, Sr., and the nephew of Jean "Johnny" Rougeau, all of whom have worked as professional wrestlers and promoters of wrestling matches. Jacques' sister Johanne also promoted wrestling matches in Montreal, and brother Armand wrestled for smaller federations.
Jacques Rougeau began his career in 1977, working in Stu Hart's Calgary, Alberta based Stampede Wrestling promotion. In the 1980s he began wrestling in the United States, achieving success in Alabama and Tennessee, and in 1985 he and Ray were signed by the World Wrestling Federation.[1]
The brothers made their WWF debuts in February 1986 during a tour of Australia. During their first year with the company they faced and defeated such duos as The Hart Foundation (Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart), the Moondogs, Jimmy Jack and Dory Funk, Jr., and The Dream Team (Greg Valentine and Brutus Beefcake).
Although they lost their match at WrestleMania III in 1987 to Valentine and Beefcake they did win the WWF Tag Team Titles later that year, albeit briefly. Jacques and Raymond upset The Hart Foundation for the titles at the Montreal Forum on August 10, 1987 but the championship was later returned since the challengers won the match after using Jimmy Hart's megaphone as a weapon. The title win was never mentioned on American TV.[1]
After two years in the Federation, The Fabulous Rougeaus (Jacques and Raymond) turned heel when they participated in an angle in which the Canadian brothers were announced as "From Canada, but soon to relocate to the United States", and had an intentionally annoying entrance theme in which they sang (partly in French) about being "All-American Boys" as well as now having Jimmy Hart as their manager (The Rougeaus were also briefly billed as being from Memphis, Jimmy Hart's home city). They also waved tiny American flags, infuriating fans, who questioned their sincerity. Also, they would humorously attempt to start "USA!" chants, which lead to further negative fan "heat". According to Jacques, the widespread antipathy of American fans inspired Vince McMahon to turn them into villains. They would feud with The Killer Bees, The Hart Foundation (who had turned face in between), The Bushwhackers, and The Rockers during their heel run.
Ray Rougeau retired in 1990, and Jacques departed the Federation for a year before returning as The Mountie, once again a client of manager Jimmy Hart. The Mountie was a corrupt, cattle prod-wielding member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police who would often boast that he "always gets his man" in the ring. The cattle prod came into play as part of The Mountie's post-match gimmick, where he would (in kayfabe) "shock" his defeated opponents in the stomach. The storyline behind the image change was that Jacques Rougeau had actually gone through the training to become a Mountie to wield authority. The character was eventually the subject of litigation in Canada, leading to Rougeau being enjoined from performing as The Mountie in his home country. Thus, while wrestling in Canada, he was billed using only his real name and did not wear his Mountie-inspired hat and jacket to the ring, although he did retain other parts of his costume such as red shirt, black pants, and boots.[1] In fact, the commentary team who announced the match would often say, "This man does NOT represent the Royal Canadian Mounted Police!"
The Mountie made his in-ring debut in January 1991. In his pay-per-view debut, he defeated Koko B. Ware at the 1991 Royal Rumble.[2] He gained another major victory at WrestleMania VII, defeating Tito Santana after using the shock stick.[3] The Mountie began a feud with The Big Boss Man after declaring that he was the sole legitimate law enforcer in the WWF, and on August 26, 1991, he spent a night in prison (kayfabe) after Bossman defeated him in a Jailhouse Match at SummerSlam '91.[4] The Mountie's greatest achievement as a singles wrestler came when he won the WWF Intercontinental Championship in an upset over Bret Hart on January 17, 1992.[1] In the storyline, Hart was suffering from the flu. The Mountie lost the title just two days later to Rowdy Roddy Piper at the 1992 Royal Rumble, in what was the shortest Intercontinental Championship reign in history for several years.[5] The Mountie received a rematch at Saturday Night's Main Event, but when he attempted to use his shock stick, it had no effect as Piper was wearing a rubber vest under his t-shirt. Piper removed his shirt after the match to reveal the vest, which was labeled "Shock Proof". Piper would go on to win the match after he used the shock stick on the Mountie.[1]
For the next several months, The Mountie would primarily appear in the undercard. He was on the losing end of an eight-man tag team match at WrestleMania VIII and a six-man tag team match at SummerSlam '92.[6][7] After losing to WWF Champion Bret Hart in thirty seconds on October 26, 1992, Jacques Rougeau left the WWF.[8]
Jacques returned to the WWF in July 1993 and went on to hold the WWF World Tag Team Championship on three occasions as part of The Quebecers tag team with Pierre, feuding with The Steiner Brothers, Men on a Mission, The Headshrinkers, and Marty Jannetty and The 1-2-3 Kid. The Quebecers characters were an extension of the earlier Mountie-theme, albeit with a more casual costume and an emphasis on bullying behavior. The pair (who were managed by Johnny Polo) emphasized their detachment from the earlier Mountie controversy by using a doctored version of Jacques's second Mountie theme song, entitled "We're Not The Mounties". Jacques participated in the main event of the 1993 Survivor Series as a member of the "Foreign Fanatics" team.
The Quebecers broke up at a house show held at the Montreal Forum on June 25, 1994. After a loss to The Headshrinkers, Ouellet and Polo turned on Rougeau.[9] After a few minutes of Jacques being attacked in front of his hometown crowd, Raymond Rougeau (who by this point was an announcer for the WWF's French-language broadcasts) ran to the ring to save his brother. This angle led to Rougeau's first retirement match, which, over the next few months, was heavily promoted on WWF TV shows broadcast in the Montreal area, as well as in the local media. The match, which was held on October 21, 1994, drew a sell-out crowd of 16,843 to the Montreal Forum, and resulted in a victory for Rougeau, when he pinned Ouellet following a seated tombstone piledriver. Rougeau, who was accompanied by Raymond, used Queen's song "We Are the Champions" as his theme music for the night.[9]
Beginning on September 9, 1996, Rougeau and Ouellet went on to team again as The Amazing French Canadians in World Championship Wrestling. In 1997, Jacques joined a select few when he cleanly defeated Hulk Hogan in a singles match at the Molson Centre in Montreal. On the "Right After Wrestling" program on Sirius Satellite Radio Channel 98, Jacques told hosts Arda Ocal and Jimmy Korderas that Hogan put him over because of his respect for the Rougeau family name and for keeping a clean wrestling image.[10] Rougeau's pinfall victory was rarely referenced by WCW in order to protect Hogan's image.
In 1998, Rougeau returned to the WWF for a final run teaming once again with Carl Ouellet in an updated version of The Quebecers. The team lasted for a few months.
Rougeau and Ouellet briefly reunited in WCW in 2000 in Lance Storm's Team Canada.
Jacques opened a professional wrestling school in the Montreal borough of Laval and also occasionally promotes shows. However, when Jacques is unable to teach his wrestling classes, he is replaced by head trainer Eric Mastrocola.
Jacques is a spokesman and supporter of SOS Suicide Jeunesse, an organization which offers support and information to the suicidal. In addition, he is an account executive for the Transport Pro Cam trucking company.
Jacques got married on December 29, 2007 to Nancy Menard. The ceremony took place in a wrestling ring, provided by his Lutte 2000 promotion.
He also runs a small commodity hedge fund, specializing in Canadian spot electricity.
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