Fabulous Rougeaus

[Superstar Sleeze]

The "Not-Yet Fabulous" Rougeaus vs The New US Express 12/86 Boston

 

I did not know Rotundo was around this late in the WWF. I have never really watched Spivey. No usual Rougeau BS early on, which I miss, but I presume that is due to it being face vs face. Gorilla notes the fan dont know who to root for in this match. Which is weird because they seem awfully of this guy named "Boring". So I am a bit higher on the work than the crowd, but I do see where they are coming from. The Rougeaus seem more game as this is close to their WWF debut whereas the US Express is on their way out. Spivey works an armbar in vanilla fashion why Jacques tries to get him to do anything. Rotundo is a little bit more willing and the Rougeaus work over the knee and Jacques slaps on a Figure-4 on the proper leg and is really working it. Spivey comes in with some brutish offense and tempers are starting to flare. Raymond busts out the rolling short arm scissors, which is always a treat. The finish is each team saves the other once. Finally the weakest Pier Six Brawl breaks out, I mean Katie slept through this and the door was wide open. Double DQ. Meh match, but the Rougeaus seem fun.

 

WWF World Tag Champions Hart Foundation w/Jimmy Hart & Danny Davis vs The "Not-Yet Fabulous" Rougeaus 3/87 Boston

 

The Hart Foundation are fresh off the screwjob of the Bulldogs so this match will at least have heat. I would say this maybe the best Hart Foundation match ever. We start off with a little Rougeau bullshit to get everyone revved up and Bret is at his slimy best. I really this is a great performance from him. He heels it up to 11 with the combination of "Look at me, Mom!" and cowardice. He milks a Rougeau slap for all its worth. Even the Anvil takes a nice bump for Raymond. They work over Bret's leg in an entertaining fashion, before they trap Raymond in the heel corner. The Harts worked this segment well varying Anvil's power with Bret's smarm and general douchebaggery. Raymond times his hope spots (backslide, sunset flip) well and Jacques was an excellent cheerleader. Once Jacques gets the hot tag, this place goes nuts! Some general fun like whipping the Harts into each other and such. Jacques, I believe, had Bret small packaged, but that Dastardly Danny Davis reversed it behind the ref's back.

 

A very fun match, I would even say on par with Rockers/Busters match from early. I know there are a lot of people down on Bret's tag work, but I think this is a pretty good display of the Hart Foundation as an effective heel team in garnering heat until the place exploded for the freaking Rougeaus. This is the same crowd that was chanting "Boring" at the Rougeaus nary three months early. Rougeaus are team with good psychology and maybe I am wrong, but I dont think they were ever presented as an elite team, but they wrestled huge in this match and the Hart Foundation made them look great. Finally, the WWF missed striking alliteration gold and truing Danny Davis into the next elite heel for the Hulk Machine if they just called him "Dastardly" Danny Davis.

 

 

"Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase vs Jacques Rougeau 10/87

 

Solid TV match, where Jacques may have added more than Ted. Jacques always brought great energy to the match. Ted pulls the hair three times, before Jacques drops the grappling and resorts to fisticuffs. He crashes and burns on a cross body block. Ted with standard heel offense. Jacques is dazed sitting on the middle rope and Virgil pulls him out and drops him to the floor in the spot of the match. Dibiase takes his usual punch to the gut front flip spot before. Jacques goes on a run before some Virgil-traction leads to a schoolboy. Lame finish to a pretty ho-hum match.

 

Bret "Hitman" Hart vs Raymond Rougeau 10/86 MSG

 

A bit better than the match above, but that is only because I am a big fan of Bret's offense and stooging. I always thought Bret had one of the more impressive offensive arsenals in North America. Bret missed his true calling as a cowardly heel as he is quite entertaining in this role. He freaks out over his sunglasses getting destroyed is a nice touch. Raymond does a monkey flip. Bret tries one, but telegraphs and Raymond just stomps on his face, great sequence. Bret grinds the match to a halt with a chinlock. Raymond makes him comeback, but is missing Jacques' spark. They sure did toss piledrivers like candy in the 80s as Raymond cant get the three. Bret bumps well off an atomic drop before he double legs Raymond (ref distraction) and puts his feet on the ropes for the win.

 

Seems like the only major feud the Rougeaus had as babyfaces was with the New Dream Team. I have never watched Dino Bravo before so I will at least check out one of their matches. In short, only the title match with the Hart Foundation in Boston is worth seeing.

