{{Short description|Canadian professional wrestler (1929 – 1983)}} {{Infobox professional wrestler |name= Jean Rougeau |names= Johnny Rougeau |image=Jean Rougeau.jpg |image_size=200px |height= 6 ft 2 in |weight= 225 lb. |real_height= |real_weight= |birth_date= June 9, 1929 |birth_place= Montreal, Quebec, Canada |death_date= May 25, 1983 (aged 53) |death_place= Montreal, Quebec, Canada |family= Rougeau |billed= Montreal, Quebec |trainer= Eddie Auger<br />Yvon Robert |debut= 1951 |retired= 1982 |website= }} '''Jean Rougeau'''<ref name=slam>{{Cite web|url=http://slam.canoe.com/Slam/Wrestling/Bios/rougeaus.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170304035721/http://slam.canoe.com/Slam/Wrestling/Bios/rougeaus.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 4, 2017|title=SLAM! Wrestling Canadian Hall of Fame: The Rougeau Family|publisher=SLAM! Wrestling|accessdate=2017-12-29}}</ref> (June 9, 1929 – May 25, 1983) was a professional wrestler better known as '''Johnny Rougeau'''. Rougeau started wrestling in 1951 as Johnny Rougeau after an amateur wrestling career. In 1956, he was joined by his brother, Jacques Rougeau, Sr. He is also the uncle to former wrestlers Jacques Rougeau and Raymond Rougeau who would go on to great fame in the World Wrestling Federation as the Fabulous Rougeau Brothers as well as Armand Rougeau whose full-time career was cut short by injury. He had feuds with Abdullah the Butcher, The Sheik, Ivan Koloff, Hans Schmidt and Killer Kowalski. He founded All-Star Wrestling in 1967.
==Amateur wrestling== Rougeau began his amateur wrestling career in 1943.<ref name=slam/>
==Professional wrestling career== Rougeau was also one of the premier promoters in Quebec. In the late 60s, Rougeau gave Ivan Koloff his ring name.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://slam.canoe.com/Slam/Wrestling/2007/01/05/3176678.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160916095111/http://slam.canoe.com/Slam/Wrestling/2007/01/05/3176678.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=September 16, 2016|title=Ivan Koloff "bears" all in new autobiography|publisher=SLAM! Wrestling|accessdate=2017-12-29}}</ref> He mainly worked in Montreal but wrestled in Ohio, Ottawa, Texas, Detroit, Toronto, New York, Minnesota and Florida.
==Ice hockey== Rougeau also coached ice hockey with the Rosemont National 70-71 and Laval National 71–72, 72–73, 77–78 in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, which included New York Islander Mike Bossy. He later served as the league's president from 1981 to 1983.<ref name=slam/> The Jean Rougeau Trophy was named in his honor and is awarded to the team that records the most points in the regular season.
==Personal life== He was also at times a bodyguard, nightclub owner, and politician.<ref name=slam/> Most notably, Rougeau became the bodyguard and chauffeur of then-Liberal candidate René Lévesque during the 1960 election after he was personally threatened by Union Nationale partisans.<ref name=slam/>
In 1982, he was awarded the Bene Merenti de Patria, a silver medal awarded by the Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society every year to a native of Quebec who has demonstrated service to the homeland.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://bilan.usherbrooke.ca/bilan/liste.jsp?titreListe=24|title=Liste des Lauréates et lauréats du prix Bene Merenti De Patria|publisher=Bilan du Siècle|accessdate=2009-03-26|archive-date=2007-09-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070926224634/http://bilan.usherbrooke.ca/bilan/liste.jsp?titreListe=24|url-status=dead}}</ref>
He died of cancer on May 25, 1983.<ref name=slam/> His funeral was attended by about 7,000 people.<ref name=slam/> He was buried at the Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery in Montreal.
==Championships== *'''All-Star Wrestling''' **All-Star Wrestling Heavyweight Champion (2 times) * '''Fédération Française de Catch Professionnel''' ** World Heavyweight Championship (French version) (1 time)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.wrestling-titles.com/europe/france/fr-world-h.html |title=World Heavyweight Championship Title (France) |year=2003 |publisher=Puroresu Dojo |work=Wrestling-Titles.com|access-date=22 August 2020}}</ref> *'''International Wrestling Association (Montreal)'''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://wrestling.johnny-o.net/bios/?id=1877|title=Johnny Rougeau|publisher=Johnny O's Wrestling Website|accessdate=2017-12-29}}</ref> **IWA International Heavyweight Championship (6 times) *'''Montreal Athletic Commission''' **MAC World Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *'''Wrestling Observer Newsletter''' **Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (2024)<ref>{{cite web |title=November 18, 2024 Observer Newsletter: The 2024 Hall of Fame class |url=https://www.f4wonline.com/wrestling-observer-newsletter/november-18-2024-observer-newsletter-the-2024-hall-of-fame-class/ |website=Figure 4 Weekly |access-date=15 November 2024}}</ref>
==See also== * Rougeau wrestling family
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *{{professional wrestling profiles}} *{{Find a Grave|7329383}} *{{Ice hockey stats}}
{{Rougeau family}} {{QMJHL President}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rougeau, Jean}} Category:1929 births Category:1983 deaths Category:Burials at Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery Category:Canadian male professional wrestlers Category:Laval National coaches Category:Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League executives Category:Professional wrestlers from Montreal Category:20th-century male professional wrestlers Category:20th-century Canadian professional wrestlers Category:20th-century Canadian sportsmen