STW - Jacques Rougeau [Show Notes] (Patreon)

Jacques Rougeau Jr. was born on June 13th, 1960 to Jacques Rougeau Sr and is the younger brother of Raymond Rougeau along with being the nephew of Jean “Johnny” Rougeau. He’s a 3rd generation wrestler from Edouard Auger.

What was your first knowledge of the Rougeau family from Montreal?

Any meetings with Senior before meeting Junior?

Jacques wrestled his first match in Verdun on October 14, 1977. Jacques Jr wasn’t expected to be a wrestler like his brother Raymond because he was skinny growing up but he bulked up to debut and become a wrestler. He would work in Canada with Stampede Wrestling and Stu Hart.

He would work down south in Alabama and Tennessee in the early 1980s along with working at Lutte Internationale a promotion founded by Frank Valois, Andre the Giant and Dino Bravo.

When did you first hear of Jacques Rougeau Junior?

Any times you may have run into him on the road?

Pat Patterson had to be a big influence on getting the Rougeaus into the WWF due to his connections in Canada and his role in the front office. Did you ever talk to Pat about the Rougeaus and their family history and what they meant to him?

The Rougeau Brothers started on the road with the WWF in 1986 with a tour of Australia. Their WWF TV debut was taped in Sydney for Prime Time Wrestling which aired on 4/7/86 with a victory over the Moondogs in 18:12.

The Rougeaus start as All-American babyfaces...from Canada. What did you think of the gimmicks and how entertaining was it?

WrestleMania III - 93 thousand people in the Pontiac Silverdome. The Rougeau Brothers lose to Greg Valentine & Brutus Beefcake but the match is really a backdrop to Valentine, Dino Bravo & Johnny V leaving Beefcake alone after the match.

You’re about to start in the company - are the Rougeaus one of the acts you’re excited to work with?

On August 10, 1987 in Montreal the Rougeau Brothers defeated The Hart Foundation for the WWF Tag Team Titles. Jacques pinned Hart after using Jimmy Hart’s megaphone behind the referee’s back. The title change is never mentioned on WWF TV and the belts were returned using the old Dusty Finish. Footage of the title change was shown on Montreal TV news stations.

The Hart Foundation lost the titles more than most guys without actually losing the titles between the Rougeaus and the Rockers? Do you know what the deal was this?

Fresno, CA - taping for Prime Time Wrestling 9/7/87

The Hart Foundation defeated the Rougeau Brothers to retain the WWF Tag Team Titles. Mike McGuirk welcomes Bruce Prichard to the commentary booth for the first time.

These two teams and your commentary debut for the WWF - what do you remember of this?

Wrestling Challenge 5/1/88 is the first time the Rougeaus are referred to as The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers.

Superstars 6/4/88 the Rougeaus do an interview with Craig DeGeorge where they said they were not like Dino Bravo, and to show their appreciation for the USA, they began waving 2 small American flags.

It was time for them to change the gimmick if they were going to move into being heels right?

During a match in July 1988 against the Killer Bees which was a babyface match the Rougeaus won by cheating and offered to shake hands afterwards but the Killer Bees refused.

Wrestling Challenge - 9/25/88

The Rougeau Brothers and Jimmy Hart appear on the Brother Love Show to fully announce their new alliance.

Who’s idea was “The All-American Boys”? Who thought it was great heat for them to sing it and why is it so god damn catchy?

All American Boys (The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers theme) - YouTube

Boston Garden - 10/10/88

The Hart Foundation defeat the Rougeau Brothers when guest referee Brother Love was thrown from the ring by the Harts and Dave Hebner counts the pin for the Harts. Damn Bruce look at you taking bumps!

Around this time the infamous Dynamite Kid - Curt Hennig - Jacques Rougeau backstage altercation happens. Hennig frames the Bulldogs for a prank to get over on the Rougeaus and Dynamite Kid gets hot about being blamed for it and slaps Jacques and lands punches from behind in the locker room at a show in Miami. It was never settled and a week later Jacques punches Dynamite in the face with a roll of quarters in his hand breaking 4 teeth in Fort Wayne.

Jimmy Hart wrote this: “"Dynamite’s story was that Jacques had gone to Pat Patterson, who was a WWF booker, former superstar, and Vince’s second-in-command, and that Pat had gone to Vince. Ultimately, Vince laid down the law, telling the Bulldogs they had to stop playing their pranks.

"In Dynamite’s eyes, Jacques was a stoolie. I honestly don’t know if that’s the way it happened or not — Dynamite might have just decided he hated Jacques, and the attack may have been unprovoked.”

What happened? What do you remember? How was it handled internally? What is the fallout of all this?

