Jerry Roberts Biography



Jerry Roberts (a.k.a. Jacques Rougeau Jr.) was one of the most attractive, most talented and best trained young pro wrestlers ever to work in the business. I first saw Jerry in December of 1979 on a minor cable channel with a snowy picture. He was in a wrestling show from a small promotion in Tennessee with promotor Nick Gulas, and it featured Gypsy Joe as their major heel. The show only lasted two weeks on my cable system, and when I complained, the cable company denied that they ever carried the show. However, the handsome teenager whom they called "Jimmy Rougeau" made a strong impression. In an interview "Jimmy" gave me the impression that English was not his first language. Later I would hear that he was from Montreal Canada, apparently of French Canadian descent, and that he was the son of Canadian pro wrestler Jacques Rougeau. Later in his career he generally appeared in tag team matches using the name Jacques Rougeau Jr., often teaming with his brother Raymond. Jacques and Raymond worked as babyfaces, but Jacques later worked with other partners as a heel tag team. The heels used their foreign status to generate heat. He also worked as "The Mountie" in US cities for the WWF. So, the "Jerry Roberts" character had a lifespan of only two years from roughly late 1979 to 1981 or 1982.

In 1980 I saw Jacques appear as "Jerry Roberts" frequently on Georgia Championship Wrestling. I also saw him in several CWF matches from Florida. I believe that he was only 18 years old when he was sent to the USA, reportedly to get some seasoning before getting a push in Canada. Actually, I think the teenager was at his cutest during his Florida matches, but he looked very cute during his first year in Georgia. Although Jerry was generally used in a jobber role during his first two years, he clearly had far more wrestling skills and talent than the typical jobber. He was usually allowed to show off some of his offensive moves before getting pinned. He was good at moves such as flipping over his opponent's back when held in a hammer lock, performing various forms of the monkey flip, performing a back to back roll over his opponent and performing standing drop kicks. He did a wonderful job of selling a version of the sling shot where he got flipped into a corner turnbuckle. He sold wonderfully, and his heel opponents loved to get their hands in his handsome mop of hair.

Unfortunately, his good looks faded at a relatively young age. He did some experimenting with beard growing and mustache growing and odd sideburns designs which marred his look in some early matches. Also, after about a year I noticed him sticking his tongue out frequently during matches as if he was having a breathing problem. I am speculating that he may have suffered a facial or neck injury which hampered his breathing, but I may be wrong. Also, after about one year he began bulking up like most wrestlers, which seemed to hurt his appearance. Worst of all, his hair began to thin at a relatively young age. By his late 20's, that beautiful thick mop of dark brown hair with an attractive sheen was essentially history with just some thin dull looking hair remaining.

Being as fickle as most people, I lost interest in Jerry after the first two years when his looks were fading and he disappeared to Canada. When he returned years later his good looks were gone. However, I will fondly remember him as one of the most highly skilled and most attractive young rookies who ever worked in the business.