Jacques Rougeau

Jacques Rougeau Jr. (born June 13, 1960) is a retired French-Canadian professional wrestler best known for his appearances in the 1980s and 1990s with the World Wrestling Federation. Rougeau began his career by wrestling under his real name, as part of a tag team with his brother Raymond Rougeau, with whom he is a former WWF Tag Team Champion (albeit unofficially). Later Rougeau began a singles career where he wrestled as The Mountie, winning the Intercontinental Championship once. Later still, he formed the tag team The Quebecers with Pierre Ouellet, and won the Tag Team Championship three more times.

Professional wrestling career

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]

World Wrestling Federation

The Rougeau Brothers (1986–1990)

Jacques along with Raymond Rougeau made his WWF debut in February 1986 during a tour of Australia. They teamed together as The Fabulous Rougeaus. 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 returned three days later 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 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.

The Mountie (1991–1992)

Ray Rougeau retired in early 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] At Survivor Series, Mountie teamed with Ric Flair, Ted DiBiase and The Warlord to defeat Roddy Piper, Bret Hart, Virgil and Davey Boy Smith in a four-on-four Survivor Series elimination match.

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 (Hart was actually going through contract negotiations). 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, Rougeau left the WWF.^[8]

The Quebecers (1993–1994)

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 Ouellet, 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. at Royal Rumble (1994), The Quebecers defeated Bret Hart and Owen Hart by referee stoppage to retain the World tag team championship. at WrestleMania X, The Quebecers faced Men on a Mission with the Tag Team Championship which they retained the titles after getting counted out. they would lose the titles to Men on a Mission at a live event on March 29, 1994 in London, England before winning them back on March 31 at another live event. they lost the titles again to The Headshrinkers on the April 26 edition of Raw and the team split up soon after.

Retirement match (1994)

The Quebecers broke up at a house show held at the Montreal Forum on June 25, 1994. After a loss to The Headshrinkers, Pierre 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 Jacques, when he pinned Pierre following a seated tombstone piledriver. Jacques, who was accompanied by Raymond, used Queen's song "We Are the Champions" as his theme music for the night.^[9]

World Championship Wrestling (1996-1998)

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 Hollywood 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] On Colt Cabana's Art of Wrestling podcast, Rougeau's former student, Kevin Steen stated that there is a rumor that Hogan laid down for Rougeau due to an additional $10,000 payment.^[11] Also, Rougeau said that he paid and organized the show, so it was a Jacques Rougeau show, not a WCW show.^[12] Rougeau's pinfall victory was rarely referenced by WCW in order to protect Hogan's image.

Later career and retirement (1998–2000)

In 1998, Rougeau returned to the WWF for a final run teaming once again with Pierre Ouellet in an updated version of The Quebecers. The team lasted for a few months.

Rougeau would also team up with his brother, Ray Rougeau (who at the time was a commentator, announcer and host for the French-produced WWF programming) alongside Ouellet in a dark match for WWF Shotgun Saturday Night in 1997. The Rougeaus alongside Ouellet would come up with the victory against the team of Adam Copeland, Shawn Stasiak, and Tom Brandi.

Rougeau and Ouellet briefly reunited in WCW in 2000 in Lance Storm's Team Canada.

After retiring, Rougeau attempted to join the Montreal Police Department, but was unable to do so as he had not graduated from high school.^[13] He is now a public speaker, touring schools to speak on drugs, smoking, and bullying.^[13] Rougeau also opened the Rougeau Wrestling School in Montreal.^[13]

Personal life

Rougeau was married. His wife died of lung cancer in 2009.^[13] He has three sons.^[13] His nephew is former NHL star Denis Gauthier.

In wrestling

• Finishing moves
  • As Jacques Rougeau
    • Diving elbow drop^[1]
    • Quebec Crab (Boston crab)^[1]
  • As The Mountie
    • Carotid Control Technique (Nerve hold sleeper)^[1]
    • Dropkick^[8]
    • Kneeling two-handed chokeslam, as a counter to an oncoming opponent^[1]
• Signature moves
  • Bulldog^[1]
  • Piledriver^[1]
• With Carl Ouellet
  • Bearhug hold (Pierre) / seated senton (Jacques) combination^[14]
  • Flip, Flop and a Fly (Elevated senton bomb)^[15]
  • Quebec Crash (Assisted senton bomb)^[15]
• With Raymond Rougeau
  • Rougeau Bomb Bearhug (Raymond) / Seated senton (Jacques) combination
  • Boston crab (Raymond) / Jumping knee drop (Jacques) combination
• Managers
  • Jimmy Hart^[16]
  • Sir Oliver Humperdink
  • Col. Robert Parker^[17]
  • Johnny Polo^[15]

Championships and accomplishments

• Central States Wrestling
  • NWA Central States Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Bruce Reed
• Continental Wrestling Association
  • AWA Southern Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
  • NWA Mid-America Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
• Southeastern Championship Wrestling
  • NWA Alabama Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
  • NWA Southeastern Heavyweight Championship (Northern Division) (1 time)
• Lutte Internationale
  • Canadian International Tag Team Championship (4 times) – with Raymond Rougeau
• Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  • PWI ranked him #41 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the year in the PWI 500 in 1992^[18]
  • PWI ranked him # 222 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the PWI Years in 2003.
  • PWI ranked him # 83 of the 100 best tag teams of the PWI Years with Pierre Ouellet in 2003.
• World Wrestling Federation
  • WWF Intercontinental Championship (1 time)
  • WWF Tag Team Championship (3 times) – with Pierre Ouellet

References

External links

• Official website
• SLAM! Wrestling profile of the Rougeau Family