After the attack, Billington harbored a grudge against the Rougeaus, and it was feared Dynamite might try to get revenge after their 10-team, 20-man elimination match at the Survivor Series 1988 PPV (which was his final match in the WWF). The match had the Rougeaus, Demolition, Brain Busters, The Bolsheviks, and Los Conquistadores vs. The British Bulldogs, The Rockers, The Hart Foundation, The Young Stallions, and The Powers of Pain. For fear of the Dynamite Kid taking his revenge, the match was booked so the Rougeaus were the first team eliminated, with Bret Hart pinning Raymond in the bout's opening minutes with a small package. The Bulldogs were kept in the match until they were one of the final four teams remaining. By the time the Bulldogs had been eliminated and made their way back to the locker room, the Rougeaus had already been rushed out of the building. During the actual match, Dynamite worked with the Rougeaus without incident.

How crazy is this Bruce? What was it like backstage?

Saturday Night’s Main Event - 11/26/88

Jimmy Hart cuts a promo that announces the Rougeaus are now living in the US and they speak in Southern accents.

Why the shift?

A question I’ve always wanted to know. How much politicking takes place to get on the Hogan house show loop?

A feud begins afterward between the Rougeau brothers and the Rockers as the Rockers record their own theme (which was quickly dropped) and called the Rockers copycats. At one point they hit Shawn Michaels in the throat with Jimmy Hart’s megaphone. They spend the summer together married on the house shows including doing some 60 minute iron man tag team matches. How good were these matches?

Summerslam 1989 Rick Martel is put with the Rougeau brothers against Tito Santana & the Rockers.Martel pins Jannetty with a clothesline but during the match the Rougeau brothers music plays giving away the finish.

Who got fired for that?

Survivor Series 1989 - Rick Rude, Mr. Perfect, The Fabulous Rougeaus defeat Roddy Piper, Jimmy Snuka & the Bushwackers in a Survivor Series match. Snuka defeated Jacques to be the first one eliminated in 4 minutes and Piper finished Raymond 3 minutes later with a piledriver.

At what point did you know Raymond was going to retire and start to phase him out?

Royal Rumble 1990 - The Bushwhackers defeated Jacques & Raymond Rougeau (w/ Jimmy Hart) at 13:35 when Butch pinned Jacques after a battering ram that sent Jacques into Raymond, knocking Raymond out of the ring (the Rougeaus' last match in the WWF as a team) (Jacques' last appearance for 11 months)

When Raymond “retires” and goes to work in the office why does Jacques disappear for 11 months?

December 22nd, 1990 (WWF Superstars)

A vignette is aired for “The Mountie” - Jacques Rougeau’s return to the WWF.

Who came up with the Mountie gimmick? Was it designed specifically for Jacques or was anyone else considered?

Superstars 1/26/91

The Mountie (w/ Jimmy Hart) pinned Reno Riggins at 2:06 with a double-handed chokeslam; after the bout, he handcuffed Riggins' arms around his back and assaulted him with the shock stick (Jacques Rougeau's debut as the Mountie on Superstars)

Where did the shock stick come from? Why Jimmy Hart with the Mountie?

I'm the Mountie WWF theme (The Mountie) - YouTube

Royal Rumble 1991

From the Wrestling Observer:

4. Instead of risking a riot to having an intermission, they did the next best thing, sending a basic unknown, The Mountie (Jacques Rougeau) out with Koko Ware. It really wasn't bad at all, but nobody cared nor could any two wrestlers get any heat at that point in time. Rougeau won in 9:05. Both tried. Rougeau does some nice tie-up moves. At first glance, the gimmick looks pretty lame, though. *3/4

The riot was in reference to Slaughter defeating Warrior for the WWF Title. This match was NOT previously advertised for the pay-per-view, and was cut from the home video release. Who makes that call?

Superstars taping in Macon, GA has Mountie beating Sonny Blaze but from the Observer covering that event:

Brother Love character apparently is no more. Story is Bruce Prichard will concentrate on front office duties.

Mountie is announced as scheduled to face Tito Santana at WrestleMania 7.

WrestleMania 7:

13. The Mountie pinned Tito Santana in 1:19 when Jimmy Hart gave Mountie the cattle prod gimmick to use for the pin. Not only was it short, but it was bad while it lasted. -1/2*

Voted second worst match of the show by the readers of the Wrestling Observer. What did you think of the gimmick?

Mountie works a lot with Jim Powers on the house shows but is soon programmed with Big Boss Man.

Natural pairing between the two law enforcement officers?

What were your hopes with Mountie before you left the company? What did you see as the end?

While Bruce is gone this happens:

Wrestling Observer 7/8/91

There is tremendous heat regarding the Mountie character. Believe it or not, this item has made the front pages of newspapers throughout Canada but the Royal Canadian Mounted Police is on the warpath against the WWF because of the Mountie character. Since February the real Mountie's has been trying unsuccessfully to get the WWF drop the character. This is the reason the WWF shows now have the disclaimer that the Mountie isn't associated with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and has never trained with the force. Mountie Inspector Yves Juteau is demanding the company drop the characterization saying that "We spend hours and hours talking to school children, gaining their respect and teaching them about the law and they see one guy with a zapper on TV and all the education is forgotten." This past Wednesday, the force's legal representatives met with the WWF to try and get them to pull the character.

