Jacques Rougeau threw ‘tantrum’ backstage at AEW Redemption | Exclusive

AEW Redemption 2026
AEW Redemption 2026 (Image credit: AEW)

In the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer detailed an interesting situation that went down at AEW Redemption.

Montreal wrestling legend Jacques Rougeau attended the July 26 event and, along with his brother Raymond, appeared in the ring for a pre-show segment where their family was honored. There was apparently some tension backstage, though, with Jacques throwing a “tantrum” over AEW refusing to play a tribute video that he gave them for the segment. Meltzer notes that the video could not be played because it was too long, had footage and music that they do not own the rights to, and had AI-generated content that AEW did not want to use:

  • This part was confirmed. The reason the ceremony didn’t even have a video is because Jacques told AEW he’d take care of that. He gave them a video to play. Unfortunately, the video was too long, had footage that AEW didn’t have rights to, music that AEW didn’t have rights to and some AI stuff in it that AEW didn’t want to use. There was no way it could be used and now it’s the day of the show with no time to do anything else, so there was no video.
  • Multiple sources said Jacques was throwing a tantrum backstage over that. He was told by one AEW official to calm down or they’d have to kick him out.

Jacques Rougeau had a WWE run as The Mountie and one half of The Quebecers, winning the Intercontinental Championship once and having three Tag Team title reigns in the 1990s.

Jacques Rougeau booed at AEW Redemption —

Despite the show happening in Montreal and the segment honoring his family, Rougeau received some significant boos from the crowd at Redemption. He’s remained a wrestling celebrity in the area and has been involved with training wrestlers, but Meltzer notes that Rougeau has developed a bad reputation:

  • Jacques started talking and was booed heavily. While Jacques is very well known in town because of the family and his long tenure as a local wrestling celebrity in a market where wrestling is more mainstream than most North American cities, he’s also developed a bad reputation particularly in the area’s wrestling world. There was just a recent incident we covered not that many weeks ago. But there are local stories like that going back decades. He’s done so many retirement matches that local media doesn’t trust him. Many area independent wrestlers want nothing to do with shows he’s involved with.

The pre-show segment ended with Jacques and Raymond standing tall after being interrupted by Rocky Romero.

Google Icon
Joseph Currier
Joseph Currier

Joseph Currier is the lead editor of F4WOnline.com, directing daily news coverage and writing articles on professional wrestling. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a journalism degree in 2016. Joseph joined F4W during his time at UMass and has now been writing about the industry for nearly a decade.

In addition to his work with F4W, Joseph has previously contributed to Sports Illustrated's wrestling coverage. He lives in Massachusetts and is a diehard fan of the Boston sports teams and Liverpool Football Club.