[Superstar Sleeze]

The "Not Yet Fabulous" Rougeaus vs The New Dream Team - 9/87 MSG

 

"Luscious" Johnny V has to rank among the most worthless managers in history. He is doing the Buddy Roberts wig gimmick since Beefcake chopped off his hair, but way lamer. The three members of the Dream Team do a lot of hugging. In 2012, hugging gets you babyface heat, o society how far you have fallen. Bravo and Valentine even do a heel miscommunication spot early and hug afterwards warming my cockles of my heart. So Bravo strikes me as an energetic, yet less smooth version of Don Muraco. He isn't half-bad. Valentine does his "TIMBAAHHHH" bump 4 times, but is like "Fuck you, if you expect me to do any other bumps or sell". The heat segment is better than expected even though the Raymond is quite boring as a face in peril because Valentine and Bravo have so much stuff. I guess that is what happens when both your heels used to be singles wrestlers. Jacques gets the hot tag and he is house afire, but his offense isn't impactful. Johnny V gets his wig knocked off, but it takes way from the match rather than add to it because it happens outside the ring. Double bodyslam by Dream Team sets up a Valentine figure-4, but the time limit expires even though the Dream Team thought they had won. Weird finish as it made the Rougeaus look like they were lucky to even be hanging with the Dream Team. It was clear looking at the Rougeaus match listing that they weren't getting over as faces so maybe the finish stems from that. At that same time, I don't think the New Dream Team was going anywhere. Maybe it was just Vince throwing a curveball. This is a better match to showcase that Valentine/Bravo were actually a pretty decent team, better than Valentine's one man show with Beefcake. However, it is not a good showcase for the Quebecois.

 

 

The Fabulous Rougeaus vs The Young Stallions 6/88

 

Rougeaus are finally fabulous. They do a really great insincere gimmick between the waving of the American flags and the constant hand-shaking. They come off as great pricks. The Young Stallions don't fuck anything up. The Rougeaus are clearly the superior in wrestlers in every single way. This is your basic tit for tat match with Rougeaus playing the subtle heel. They trade Boston Crabs when Raymond comes in and blasts Roma with a forearm from behind and the Rougeaus drop the facade make quick tags working over Roma's back. Jim Powers comes in and Jacques feeds him like a champ. Small package by Powers is turned over by Raymond behind ref's back and Rougeaus win. Rougeaus keep it entertaining, but nothing to write home about.

 

The Fabulous Rougeaus vs The Killer Bees - 7/88

 

This is the match where the Rougeaus finally turn heel. The best part of this is Jesse covering for the Rougeaus mixing up Memorial Day and Independence Day. I love The Body. There is a couple drop toeholds in this match, which is one of my favorite moves. Jacques stick his hand out to Brunzell at one point and then blows him off. Brunzell comes back and sticks out his hand, blows him off and rubs his hair in a nice sequence. They do a basic tag match only the Rougeaus start to cheat culminating in Raymond delivering a top rope double axe-handle to Brunzell while he was hoisting Jacques up causing Jacques to fall on top for the pin. I am sure these teams have had better matches against each other, but I watched it for the angle. It was a really anti-climatic way to turn heel.

 

The Fabulous Rougeaus vs The British Bulldogs - Summerslam 88

 

This match was not as good as I remember, but it is a perfectly good wrestling match. This would be on the bubble if I were to make a Top 100 or 150 or what have you of 80s WWF matches. Things like Dynamite's offense, Davey Boy's selling and the Rougeau's heel work are tempered by long stretches of inactivity. At the beginning, the Rougeaus seem game to bump all around, but the Bulldogs seem content to armbar them. One funny moment was Raymond not wanting to take Dynamite's hooking clothesline full-on so he side-stepped it a bit, but still sold it. I like Jacques' attempt at an USA chant. One thing I hate about WWF tag wrestling is segments where they do prolonged leg work, which just amounts to twisting the guy's leg. You cant at least do a spinning toehold. The Rougeaus mix it up a bit more than that, but still that they spend most of the time doing that. Dynamite comes in and unleashes a volley of suplexes. Davey Boy back in with his running powerslam but Jacques makes the save. Dynamite back in but takes a back suplex off the turnbuckle from Jacques. This heat segment is my other pet peeve of WWF tag wrestling non-focused, non-descript work. Jacques & Raymond just alternate between the abdominal stretch and reverse chinlock. That amused me greatly. Also, what didnt amuse me is Gorilla and Superstar Graham, holy shit was a sucky announce team. They really couldnt come up with a better tagline than "Its a happening" for the first Summeslam.