Any idea this was coming while you were still there? Did you hear a peep about it beforehand?

Wrestling Observer 7/22/91

There's an old saying that those of you who remember the Dudley Do-Right cartoons will recall, that the Mountie's always get their man. Well, after threatening to arrest Jacques Rougeau on charges of impersonating a Mountie, the Mounties and the WWF came up with an agreement that the heel character of The Mountie will no longer appear in Canadian arenas or on Canadian television. The character had been the subject of much newspaper publicity in Canada with the Mountie's first asking nicely for WWF to drop the character, the WWF agreeing to issue disclaimers on television before his matches and the RCMP saying it wasn't enough. Since the RCMP has no jurisdiction in the United States, it can't get the WWF to drop the character. What will be interesting is Summer Slam, since it airs on PPV in Canada and Mountie obviously is going to play his character. Yves Juteau, an RCMP spokesperson said that the two sides have reached an agreement where the character will be phased out.

I mean the WWF didn’t have a choice did they?

Summerslam 1991 from the Wrestling Observer:

6. Big Bossman pinned The Mountie in 10:38 in the loser goes to jail match. Either it was hard following the previous match because the crowd was popped out, or people really didn't care because not only did this match have no crowd reaction, but the crowd was swarming to the concession stand during it. Still, the work was okay. Bossman won with a frontward powerslam. The real heat was them cuffing Mountie, dragging him to a police car and hauling him to "jail" where they did a skit where a big gay guy was coming on to him. The match didn't get much reaction but the throwing Mountie in the paddy wagon (shown on the scoreboard screen to those of us live) got a pop. *½

Funny doesn’t draw but this was totally entertaining. The match? Eh. What did you think of this gimmick?

Mountie would beat Bret Hart on a house show to win the IC title while Bret has issues with his WWF contract right before the Royal Rumble, and he would drop the title to Roddy Piper at the Rumble. Did you hear what was going on at this time?

The Mountie starts working house shows with Randy Savage up top defending the WWF Title against him. This is the first time he’s working for the WWF Title on house shows loops.

Summerslam 1992 build begins with Mountie shocking Sgt. Slaughter with a super shocker sending him off in a stretcher. SUPER SHOCKER! Match never happens lol.

Bruce returns. Patterson returns. Whole gang is back together.

Wrestling Observer - 10/26/92

Some talk that Mountie will be leaving in just a few months.

Jacques is only 32 at the time but he’s been with the WWF for almost 7 years off and on. He doesn’t SEEM 32 on TV but much older. Is that part of the thought process of starting to think of moving on from him?

Wrestling Observer 11/9/92

The WWF's top line roster continues in a state of continual flux. Ric Flair is now going to be kept out of action until Survivor Series because of his ear injury. Undertaker is also scheduled to start back at Survivor Series. Both Randy Savage and Big Bossman are scheduled for sabbaticals after Survivor Series as well. Bossman's which is apparently due to nagging injuries, will be for several months. No word on how long Savage will be out of action. The Mountie also quit the promotion on Monday, although I've heard conflicting stories on whether he'll be fulfilling already scheduled bookings or not.

What was the straw that broke the camel’s back for him? Getting ahead of a release or being phased down or just wanting to get off the road?

Mountie is supposed to be quitting to open up a Golf Center in Montreal.

Big time plans for after wrestling huh?

Raymond Rougeau stays with the company and continues in his role. Any static from him regarding Jacques leaving?

Wrestling Observer 6/21/93

Mountie (Jacques Rougeau) is headed back, possibly at the next taping

Not gone for long. Who pitched him coming back? Was the tag team always the plan with Jean Pierre-Lafette (PCO)?

“Wrestling Observer 7/26/93

While I'm not certain of this, I believe Jacques Rougeau's partner Pierre Oulette formerly worked in Puerto Rico under the name Killer Karl Wallace. The Quebec heel team starts on the road 10/6. Jacques has claimed to the local Montreal media that he signed a two-year $1 million contract, although those in wrestling who read those printed reports are howling with laughter and that figure. This past week they cut a song with the line "We're not the Mounties.”

But we always get our maaaaaaan.

Wrestling Observer 8/9/93

At the 7/27 Wrestling Challenge tapings in Plattsburgh, NY, they started the Bushwhackers vs. Quebecers angle with Bushwhackers winning, but being jumped after the match.

This was the beginning of the Bushwhakers faze out. Only seemed fitting to have the Quebecers programmed with them at the time?

The Quebecers 1st WWE Theme - YouTube

(now the song is “We’re NOT the Mounties” to play off all the problems with the original Mountie gimmick in Canada)

From the Observer

“The 9/13 Monday Night Raw show did a 1.8 rating, even with the Steiners-Quebecers title change that was pushed heavily on all the previous weekend shows, which was by far the lowest rating in the history of the show. Whether this is a fluke or an indication of something will be more obvious when the ratings come in from 9/20. WWF Mania did a 1.1, while we were unable to get All-American ratings because much of the show was pre-empted.

The Quebecers got a lot of mainstream publicity in their native Montreal on winning the tag title. Both the Montreal newspapers (English and French) ran small stories on Tuesday and several TV stations ran clips of the Raw finish (Raw doesn't air in Canada), and they did a live interview nationally on the CBC radio network the following Thursday.”

It’s a different time with coverage of the WWF, but the Quebecers winning the tag titles on Raw is quite the big moment…were the Steiners comfortable putting them over?

What did you think of Johnny Polo with the team?

“ On Saturday, a columnist in Le Journal de Moreal, the city's French newspaper, criticized the Quebecers for their negative portrayal of the Montreal Canadiens which is almost a religion in that city in an article filled with factual errors. Jacques Rougeau, who has been an ardent Canadiens fan since childhood, was so shaken by the insinuation that Johnny Polo wearing the jersey gave the team a negative connotation that he called the paper and was quoted in a follow-up on 9/21 saying, "We (Jacques and Pierre) are huge Canadiens fans since our youth, both Pierre and I. This is just a way to infuriate the American crowds and emphasize that we won the Stanley Cup. It was my decision, not that of the WWF. In wrestling we have good guys and bad guys and we play the part of bad guys. I've tried to contract the President of the Canadiens not only to apologize on behalf of the WWF but on behalf of myself and Pierre and let him know that never again will the sweater of the Canadiens be used in one of our matches."

Is this the silly shit you have to deal with at this time?

Wrestling Observer 9/29/93

The Quebecers (Jacques Rougeau Jr. & Pierre Oulette) won the WWF tag titles on 9/13 at the Manhattan Center from the Steiners. The match was under Quebec Province rules which means the title could change via DQ. They went 21:47 of a ***1/2 match before Jacques hot the hockey stick from new manager Johnny Polo (wearing a Montreal Canadiens hockey jersey), but Scott got the stick from him and used it and the ref saw it for the DQ.

This really was a great TV match at the time when most matches didn’t go 20. Credit to those guys right?

Survivor Series build begins with the All Americans (Luger, Tatanka & Steiners) facing The Fanatic Foreigners (Yokozuna, Borga & Quebecers). Was this the plan always or did something happen to shift to Crush replacing Pierre and Undertaker replacing Tatanka?

Wrestling Observer 11/8/93

Rick & Scott Steiner returned to house shows on 10/28 in Detroit beating Quebecers via DQ. Initially Rick was the one suspended, not Scott as reported here weeks back which was met with denials.

What was the deal with the suspension of the Steiners?

Wrestling Observer 12/6/93

Survivor Series 1993

5. Lex Luger & Steiners & Undertaker beat Ludvig Borga & Yokozuna & Jacques Rougeau & Crush in 27:59. Borga pinned Rick in 5:05 to win the first fall. The finish was supposed to be Borga rolling through a crossbody off the top rope. What it actually was was so messed up it can't even be described. Savage came out and Crush jumped out after him, getting counted out for the second fall in 6:31. Luger pinned Jacques with the forearm in 2:28. During this fall Vince McMahon made the comment that Borga may be the wrestler of the 90s. God help us for the next seven years. Yokozuna pinned Scott in 2:53 with a legdrop. The most heated part of the match came when Undertaker finally tagged in three minutes into the fifth fall. Yokozuna kept doing moves and Undertaker would sit up. Undertaker even sat up after a banzai. Both men were then counted out in 6:29. This left Luger and Borga and Luger pinned Borga after the forearm in 4:36. Not bad, but hardly a memorable PPV main event. **½

Quite the moment for Jacques to be in the main event of a pay-per-view was it not?

“There was also a literal ton of publicity in Montreal because Jacques Rougeau had gone crazy having promised the Quebecers first match in town with the belts would draw a big house and he came through with 13,800 fans paying $114,000. Quebecers got cheers the nearly blew the roof off the building when they came out, and Steiners were 100 percent booed, which surprised everyone who expected a mixed reaction to both since the Rougeau wrestling family are legendary faces in Montreal, but the kids see what's on television today. The Quebecers worked the match as complete heels and managed to turn the crowd as the match went along, with them doing the Dusty finish at the end where it appeared Steiners had won the belts but instead it was a DQ.

Biggest draw in Canada baybee. Bruce chat me up - what did Jacques have as a promoter that just made it work all the time?

