Jacques Rougeau has posted the tribute video AEW declined to air during the Rougeau family segment at Redemption, sharing the full package on his Facebook page days after the pay-per-view in Montreal.
The video carries an on-screen disclosure in the upper right corner noting that AI was used to generate footage from an original still image, the same issue that reportedly kept it off the broadcast in the first place.
According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Jacques told AEW he would handle the video package himself, but the finished product ran too long and included footage, music and AI-generated content the company either didn’t have the rights to or didn’t want to use. AEW reportedly didn’t see the video until the day of the show, leaving no time to build a replacement. SEScoops has the full backstage report here, including the account of Jacques nearly being removed from the building.
Not everyone agrees with that version of events. Sources close to the Rougeau family told Cultaholic, as relayed by Cageside Seats, that there was no tantrum and no eviction threat. Those sources said AEW asked the brothers for a video package built from Lutte Internationale footage the family owns, but the company’s no-AI policy and a legal clearance issue killed it before Redemption. Jacques was reportedly unhappy the video couldn’t be cleared in time, per those sources, but understood the decision.
The segment itself went ahead as planned on the Redemption Buy In, with Jacques and Raymond Rougeau honored for four generations of the family’s history in the sport. Jacques was booed by the Montreal crowd and told the fans to kiss his ass before he and Raymond helped clear Rocky Romero from the ring during a Don Callis Family interruption.
