Raymond Rougeau
| Raymond Rougeau | |
|---|---|
| Born |
February 18, 1955 Saint-Sulpice, Quebec, Canada[1] |
| Children | 1 |
| Family | Rougeau |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) |
Ray Rougeau[1] Raymond Rougeau[1] |
| Billed height | 1.80 m (5.9 ft) |
| Billed weight | 103 kg (227 lb) |
| Trained by |
Jacques Rougeau Sr. Eddie Auger |
| Debut | 1971 |
| Retired | 1990 |
Raymond Rougeau (born February 18, 1955) is a Canadian television presenter, commentator, and retired professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE as a French-language commentator.
Professional wrestling career
Early career (1971–1986)
Raymond Rougeau began training with his father Jacques Rougeau, Sr. and his great-uncle Eddie Auger at the age of fourteen. He debuted in 1971 at the age of sixteen in Joliette for his father's Montreal promotion as a babyface. In 1974 he and his father fought The Love Brothers in Toronto. In 1976, Raymond relocated to Atlanta, Georgia to work for Jim Barnett in the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) along with his close friend Pierre Lefebvre. In 1985 he and his brother Jacques Rougeau Jr. fought Ron and Jimmy Garvin in Montreal.
World Wrestling Federation
The Fabulous Rougeaus (1986–1990)
In February 1986, Raymond and his brother joined the World Wrestling Federation, debuting during a tour of Australia. 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 briefly upset The Hart Foundation for the WWF Tag Team Championship at the Montreal Forum on August 10 that year. The decision was reversed to a disqualification and the championship returned, since the challengers initially won after using Jimmy Hart's megaphone as a weapon.
After two years in the Federation, The Fabulous Rougeaus (Jacques and Raymond) 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, and humorously attempted to start "USA!" chants, which led to further negative fan "heat". According to Jacques, the widespread antipathy of American fans inspired Vince McMahon to turn them into villains. They feuded with The Killer Bees, The Hart Foundation (who had turned face in between), The Bushwhackers and The Rockers during their heel run.
Raymond went into semi-retirement three months after SummerSlam in 1989. His last match in the WWF was at the Royal Rumble in 1990, which the Rougeau Brothers lost to The Bushwhackers.
Commentator (1992–2002)
In late 1992, Rougeau replaced Edouard Carpentier as the play-by-play commentator for the French syndicated WWF programming distributed to Quebec, Europe and Africa. He commentated alongside Jean Brassard from 1994-1999, then for a short period with Philippe Hartman 2000-2002.
As his brother was still an active competitor as one half of The Quebecers alongside Pierre, Pierre turned and started attacking Jacques. Raymond left the commentary table and ran to the ring to save his brother. Rougeau later accompanied Jacques in his first retirement match in the WWF, held in Montreal.
Rougeau was also an interviewer and presenter on WWF programming in 1993 and 1994.
Rougeau came out of retirement in August 8, 1996 to face Owen Hart in a boxing match at the Montreal Molson Centre during a WWF house show despite not being active as a competitor for years.
Rougeau came out of retirement again in March 1998, when he teamed with Jacques and Carl Ouellet to defeat Adam Copeland, Shawn Stasiak and Tom Brandi in a dark match for WWF Shotgun Saturday Night.
In 2000, Rougeau participated in the "Lutte 2000" event, where he defeated Richard Charland.
Rougeau left the WWF in early 2002 when it stopped producing French editions of its programming.
Return to WWE (2017–present)
In May 2017, it was announced that Rougeau would return to WWE as a French language commentator.[2]
Personal life
Rougeau now owns income management properties and has been active in city council politics in Rawdon, Quebec since 2002; he was initially elected with 72% of the vote and was re-elected unopposed. He's elected for the first time in the November 2002 municipal election and is reelected in 2005, 2009 and 2013.[3] Opposed by two candidates, he's reelected with 66,12% of the vote in November 2013.[4] He occasionally promotes wrestling shows in Montreal along with Jacques.
Rougeau has a son who was born in 1990.
In September 2011, Rougeau was credited with saving the life of a 77-year-old hunting friend who was lost in the woods, near Lac-Saint-Jean, Quebec for two days. Rougeau flew his own plane for the rescue mission after a police search did not lead to the man being found.[5][6]
Championships and accomplishments
- Lutte Internationale
- Canadian International Tag Team Championship (6 times) – with Jacques Rougeau (4), and Pat Patterson (2)
- Lutte Internationale 2000
- National Wrestling Alliance
- NWA Montreal Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- National Wrestling Federation
- NWF World Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- Pro Wrestling Illustrated
References
- 1 2 3 Online World of Wrestling. "Raymond Rougeau Profile". Retrieved 2010-12-12.
- ↑ "Backstage Reaction To LaVar Ball's Son Using Racial Slur, 'Los Angeles 3:16', WWE Hires 80s Star". WrestlingInc. Retrieved 2017-06-27.
- ↑ (in French)
- ↑ (in French)
- ↑ "Ex-wrestling star saves man lost in Quebec woods". CBC News. September 30, 2011. Retrieved 1 October 2011.
- ↑ "Famed 1980s WWE tag wrestler profiled for heroism". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 1 October 2011.
- ↑ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "Lutte 2000 « Events Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net. Retrieved 2018-09-19.
- ↑ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "Matches « Raymond Rougeau « Wrestlers Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net. Retrieved 2018-09-19.
- ↑ "Pro Wrestling Illustrated 500 – 1994: 291 Raymond Rougeau". Pro Wrestling Illustrated. Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, United States: Sports and Entertainment publications LLC. September 22, 1994. p. 51. October 1994.