Canadian professional wrestler. In his youth, as a union activisty, he worked actively to organize the Coca-Cola employees. He began his wrestling career in the United States at the beginning of the 1950s. After Yvon Robert’s retirement in 1957, with his friend Édouard Carpentier, during the 1960s, he contributed greatly to the revival of professional wrestling not only in Québec, but also in all North America. Impassioned hockey fan, he got involved in the management of various Junior hockey teams in Québec, up to assuming the presidency of the league from 1981 to 1983. Grounded to an hospital bed with cancer, in 1982, he wrote his autobiography (title: “Johnny Rougeau”) recalling the principal stages of his life, in particular his friendship with Premier René Lévesque for whom he acted as bodyguard during his first electoral campaigns. He died in Montréal in May 1983.
Canadian professional wrestler. In his youth, as a union activisty, he worked actively to organize the Coca-Cola employees. He began his wrestling career in the United States at the beginning of the 1950s. After Yvon Robert’s retirement in 1957, with his friend Édouard Carpentier, during the 1960s, he contributed greatly to the revival of professional wrestling not only in Québec, but also in all North America. Impassioned hockey fan, he got involved in the management of various Junior hockey teams in Québec, up to assuming the presidency of the league from 1981 to 1983. Grounded to an hospital bed with cancer, in 1982, he wrote his autobiography (title: “Johnny Rougeau”) recalling the principal stages of his life, in particular his friendship with Premier René Lévesque for whom he acted as bodyguard during his first electoral campaigns. He died in Montréal in May 1983.
Bio by: Guy Gagnon
Family Members
Advertisement
See more Rougeau memorials in:
Records on Ancestry
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