“1-2-3 Kid & Marty Janetty won the WWF tag titles from the Quebecers at the 1/10 Monday Night Raw live hour from Richmond, VA. It was a ***1/2 hot match with Kid especially looking great, going 18:18 ending when Pierre was pinned after Janetty had him up for a suplex and Kid came off the top with a cross body. Expect this to be a short title reign. On TV after the match, they were plugging that Quebecers vs. Hart Brothers would still take place at Royal Rumble rather than Janetty & Kid (if they were to still be champs in two weeks) vs. Harts.

Why the quick title change back and forth? Spicing up TV?

From the Observer

“Kid & Marty Janetty's one-week reign as WWF tag champs ended against The Quebecers. WWF attempted a risky live voice-over from the studios (if that was the case, if not they attempted an even riskier talking about something that hadn't happened yet in the middle of a snowstorm that kept several wrestlers from appearing) of the first part of the Monday Night Raw show, with two on-site phone calls from Stan Lane who reported live during the show about the title change. Unfortunately, it didn't go smoothly as the sound mixing was a mess, causing almost inaudible commentary for the first half of the show. The tag title match, described as equally as good as the match the previous week, went 21:24 ending with Kid on the top rope when Johnny Polo shook the ring rope and Kid crotched himself, fell into the ring, and was pinned after a double-team move.

That’s some tricky stuff back in 1994. How did this all come together?

Wrestling Observer 1/31/94

Royal Rumble 1994: Best match is Hart vs. Quebecers as voted on by the Wrestling Observer readers.

2. Quebecers kept the WWF tag titles beating Bret & Owen Hart in 16:48. The first 7:00 saw the Harts dominate. It was Bret's turn to sell, but it was short-lived because he got the hot tag to Owen at 9:00. Owen after some aerial moves got Jacques in the sharp shooter 30 seconds later, but Pierre made the save and Owen was worked over for about a minute before the hot tag to Bret. As Bret was about to come off the ropes, Johnny Polo opened up the ropes and Bret took a bump to the floor and started selling the knee great. Jacques hit the knee with a chair and later a broom as Owen distracted everyone else. Bret was actually out of the ring for nearly three minutes selling the knee with the count continually being interrupted. Finally Owen put Bret back in the ring. Pierre came off the top rope with a legdrop to the back of Hart's head but when they went for their double-team flip off the top finisher, Bret moved. Bret had the chance to tag Owen but instead went for the sharp shooter on Pierre but his knee couldn't hold the move. The referee then stopped the match ruling Bret couldn't continue. After the match Owen yelled at the fallen Bret and finally kicked his bad knee. Bret wound up doing a stretcher job with Stan Lane telling fans to call the hotline to find out his condition. Owen then did a backstage interview on the video wall broadcast while they were carrying Bret out calling Bret selfish (actually I think he really called him a "shellfish"). Owen is going to need a good manager to get over as a heel against anyone but Bret. ***1/4

***Great match. Great story. Great angle. Any credit to the Quebecers?

Quebecers are announced as defending the WWF Tag Team Titles against Men on a Mission for WrestleMania 10.

“5. Men on a Mission beat Quebecers via count out so Quebecers retained the tag title in 7:45. Given the participants (I'm speaking of Men on a Mission), the match didn't have much chance of being good. Guess what? It wasn't, although there were a few good moves thrown in. Pierre was backdropped over the top rope by Jacques into almost a backward tope on Mo. Mo pulled off a somersault bodyblock in the ring. The Quebecers did a double-team suplex on Mabel which got a crowd pop because they teased not being able to do it (although that's a babyface spot). MOM did their finisher on Pierre while Oscar stopped Johnny Polo from interfering. Mo clothesline Pierre over the top rope and Mabel splashed him on the floor and he was counted out. Finish was really weak. *¼”

From the best match at the Rumble to this…was Jacques happy?

Wrestling Observer 5/9/94

The Head Shrinkers won the WWF tag titles from the Quebecers on 4/26 in Burlington, VT. Lou Albano and Afa both managed the Head Shrinkers, in their first match in the babyface role. The storyline revolved around Quebecers miscuing and hitting one another. Finally after Pierre hit Jacques, Fatu pinned Jacques after a leap off the top rope. Johnny Polo and Pierre walked out leaving Jacques after the match, so it appears Pierre will be going as a single. As is new WWF policy, Shrinkers were billed as champs from the following night and retained vs. Quebecers at the B shows all week. Don't know Jacques' departure date, but rumor has it he's planning on opening a gym in Montreal.

***Another time for Jacques to be leaving. Was it really to open a gym in Montreal?

Just a few months later…

The WWF ran an uncharacteristic house show program and angle which resulted in its biggest house show crowd of the summer on 6/25 at the Montreal Forum.

