Magazine Archives: Where are they now? The Rougeau Brothers

By Mike Lano, from FightfulMag.com issue 1.

The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers, Jacques Jr. and Raymond, are most famous as the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) tag team many loved to hate from 1986 and 1990. When they finally split up, Jacques then morphed into “The Mountie,” a stereotypical Canadian character. Raymond became a celebrated French-language play-by-play and analytic television announcer for WWF.

But what was their history and what have they been up to since?

Like Calgary’s famous Hart family, the sons of Canadian legend Jacques Rougeau Sr. grew up and trained in their legendary wrestling family’s promotion during the 1970s. They debuted in their Montreal-headquartered Lutte International, later having famous feuds with the Garvin brothers. After the promotion lost use of their stalwart Montreal Forum to WWF, Vince McMahon lured away many of their stars, beginning with the Rougeau Brothers and King Tonga in 1986. Lutte International closed the following year, ending the golden age of Quebec wrestling. Originally, they debuted as a face team, then turned heel with Jimmy Hart and created years of ring magic.

Years later, Canada’s actual Royal Canadian Mounted Police took action against WWF forcing Mountie Jacques to use only his real name. Jacques continued to wear the signature red and black Mountie outfit and was still supported by fans. Full-heel Jacques was even cheered whenever facing Canada’s most-popular wrestler, WWF champ Hulk Hogan. Jacques’ cards drew the largest crowds and gates for non-major group promotional shows. Even when working major heel to get heat, locals showered Jacques with appreciation for giving them excellent cards and never forgetting his roots.

When Jacques returned to WWF for tag team wrestling, he teamed with Carl Ouellet as The Quebecers, winning the WWF tag straps an impressive three times. Jacques briefly retired, then reunited with Ouellet as the renamed The Amazing French-Canadians in World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and of course, for his own promotion in the future.

In 1995, the wrestling world got excited when Jacques started promoting in Montreal with new shows at the classic Verdun Auditorium. Originally, he “wanted to create a major promotion with a core group of regulars the fans love here plus fly-ins and more,” Jacques said. Jacques’ first promotion didn’t last long, and he was hired for a run in Ted Turner’s WCW.

On April 11, 1997, Jacques returned home to Montreal to put on a one-time inter-promotional card at the large Molson Centre capped with wrestlers from his original 1995 group, plus his WCW friends, including WCW Champ Hulk Hogan in his Hollywood heel character. The main event had the shocking finish of Rougeau going over in a non-title match. This event was completed without the knowledge of Eric Bischoff, president of the WCW, since Hogan held complete creative control over his Hollywood character.

Next, Jacques promoted the rematch. Both cards drew massive audiences that were unheard of in North America. Unfortunately, Jacques couldn’t take that feud to WCW, and soon Bischoff deferred any major shows in the province to be WWF territory as WWF already ran its shows there.

After leaving WCW, Jacques began promoting Lutte International 2000 in 1999. The shows featured top students from his wrestling school, like his brother Raymond, female star LuFisto, Pierre Carl Ouellet, King Kong Bundy and Canadian tag specialist Richard Charland. They drew crowds of 3,500 in Chicoutimi, the Verdun Auditorium and at Montreal’s Molson Centre. Jacques and Raymond used their families’ proven traditional booking style, even if some fans craved inane, big-company storytelling.

Raymond injured his back in-ring, suffering chronic pain for years. This injury led him to retire in 1990. At that point, WWF management was impressed with his mic work. They tried him interviewing stars on their weekly syndicatedWWF Superstars of Wrestling flagship program. Raymond did so well that he soon became the lead host on WWF's French-language programming sent each week to predominantly French-speaking parts of the world.

In 1996, Raymond returned to the ring by boxing Owen Hart at the Montreal Forum. After continuing with physical therapy, he felt well enough to wrestle occasionally for Jacques Montreal-based promotion. Pat Patterson told me last summer, it all began in the 1930s, running continuously with legendary promoters like Eddie Quinn.

Jacques and brother Raymond are proud of their family’s wrestling heritage. It all started with great-uncle Edouard Auger, Jacques Rougeau Sr., Jean “Johnny” Rougeau and continues to this day with Jacques wrestler-sons Jean-Jacques, Emile and Cedric. Two years ago, Jacques announced his third retirement, but months later teamed with his sons for the only time, emotionally echoing his dad’s famous retirement match years earlier.

The Rougeau’s proudly entered the Canadian Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2001. Jacques has kept busy by opening a family wrestling school in Montreal and continues to wrestle from time to time. He also started a podcast last year and prides himself on being a spokesperson for several charitable organizations.

Raymond continues to work for World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), doing French commentary on their network for pay-per-view events. He is also his hometown’s deputy mayor with plans on running for mayor in the near future. If elected, it will be his sixth consecutive election win.

Together, The Fabulous Rougeaus will remain a staple when it comes to Canadian wrestling tag teams. The real-life brothers were successful together and apart, both in the ring and outside. Their footprint on the wrestling world will continue to motivate others to be the best version of themselves.