 

Dynamite gets a small package on Jacques while the ref's back is turned and MSG is standing. I notice while the crowd has really been into this match. There is one good sequence when Jacques has Dynamite in the ab stretch and he yells "Hey, ref" broadly gestures for the tag and Raymond comes in does a weird strut and kicks Dynamite in the abs. Dynamite recovers by headbutting Jacques in the gut and gives him a knife-edge. Davey Boy comes in and misses a dropkick, but is able to dump Jacques crotch first on the top rope. There is a big brouhaha and Davey Boy gorilla press slams Dynamite on Jacques, but the time limit expires.

 

I feel like I sounded too harsh on this match because there was a lot of good work and the pace was quite good. The heat segments just weren't as good as they could have been. I actually thought Bulldogs looked really good for a team that I figured wasn't going to give a fuck since they were on their way out. The Rougeaus are definitely better suited as heels. Jacques had great energy for a hot tag, but didnt have the offense. Raymond is a sound wrestler, but isn't good at getting face heat. As heels, Raymond can wrestle and it much is easier for him to get heat just by doing things like a weird strut or hugging his brother. Jacques is clearly a great antagonist and his ability to show ass and bump make him much better heel.

 

Next up we have the Rougeaus two most famous feuds against The Hart Foundations (after they adopt Jimmy Hart as their manager) and the Rockers. I will probably do two matches from each series and call it good on the Fabulous Rougeaus.

[puropotsy]

 

[Superstar Sleeze]

Demolition vs "Not Yet Fabulous" Rougeaus - Boston 3/88

 

This was touted as one of the better Demolition matches, but it did nothing for me. I would say the Islanders/Demos was a much better early Demolition match. At first it seems like Demolition will overwhelm the Quebecois, but miscommunication opens up some double teaming by the Rougeaus. Jacques is able to get a double wristlock on Smash. Raymond gets a high cross body to a dead crowd. Ax starts stomping Raymond. Ax grabs a front facelock and Raymond starts ironically chopping down Ax with some blows to the knee. His name is Ax. An attempted monkey flip cots Raymond and the heat segment begins earnest and it is a snoozer. Outside of a Fuji cane shot, it is just some cranking on Raymond's neck; it doesnt help that Raymond is the bland member of his team. Vertical suplex by Raymond and missed elbow by Smash gets Jacques in there, but at this point the crowd does not care about baby face Rougeaus. Jacques slaps on the Boston Crab in Boston and still no pop! How shameless can you get? Ax with a big boot and then a double clothesline gets the duke for the Demos.

 

This was described as a mugging of the Rougeaus, but it felt like the usual tepid Demolition affair. I never felt any sympathy towards the Rougeaus and they demonstrated no pluckiness. The Demolition as lumbering giants just was not menacing at all. In the Islanders match, the Islanders made Demolition seem like monsters because of their urgency on offense and Tama's bumping. Demolition feels like a team that may only be as good as their opponents.

[JNLister]

A while back I watched the full 1989 run of Superstars of Wrestling. The Rougeaus had the best squash matches by far -- not in a destruction way, but in a "doing spot show bullshit in the middle of a squash" way.

[Sidebottom]

I prefer Jacques work with PCO to be honest - now THEY had some great squash matches!

[Superstar Sleeze]

The Fabulous Rougeaus w/Jimmy Hart vs The Bushwhackers - Royal Rumble 1990

 

I have never seen a Bushwhackers match (I have seen the Sheepherders) and you cant go through life without seeing the Bushwhackers, right? Also, Jacques has a beard!?!?!? Lots of cool gems in this one. I think if they went full-on comedy through the entirety match it could have been half-way decent. But this match started off as comedy sucked and so maybe there was nothing that could save this. The fans do love the Bushwhackers and doing their weird march. Everyone including the ref (who is Danny Davis!) gets their ass bitten. Jacques comes in and thinks he is smart for avoiding some stuff. The Rougeaus take over and it starts off pretty well as the Rougeaus seem pretty energetic as they showboat and beat on Luke. They drop Luke on the top rope throat-first, which seems like a decent bump. Instead of following it up with a pinfall attempt, Raymond puts him in a chinlock?!?!? Stupid. This is when the Rougeaus mail in and the usual boring Rougeaus come in. Chinlocks and abdominal stretches. Jacques eats knees on a splash. Jacques does the most ridiculous oversell over a Butch "punch" to the midsection. Jimmy Hart is in the ring and the Whackers are finally going to give the Mouth of the South what he deserves. Rougeaus dropkick the Buchwhackers into each other. Raymond puts him a Boston Crab and when Jacques gets tripped by the ropes. The Bushwhackers hit the battering ram for the win.

