Ring names: Jacques Rougeau, Jacques Rougeau Jr, Jerry Roberts, Jimmy Rougeau, The Mountie, Quebecer Jacques

Started in : 1975
Retirement : 2018
Championships : click here
Children : Jean-Jacques, Cedric, Émile
Spouse : Nathalie Thibodeau

 

Professional wrestling has been a central aspect of Jacques Rougeau's life since birth. Born on June 13, 1960, he is the son of Virginia Mitchell and Jacques Rougeau Sr.

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As a young boy, he saw wrestlers coming to the family residence in St-Sulpice; they were there to take promotional photos for the next As de la lutte gala, a Montreal-based promotion run by his father and uncle Johnny, two stars of Quebec wrestling since the 1950s. For Jacques Jr., his father was his hero, the one who took on challenges every week at the Paul Sauvé Center in Montreal. During his childhood, Jacques Jr. didn't know the hidden side of wrestling related to the show and the choreography, because at the time, the industry had to be protected. In 1970, he saw his older brother, Raymond, make his professional wrestling debut at 16, followed by his adopted brother, Pierre "Mad Dog" Lefebvre, two years later.

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It was around the age of 12 that he was brought into the industry and the secrets of wrestling were revealed to him. Just as the cartoon character Obelix had fallen into the magic potion as a baby, the same can be said for Jacques and the wrestling potion: the ring was the place where he would make his life!

 

He began training under the supervision of Jacques Sr. Rather scrawny, his father gave him some advice: "Eat!" In 1975, he made his wrestling debut for local promotions run by Tony Ross and Loisirs St-Jean-Baptiste, led by Pat Girard. He made his national debut for Stampede Wrestling in Calgary under the tutelage of Stu Hart, the father of Bret and Owen Hart. He then moved to the United States, where he continued his progression in territories located in Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Kansas, Missouri, Michigan, Mexico, and for the Fuller family in Florida. Knowing he wouldn't win often in his early days, he took the name Jerry Roberts to avoid tarnishing the Rougeau family honour, a name that had already made its mark across North America and Europe.

 

When Jacques and Raymond returned to Quebec, they formed the Rougeau Brothers team, which offered exciting wrestling and made all the "bad guys" of Gino Brito's International Wrestling run in fear. They won the tag team belt 4 times. In 1982, their brother Armand began his career as a wrestler – they sometimes teamed in 3-on-3 matches. The summer of 1985 saw the spread of one of the greatest rivalries in Quebec wrestling: the Rougeaus against the Garvins. Far from the usual scientific wrestling they did, these were merciless fights, which saw the Rougeaus win at the end. That same year, Jacques was in the main event of the first WWF gala on Quebec soil: he raised the crowd with a victory at the Verdun Auditorium against The Great Samu (who would later become a member of the Headshrinkers with Fatu / Rikishi.)

 

In 1986, Jacques received a call for a contract offer by the WWF; he accepted on the condition that Raymond was also signed and that they would form a tag team. The Rougeau Brothers continued their career for this national organisation, which was on the rise in the United States. But it was rather in Australia, on February 26, 1986, that they made their first appearances in singles matches, then as a team a few days later. They regularly faced the Hart Foundation, the Moondogs, the Funks and the Dream Team.

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In 1987, the Rougeau Brothers were part of the legendary WrestleMania 3 pay-per-view event, in front of 93,173 spectators. On August 10 of that year, the Rougeau Brothers won the tag team championship against the Hart Foundation at the Molson Centre in Montreal. This has not since been recognized by the WWF. In fact, the decision was reversed because manager Jimmy Hart's megaphone had been used to secure the victory.

 

Two years later, the WWF offered them the opportunity to become "bad guys." Jacques thought that "uncle Johnny was going to turn in his grave" with such a change! They were now called the Fabulous Rougeau Brothers, with long blue and yellow pants (quickly shrunk to "boxer" size because their knee pads slipped easily) and a same colored glittering cape.  The famous Jimmy Hart became their manager and who wrote and composed their theme song "All-American Boys," sung by Jacques and Raymond. It was declared that they were leaving Quebec to move to Memphis, holding a small American flag in hand. The Rougeau brothers said they loved Americans; in fact, this was satire, whereas their French remarks usually mentioned the opposite!

 

This gave the duo a second wind and we see Jacques and Raymond take on the Hart Foundation (now " faces" - good guys), the Bushwhackers, the Killer Bees and the Rockers.  WWF management promised them a tag team championship, but this did not materialize.  In 1990, after 20 years in the business, Raymond retired from the ring.

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Jacques was not seen in the ring for several months. The WWF then offered him the character of the Mountie, an antagonist from the Canadian police force against the American law enforcer, Big Boss Man. With Jimmy Hart still at his side, Jacques debuted in 1991 with famous vignettes that introduced his character. Jimmy wrote a new theme song "I'm the Mountie," sung by Jacques. The Mountie wielded an electrified stick that shocked his defeated opponents. It was Jacques's own design, inspired by a device once used by manager Eddie Creatchman and made with a lawnmower motor with the wires reversed.

 

At Summerslam 1991, The Mountie faced The Big Boss Man in a match in which the loser spent the night in jail. The Mountie was defeated and taken to jail in a hilarious segment.

 

The Mountie won the Intercontinental Championship against Bret "The Hitman" Hart in 1992, a source of pride for Jacques.

 

Then, a downer period; an RCMP legal dispute prohibits Jacques from wrestling as the Mountie in Canada and from appearing on Canadian television. This puts an end to the character with which he had had great success on the international stage and which is still in demand today during public events.

 

He returned wearing most of the Mountie costume with Pierre, forming the Quebecers (1993-94) and then the Amazing French Canadians in WCW (1996-97). They won 3 WWF Tag Team Championships as the Quebecers.

 

During his brief retirement from the ring, Jacques accepted Normand Brathwaite's invitation to become a contributor to the popular radio show "Yé trop de bonne heure" on 96.9 CKOI in Montreal. He also launched Lutte internationale 2000, a wrestling circuit based in Montreal that produced events for several years.

 

April 11, 1997, is a legendary date for Jacques. At a gala he co-organized at the Molson Center in Montreal with WCW talent, he was the first Canadian (and one of the few in history) to win a match by pinfall against (Hollywood) Hulk Hogan. According to Jimmy Hart, Hogan offered his own defeat out of respect for the Rougeaus and because Jacques had fought off the bullying from WWF colleagues during the 1980s.

 

During the 2000s, going against the trends of the time, Jacques offered a family wrestling circuit, a wrestling show without punches or kicks, but rather based on acrobatics and beautiful maneuvers. He enjoyed huge success with this new family concept. He also ran a wrestling school in Montreal for nearly 20 years, where he trained several up-and-coming Quebec wrestlers, including Kevin Owens.

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On August 18, 2018, He took part of last match, teaming with his sons Jean-Jacques, Cedric, and Émile at the IGA Stadium.

 

In 2022, Jacques showed us his singing talents while he was in the costume of "Homard le Shérif" (Lobster the Sheriff) in "Chanteurs masqués", the Quebec version of The Masked Singer.

 

From 2022 to 2024, with his partner Nathalie Thibodeau, he produced Jacques Rougeau's Wrestling Academy, a competition between the best wrestling talents in Canada with major prizes at stake. Since then, he has resumed his comedy conferences “C'est qui l'boss” (Who's the Boss?), filled with anecdotes from his career.