Jacques Rougeau, who has been the leading drawing card in the city for some time since he's the son and nephew of the original Rougeau Brothers who worked on top in the 60s and early 70s, was finishing his WWF commitments on the show. Although the Quebecers are heels everywhere else, after they pretty well single-handedly drew a huge crowd for a match with the Steiners last year in Montreal and were given a thunderous cheer, they were pushed as faces just in Quebec, where they had promised to regain the tag team titles from the Head Shrinkers and display them around town as part of the Canadian holiday weekend. The night before in Hull, working as faces, the Quebecers won a non-title match and got in the ring and started building up for their title match the next night. The Shrinkers ripped up and stomped on the Quebec flag prior to the match to make them heels even though they are faces on television.

The title match wound up in what was said to have been the hottest angle in Montreal since the Rougeaus and Garvins drew 21,000 to the Forum for a loser leaves town match some ten years ago ending one of most heated feuds in North America during the 1980s. After Jacques gave Samu a dropkick off the top rope, Pierre pulled Jacques off Samu at the count of two. As the two argued, Jacques was small packaged and pinned. After the match, Johnny Polo started yelling at Jacques. When Jacques threatened Polo, he was blindsided by Pierre and the two destroyed Jacques. Several of the jobbers hit the ring and were destroyed as well. Finally Pat Patterson, a Montreal native who was a major star locally during his active days and frequently teamed with the Rougeau Brothers, hit the ring and he even took a bump courtesy of Pierre. Finally Raymond Rougeau ran in and got destroyed but pretty well covered Jacques and they stomped him around. Jacques did a stretcher job. This match took place third from the top because it was felt ahead of time that Pierre costing Jacques the tag title and then turning on him would create so much heat they needed to get him out of the building before the crowd. While this isn't confirmed, it is believed that Jacques is through as a wrestler and will open up a gym, but will come back to work the next Montreal show in October in a singles match against Pierre which the belief is coming off this angle will draw an even larger crowd.

***What an angle - what heat - Bruce at you at this show?

Wrestling Observer 8/22/94

“Titan Sports organized a major press conference on 8/9 in Montreal to announce what will undoubtedly be its biggest house show in North America of 1994--a 10/21 card at the Forum in Montreal which will be the retirement card for Jacques Rougeau, as he faces former tag team partner Pierre, who for this event only, will be managed by Johnny Polo. Polo has been dropped by Titan as a performer but still works in the front office, while Pierre continues to wrestle as a prelim loser on the Titan circuit since the tag team broke up.”

How much power did the Rougeaus hold? Could you imagine anyone else doing this?

“Among those attending the press conference were Vince McMahon, Pat Patterson, Jack Tunney, Billy "Red" Lyons, Killer Kowalski, Jacques Rougeau Sr., Yvon Robert Jr. and Butch Morgan, a referee who was Raymond Rougeau's first professional opponent. Raymond, who will be a prominent part of the 10/21 show, was not in attendance as he was doing French voiceovers in Stamford. Edouardo Carpentier, the biggest drawing card in Montreal wrestling history, was invited to the press conference but declined. Carpentier had a lawsuit out against Titan Sports which has since been settled.”

“Wrestling Observer 10/31/94

Rougeau's retirement show drew a packed house of 18,500 fans paying $240,000 to the Montreal Forum, with Rougeau pinning former tag team partner Pierre Oulette in what was reported to us as a highly-emotional five-star match. Raymond Rougeau and Johnny Polo (working one final WWF shot) worked the respective corners stemming from the angle shot at the last Montreal show. At the end of the match, which saw Oulette pull out topes and both men swell each others eyes up and hard slaps, the Rougeau family stood in the ring together and Oulette and Jacques ended up shaking hands to a huge pop. The show, which included appearances by Edouardo Carpentier and Jacques Rougeau Sr., the cities two biggest drawing cards of the 1960s and 1970s, and legendary heel Killer Kowalski, fell just shy of the city's all-time indoor attendance mark set ten years earlier when Jacques Jr. & Raymond climaxed their feud with Ron & Jimmy Garvin by winning a double loser leaves town match that drew 21,000. The building was set up differently from ten years ago, as the show sold out one hour in advance and turned away more than 1,000. It would have been the second largest crowd of the year to see pro wrestling in North America and probably the largest paid (SummerSlam had more in the building but the paid attendance may have been lower).”

How crazy is this one of the biggest shows in 1994?