 

Bushwhackers pretty much sucked and they worked wicked light. I did not find them that funny. Rougeaus could not give a fuck and this would be their last match. I guess Raymond was pretty injured at this point and Jacques would go on to be the Mountie.

 

The Rougeaus vs The Garvins w/Precious? - St. Jean Baptist Massacre Montreal 1985?

 

Thanks Dave! This was a pretty wicked beatdown the Garvins gave the Rougeaus. Precious lays some smack talk on Jacques and Ronnie sprays hair spray in Jacques' eyes. Ronnie and Jimmy Garvin are the strangest brother combination in pro wrestling. They gang up on Raymond and Jacques Sr. comes in. It feels like AWA in a good way to me. As the fans pop huge for Jacques Sr., they want to see the old hero save his sons, but the Garvins sell for the elder Jacques, but he goes after Precious. The Garvins attack him and give him a double bodyslam. Then they do the what I believe is the Rougeaus finish. They put Jacques Sr in a Boston Crab and drop a knee drop on him. At some point Jacques blades and Jacques Sr. does a stretcher job. Montreal is friggin hot to see the Garvins get their just desserts. The Garvins definitely did a number on the local heroes and then they cut a local spot promo with Jimmy Garvin just lambasting Ontario and Ronnie says they annihilated the Rougeaus. After, the beatdown and promo just like the rest of 1985 Montreal I want to see Garvin get their asses kicked by the Rougeaus.

 

The Rougeaus vs The Garvins w/Precious - Montreal 1985?

 

Jimmy Garvin looks just so friggin sleezy. That is really saying something in pro wrestling. Garvins seem to be taking this affair lightly until the Rougeaus come out and they try to keep them out. The Rougeaus overwhelm the Garvins and just unload on them. They even do the row your boat spot! Raymond looks awesome and is throwing huge right hand bombs! He piledrives Ronnie Garvin! Jacques with a fist drop and a second rope knee drop and Ronnie is gushing blood. The crowd is going crazy for the Rougeaus and Ronnie making them look a million bucks. Jacques chucks Jimmy Jam off the top rope and melee ensues. The Rougeaus spike Ronnie on his head! Jimmy puts Ronnie's foot on the rope to save him. Ronnie starts to fire back and hits a leaping headbutt to tag in Jimmy. Jimmy bumps around for the Rougeaus in a more overtly dramatic way. Ronnie grabs his tights and pulls him down. Jimmy is able to grab a reverse chinlock. This makes sense the Rougeaus are fuckin hot. The Garvins are just trying to break their momentum and you see them going back to the chinlock. Jimmy gets a knee lift for 2. They censor Ronnie's blood. Ronnie and Jacques are going at it while Jimmy has Raymond in a chinlock. Jimmy and Raymond collide pretty wickedly in a fast criss-cross. Both tag out, Jacques with a standing dropkick on Ronnie. Jacques dropkicks both Garvins. Jacques rams Jimmy's balls into the post a couple times, but Ronnie slugs Jacques Sr. The ref calls off the match. O Fuck You! He disqualifies the Rougeaus?!?!? Double Go Fuck Yourself!

 

After WWF match after WWF match this match kicks so much ass and is such a breath of fresh air. I assume most people here would like this match better than the Rockers matches as this way more violent and a very heated brawl. It is really energetic and action-packed. It never lets up. I think the Rockers matches has its own high points and is a very different match. I like this match a lot, but I think I would put the Rockers match over this. However, this is incredible brawl and I wish we had the blowoff because this is just another primer. I am not going to say where were these Rougeaus because WWF was not conducive to bringing this out of their performer. I wish the Rougeaus would had some spots in the NWA territories because they are kick ass vengeful babyfaces.

[Happ Hazzard]

This is a really fun match.

. From London, England in October 1989, the first ever WWF event in the UK.