Bruce Prichard is one of the most influential people in modern WWE history. He has been in Vince McMahon’s inner circle for decades and in many ways was one of Vince’s right-hand men during the company’s most tumultuous periods.
Nowadays, though, Pritchard’s influence has waned compared to those earlier years, but he still has a lot of sway in the company. Because of that, some people take his opinion seriously. Pritchard knows that, which is why he proposed that a very specific person be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.
Bruce Prichard was Jacques Rougeau, a.k.a. The Mountie, to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame
Speaking on his Something to Wrestle podcast, Bruce Prichard explained that the Mountie was a highly successful gimmick for its time. Part of that was thanks to Canadian wrestling legend Jacques Rougeau doing such a good job of playing the character, and the other part was overcoming challenges that came with portraying the character.
According to Prichard, the real Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) a Canadian federal-level police force, objected to their agency’s likeness being used for wrestling storytelling purposes but Prichard noted that WWE went ahead with the gimmick regardless.
“The Mountie gimmick was absolutely great, but, I would say Mounties take themselves way too seriously — you cannot wear a Mountie outfit unless you’re a Mountie. I don’t think you’re allowed to disparage a Mountie in any way, shape, or form — publicly. And portraying a Mountie is kind of sacrilegious in Canada. But we did it!”
Rougeau himself did an interview in which he described how much fun he had playing the character. While portraying The Mountie, Rougeau asked his brother, who was a real RCMP officer, to give him tips to make his portrayal that much more convincing.
In fact, he was so good that he actually got banned from playing the character in Canada and had to change his gear and be introduced under and wrestle has himself instead of that gimmick.
h/t WrestlingInc for the transcription