Well all good things come to an end…

Wrestling Observer 12/5/94

Jacques Rougeau and Vince McMahon had a major falling out that received some press in Montreal last week. As mentioned here last week, Rougeau was trying to put on a show on 1/29, the same day as the Super Bowl, at 60,000-seat Olympic Stadium. Originally Ed Cohen, who handles arena bookings for Titan, had, at the request of Rougeau, talked with stadium management but Titan balked when they wanted $280,000 in rent and set-up fees. Rougeau then negotiated the price down to $154,000 and just as he was ready to ink the deal, McMahon told him he didn't think the time was right and that the company or the city was hot enough for such an undertaking. In addition, as it would come to pass, the match Rougeau wanted to headline with, Backlund defending against Pierre, couldn't take place by that time which he wasn't aware of. There was a story on 11/22 in Le Journal, which portrayed Rougeau, who was going to donate $1 from every ticket to a local children's hospital, as being denied by McMahon the chance to raise $60,000 for a kids charity. It appears from the outside, however, that McMahon made the right move because traditionally WWF has a tough time drawing big return crowds after a blow-out show, as the last Montreal card was, and even 15,000-20,000 would look bad in a building that large. Rougeau then immediately contacted Jimmy Hart about bringing WCW in, with Rougeau already suggesting coming out of retirement to either wrestle or team with Hogan, and use Savage vs. Pierre as the co-feature, figuring coming out of retirement so shortly after such a major retirement match would wash locally because the event would be for charity. But since WCW only has weak English language cable that nobody watches in Montreal, trying to run a building that large, even though Rougeau has a morning drive-time show and access to huge amounts of local publicity, still seems out of their league. Rougeau is also interested in promoting local shows using local talent and maybe bringing in two to four outside headliners from WCW. Raymond Rougeau at last report was supposedly trying to re-open the door with McMahon and his brother, since his brother had been vehement all week that he would never speak to McMahon again claiming he pulled the rug out from under him.

Well that lasted long - when this all goes bad - how angry is Vince?

Did you think the relationship was salvageable?

Jacques doesn’t put the deal together with WCW and Titan ends up sending a legal letter to WCW about Jacques being under contract…

How much were you aware of what was going on? How serious was this taken and is Carl DeMarco involved at this time or still Bret’s agent?

How messy is this in Canada? Did this hurt the WWF do you think?

“By Friday, Le Journal ran a bitter piece regarding Jacques with the source being brother Raymond, who still works for Titan as an announcer. Raymond from most sources was quietly bitter at how much his role was downplayed in Jacques' retirement show to begin with but was considered the type of person who never went public with his complaints, particularly involving family. That's why people who knew him were shocked he lashed out so strong against his brother. He said that he and his brother owe everything they are to Vince McMahon and said he found it deplorable what Jacques has been saying. He said Jacques' behavior shows he lacks maturity and called him a big baby. He said Jacques had no right to be mad about WWF not doing a stadium show because it was too big a risk and then pointed out that Jacques had no experience as a promoter. The stories also came out that Jacques Sr. has also come out against Jacques and wrote him a letter telling him so. As it all turned out, McMahon has now named Raymond Rougeau his new local promoter in Montreal.

What is it with Canadian families feuding over the love of Vince McMahon?

“Wrestling Observer 2/13/95

The WWF drew its largest crowd of the new year and biggest house show crowd since October on 2/3 at the Montreal Forum when a reported 12,113 fans showed up for a ten-match loaded up show since there was no "B" show that night. It was the first show promoted for Titan by Raymond Rougeau.”

What were the differences between Jacques & Raymond at this point?

“While the show had a strong advance, it didn't indicate a crowd this large. A lot of the credit for the crowd seems to stem indirectly from The Undertaker's knee injury, which will keep him out of action the next few weeks. Pierre Karl Ouellete (who has been on hiatus from WWF until they re-introduce him in a Pirate gimmick), Jacques' opponent in the sellout house in October who turned babyface for Montreal only when the two hugged after the match, was pressed into emergency duty replacing Undertaker for a match with Shawn Michaels. Ironically, even though Ouellete is a local French Canadian, he only received about 60% cheers when he came out while Michaels received a thunderous response even though a heel. Michaels got the pin with his feet on the ropes and continued to work over Ouellete after the match, the apparent reasoning of "killing off" an apparent local draw being just in case Ouellete were to go with ex-partner Jacques and he his local top star, especially since Titan's plans are for Ouellete to return with his new character as a heel and drop all ties to being from Montreal in his gimmick which is really his main attribute for being a local draw. After the match, Rick Martel, who will apparently be used locally in the future in that babyface Quebecer role, tore off his suit and jacket and made the save.

How in depth were the thoughts on Pierre leaving to go with Jacques and Martel being lined up with him?

“Wrestling Observer 5/22/95

There is a huge promotional war going on in Montreal, which aside from New York, is the WWF's second best drawing city, and if you didn't know better, you'd think it was an angle. But it's not. WWF has named Joanne Rougeau as its Quebec promoter. Rougeau is sister of Jacques Jr. and Raymond, and also ex-wife of former wrestler/bodybuilder Denis Gauthier and herself an accomplished female bodybuilder in the late 70s. Her first show is 5/19. Jacques Jr. is scheduled to hold a press conference just a few days before announcing the formation of Jacques Rougeau Promotions, which opens 7/14 at the nearby Verdun Auditorium. Jacques has been attempting to affiliate himself with WCW, largely to no avail, at this point.”

