Jacques Rougeau and his family are legends in the professional wrestling industry. (Facebook/ Jacques Rougeau)

By Nigel Maxwell

Wrestling

The Mountie gets ready to uphold the law in Prince Albert

Jul 13, 2023 | 5:00 PM

A man whose professional wrestling career spanned over four decades and includes multiple tag team championships and one intercontinental championship run is a part of Canadian Wrestling Elite’s (CEW) upcoming tour through Saskatchewan.

Jacques Rougeau Jr., better known to wrestling fans as “The Mountie”, has been retired for just over five years. However, for the past 25 years, he has been involved in motivational speaking and talking to youth about how to deal with bullies.

The inspiration for that comes from a dark place. In the 1980s, during his time with the WWE, Rougeau was among a number of wrestlers bullied by another wrestler by the name of the Dynamite Kid. Upon learning Rougeau’s plan to report him, the Dynamite Kid corned Rougeau in the locker room and beat him up. While Rougeau’s physical injuries were not serious, he recalls the mental impact it had and the feeling of fear of coming to the locker and seeing his tormenter.

“I remember I couldn’t eat, I couldn’t sleep, I lost like 10lbs,” he recalled.

The Rougeau wrestling family spans four generations, and Rougeau recalled a feeling he had let his family down. After talking to his mentor, his dad, and receiving words of encouragement, Rougeau worked up the courage to confront his bully and armed with a roll full of quarters, punched Dynamite Kid in the face.

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“I made what you would call a payback,” Rougeau said.

Rougeau, who acknowledges now that violence is not the best option, said the day that he worked up the courage and confronted his bully, changed his life. It also earned him the respect of his colleagues including Hulk Hogan, who because of the respect he had for Rougeau, consented to being pinned during a match in Montreal. To this day, Rougeau is the only Canadian wrestler to have accomplished the feat.

Noting the opportunity to share his story with youth, Rougeau said it’s almost like therapy and explained he tries to encourage his audience that it’s okay to talk to an adult or police, and to in his words cross the threshold of fear.

“Something good came out of that bad situation,” he said.

Rougeau’s career

While Rougeau enjoyed a long run in the WWF (now known as the WWE), Rougeau’s wrestling career started at the age of 17 when he worked for the legendary promoter Stu Hurt in Calgary. Those early tours included stops in Calgary, Lethbridge, Saskatoon and Regina.

“Getting to eat at Stu Hart’s house every Sunday with a thousand cats in the house and always staying away from the basement because he always wanted to bring me to the basement,” he said.

Stu Hart, an accomplished amateur wrestler and shooter in his own right, was well known for taking his tough wrestlers down to his dungeon and stretching them – a wrestling term that means applying submission holds. The screams that came from grown men are still talked about today.

From 1986 to 1990, Rougeau formed a tag team with his brother Ray known as the Fabulous Rougeau’s and together took on teams such as the Hart Foundation, Killer Bees and the Rockers. Rougeau recalled having a lot of fun wrestling against Marty Jannety and Shawn Michaels and fondly looks back on doing one-hour marathon matches, sometimes five times a week.

“But only with the Rockets could you do that. They were such great workers,” Rougeau said.

Following his brother’s retirement in 1990, Rougeau went solo and took the character of the Mountie. His greatest accomplishment as that character was beating none other than Bret Hart in 1992 for the intercontinental championship.

However, he would lose the title just two days later to Roddy Piper at the 1992 Royal Rumble.

Another feud was one he had with the Big Boss Man and culminated with a Jailhouse Match at Summerslam. The stipulation was that the loser would have to spend the night in the slammer, and Rougeau fondly remembers the commentators providing updates on his status throughout the show.

The upcoming CWE tour through Saskatchewan will includes several stops. (CWE/ Facebook)

Life after wrestling

In the late 1990s, Rougeau started a wrestling school and it would run for almost 20 years. He explained one of the main lessons he told his students was to believe in their character.

“From the minute you leave that dressing room you are a character and all the way til you get back behind the curtain,” he said.

Further noting today’s modern style that incorporates death-defying moves and acrobatics, Rougeau said he also tried to remind his students that less is more. He cited that in some cases people receiving a drop kick are getting back on their feet before the person who delivered it.

“It’s just going too fast,” he said. “Make it count”

Currently, Rougeau is running a national contest for wrestlers, with the three winners receiving $10,000 each and three months of training at the Nightmare Factory under the tutelage of Cody Rhodes, JT Marshall and Billy Gunn.

The upcoming CWE tour through Saskatchewan will include a stop in Prince Albert on July 26 at Plaza 88. Tickets are available at Colette Portamedic Services or online.

As for what fans can expect from Rougeau’s attendance he confirms he will be there to sign autographs and pose for pictures. As for action in the ring, Rougeau is not ruling out anything.

“You’ve got to remember, the Mountie always get his man,” he said.

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nigel.maxwell@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell