Former wrestling star Jacques Rougeau has fallen on hard times but is now fighting to get back on his feet in a new way. In a recent interview on Wrestling Life with Ben Veal, Rougeau opened up about the personal and financial struggles of the past four years that have left him trying to get “off the ropes,” including filing for bankruptcy, navigating the pandemic, and supporting his partner through a grueling cancer battle.
Rougeau reflected on his successful career, admitting that during his glory days, he never anticipated the challenges he faces today. “My father always told me, ‘Save your money. Save your money for the hard days,’” he said. “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.”
A Series of Hardships
His troubles began when the COVID-19 pandemic forced the closure of his wrestling school and the cancellation of his lucrative one-man shows. “When COVID hit… they closed all the venues down,” he said. “And wrestlers don’t have insurance, you know. I always said to my dad… ‘Don’t worry, Dad, I’m gonna make money all my life.’ I was always a guy, wasn’t poor, but wasn’t rich. I was always living day by day… and when COVID hit, no more tickets… I couldn’t do any more shows.” In a moment of panic, he took a $40,000 government loan to stay afloat.
The situation became much more serious when his partner of 13 years, Nathalie, was diagnosed with cancer. “Anybody who’s lived through cancer, you know, you hear about it and you read about it, but until you live it, you don’t know what the hell you’re going through,” he said. “The cancer is bad, but the chemotherapy is worse… she was doing treatments for 16 months… three days a week at the hospital. And those other three days, two days that you could go to work, you don’t want to leave her… so I put my work aside, and I just took care of my lady. And so I fell back in the hole again.”
Mounting Debt and Bankruptcy
After his partner’s recovery, he tried to restart his career by launching a wrestling competition called “Wrestling Academy,” but it ultimately lost money for three consecutive years, due in part to sponsors going bankrupt. “I didn’t want to lose face, so I borrowed the money and I paid the wrestlers,” he explained. “So now I was down like $70,000. So just about last week, my company that I had for 40-some years, I went bankrupt.”
He clarified that he only filed for bankruptcy on his numbered company to clear the government debt and did not include any personal debts or business partners. “I never screwed anybody over,” he stated. A local newspaper reported on the bankruptcy, but after he explained the situation, he said, “everybody got behind me in the media.”
Getting Back On His Feet
Despite the immense challenges, Rougeau remains positive and is determined to overcome them. “The most important thing is, everybody falls in life, but the most important thing is to get back up,” he said. With his partner now five months in remission, he is restarting his one-man shows and is confident he will win this battle, declaring, “I’m definitely going to get back on my feet!”
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit Wrestling Life with Ben Veal with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