My goodness - this story keeps getting crazier and crazier doesn’t it Bruce?

“Wrestling Observer 2/5/96

Jacques Rougeau and Pierre Oulett (Jean Pierre Lafitte) will be coming in (to WCW) after Pierre's WWF contract expires on 7/7. The paper itself hasn't been signed, but Jacques released it to the media in Montreal on 1/29. Both men have agreed to two years at $150,000 apiece, plus Jacques, who is a great self promoter, will get 25% of all PPV revenue in the province of Quebec and also be the local promoter for WCW in Montreal (although Jacques' business partners Tony Mule and Cookie Lazarus will probably be called local promoters to avoid the problems of Jacques promoting shows where he always is featured and goes over). WCW is going to attempt to beat WWF into the new 24,000-seat Moulson Center this summer and it's expected the Quebecers, probably under another name (the name they've talked about is French Connection but they are waiting for legal clearance), will win the tag titles at the first Montreal show. Jacques also wants to use some of the young wrestlers he's trained and used in a failed promotional attempt in Quebec a few months back as undercard performers using WCW talent in the Quebec area. Originally the figure going around was $200,000 but Bischoff convinced Jacques to take the lower amount claiming to him that even Lex Luger is only making $150,000 per year, which is something I'd be dubious of as one thing Lex is good at is handling his career from a business standpoint. Oulett officially quit the WWF on 1/25 and has been out of action since hernia surgery in November.

How messy is all this from a who gives a shit area?

From the Wrestling Observer 4/21/97

“Hulk Hogan did a rare clean job for promoter Jacques Rougeau Jr. on the 4/11 WCW show at the Molson Center in Montreal which drew an estimated 9,000 fans and $209,000 Canadian.”

When you see this - do you roll your eyes? Like what do you think of this?

Kevin Steen told a story on Art of Wrestling with Colt Cabana that he heard a rumor that Hogan did the job for an extra $10,000. Thoughts?

“Wrestling Observer 6/9/97

The Rougeau Brothers, Jacques and Raymond, who hadn't talked in more than two years, were back talking. It was supposedly Raymond who initiated things as he followed Jacques home and they talked in Jacques' garage. With Jacques and Pierre's WCW contract up at the end of July and with WCW supposedly considering not renewing it, this mending fences may be a way to get them back into WWF, particularly since WWF is running Survivor Series this year in Montreal. Although those close to the situation said not to discount the idea Raymond was feeling Jacques out about going to WCW.

As the world turns. Was Vince ever soured on him or did he think he could turn it around?

It’s reported in the Observer he was trying to help promote the Survivor Series in Montreal in 1997 - that would’ve been interesting in hindsight wouldn’t it?

Wrestling Observer 1/19/98

Jacques Rougeau & Carl Pierre Oulette were also signed this past week and will likely reform their Quebecers tag team, perhaps as early as the 1/19 TV tapings. In some ways considering how everything went down, it's amazing Jacques is back here, but this being wrestling, nothing is a surprise

Vince forgives doesn’t he?

The Quebecers have a different look - more like their French Canadians run in WCW - then the Mounties. You needed something different at this point didn’t you?

They’d work Cactus Jack & Chainsaw Charlie a lot on Raw, also the Godwinns at No Way Out and Meltzer would have this to say:  “This is actually going to wind up being the most famous match on the card because they are going to end up having a Supreme Court fight over it in California over whether or not forcing criminals to watch tapes over-and-over of this match constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. But who would have ever thought Jacques would do a plancha? Henry clotheslined Pierre from the apron and Phineas pinned him. After the match, the Godwinns clocked both with their slop buckets. If after a performance like this, the Quebecers are still major heroes and drawing cards in Montreal, then nothing will ever kill wrestling in that city. -*¼

It was that bad.

Jacques would take part in the tag team battle royal with Pierre for his last WrestleMania appearance at Mania 14. Jacques is 38 at that time - but it feels like he’s been on TV forever at this point has he not?

What was the real reason for bringing them back and then not really doing anything with either of them? Just having talent and locking down Montreal after Bret left?

Jacques Rougeau’s last WWF match is at a house on May 10th putting over Vader.

Jacques Rougeau after that spent one month in WCW as part of Team Canada with Lance Storm and than retired again and attempted to join the Montreal Police Department but he couldn’t since he had not graduated high school. He is now a public speaker, touring schools to speak on drugs, smoking and bullying.

He became a trainer and trained Kevin Owens although the heat between Steen and Rougeau has been well documented.

Have you heard what Owens has said about Rougeau and how he would exploit his connection to the WWF on his trainees?

What do you think the legacy of Jacques Rougeau is? Should the Rougeaus be in the Hall of Fame one day?