Former wrestler Jacques Rougeau kicks off one-man show after hard times

CTV News

a day ago

Former wrestler Jacques Rougeau is putting on a one-man show after falling on hard times. (Christine Long/CTV)
Former wrestler Jacques Rougeau was a winner in the ring for decades, but has fallen on hard days. Now, he's getting back in front of a crowd in a new way.
He's taken some big hits lately and is trying to get 'off the ropes' in his personal life, says Rougeau.
He says the glory days of wrestling and the world-famous Rougeau Family were very good years.
'My father always told me, 'Save your money. Save your money for the hard days,'' he says. 'I looked at my dad. I said, 'There's never going to be hard days! That money is always going to come in.' I was so confident, so arrogant. And then? Then, now, life hit me.'
His troubles began when pandemic regulations shut down Rougeau's wrestling school and cancelled his public appearances.
'When they closed all the venues down, I didn't have any insurance or nothing,' says Rougeau, but things got worse when his wife Nathalie Thibodeau was diagnosed with cancer.
Rougeau didn't leave her side through two years of treatments.
'So I decided to neglect my business. And then from then on, it just got worse and worse financially. And I dug myself a big hole,' says Rougeau.
Jacques Rougeau and Nathalie Thibodeau
Jacques Rougeau and his wife Nathalie Thibodeau have been working on his one-man show. (Christine Long/CTV)
His business is now $70 thousand in debt. Rougeau says he's one knee down — but he's not out.
'I'm 65 years old. Just this week I've gotten my first old man's pension check, which is fantastic. I got money appearing in my bank account! Yay!' he says.
Rougeau says he's working on his finances and his sweetheart is in remission.
'So mentally, I'm good now that she's OK. And she is. She's my rock,' he says hugging Thibodeau.
These days, Rougeau has a one-man show revisiting the glory days in the ring.
'Nathalie is with me and she puts the videos on the giant screen and the pictures. And I bring in the stories from backstage, things that people don't know,' he explains. 'And I mean, the funny things, the weird things.'
He says he going to win this battle just like all the others.
'I'm definitely going to get back on my feet!' he says.