 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | June 9, 1929 Montreal, Quebec, Canada |
| Died | May 25, 1983 (aged 53) Montreal, Quebec, Canada |
| Family | Rougeau |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name | Johnny Rougeau |
| Billed height | 6 ft 2 in (188 cm) |
| Billed weight | 225 lb (102 kg) |
| Billed from | Montreal, Quebec |
| Trained by | Eddie Auger Yvon Robert |
| Debut | 1951 |
| Retired | 1982 |
Jean Rougeau[1] (June 9, 1929 – May 25, 1983) was aprofessional wrestler better known asJohnny Rougeau. Rougeau started wrestling in 1951 as Johnny Rougeau after anamateur wrestling career. In 1956, he was joined by his brother,Jacques Rougeau, Sr. He is also the uncle to former wrestlersJacques Rougeau andRaymond Rougeau who would go on to great fame in theWorld Wrestling Federation as theFabulous Rougeau Brothers as well asArmand Rougeau whose full-time career was cut short by injury. He had feuds withAbdullah the Butcher,The Sheik,Ivan Koloff,Hans Schmidt andKiller Kowalski. He founded All-Star Wrestling in 1967.
Rougeau began hisamateur wrestling career in 1943.[1]
Rougeau was also one of the premier promoters in Quebec. In the late 60s, Rougeau gaveIvan Koloff his ring name.[2] He mainly worked in Montreal but wrestled in Ohio, Ottawa, Texas, Detroit, Toronto, New York, Minnesota and Florida.
Rougeau also coachedice hockey with theRosemont National 70-71 andLaval National 71–72, 72–73, 77–78 in theQuebec Major Junior Hockey League, which includedNew York IslanderMike Bossy. He later served as the league's president from 1981 to 1983.[1] TheJean Rougeau Trophy was named in his honor and is awarded to the team that records the most points in the regular season.
He was also at times abodyguard,nightclub owner, andpolitician.[1] Most notably, Rougeau became the bodyguard andchauffeur of then-Liberal candidateRené Lévesque during the1960 election after he was personally threatened byUnion Nationale partisans.[1]
In 1982, he was awarded theBene Merenti de Patria, a silver medal awarded by theSaint-Jean-Baptiste Society every year to a native of Quebec who has demonstrated service to the homeland.[3]
He died ofcancer on May 25, 1983.[1] His funeral was attended by about 7,000 people.[1] He was buried at theNotre Dame des Neiges Cemetery in Montreal.
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