Throwback Thursday – The Mountie

It’s Thursday, and it’s time once again for my weekly throwback to the past.  Today’s superstar is the character known as The Mountie.

If you’ve never heard of The Mountie, and lived under a rock during the 1990s, you might know of The Mountie by another name from the 1980s, Jacques Rougeau. He along with his brother Raymond Rougeau, made up the tag team known as The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers.  They were from Canada, but at one point in time I can remember them having an “All-American Boys” gimmick where they were proud to finally be American citizens.

The Mountie character was born in the early 1990s and was managed by “The Mouth of the South” Jimmy Hart.  It was based upon the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.  If you’re a cartoon nut like me think back to the days of Dudley Do-Right, put an evil twist on him, and you’ve got The Mountie.

One thing you notice in the photo, he’s holding something in his hands.  That was The Mountie’s “shock stick.”  It was essentially a taser with an elongated handle.  He would use it on his opponents to either gain an advantage when the referee’s back was turned, or after the match to attack and punish his enemies.

One rivalry I remember for The Mountie was with The Big Boss Man.  It was Canadian law enforcement versus American law enforcement.  One of the best moments with this rivalry came at SummerSlam 1991, when they had a Jailhouse Match.  The match itself was under normal stipulations, but the kicker was the fact that the loser would be arrested, thrown in a Paddy wagon, booked, and thrown in jail for 24 hours.  Well, The Mountie lost, and it was a very comical moment as he tried to resist arrest.  Later in the broadcast, cameras followed him to the police station where he was reluctantly fingerprinted and a mug shot was taken.

In January of 1992, The Mountie defeated “The Hitman” Bret Hart to capture the Intercontinental Title.  He didn’t hold it for very long, two days before losing it to Rowdy Roddy Piper at the Royal Rumble.

The Mountie would return, but this time, his name was changed around even though the look and gimmick was still the same.  He was known as Jacques again and was paired up with Pierre Ouelette to form the tag team known as The Quebecers, managed by Johnny Polo who would eventually become Raven.  They would go on to win the Tag Team Championship belts in late 1993 after beating the Steiner Brothers.  They would then hold the titles for approximately nine months with only a few short periods where they dropped the titles.  Their run was ended when they lost the titles, and Pierre and Johnny Polo would turn on Jacques.  It would be 1998 before we would see The Quebecers again, but their second run together in WWE would be short lived and uneventful.

If you have a suggestion for next week’s Throwback Thursday superstar, just drop me a comment or send a message on Twitter or Facebook.

(Additional research completed thanks to Online World of Wrestling)