We recently discussed the hatred directed toward the Liberal Hippie Tag Team from the 1970’s known as the “Love Brothers.” These two slackers represented everything that Conservative society loathed and feared at the time. They were amoral, shaggy, flamboyant, cocky, and loved to break the rules. Probably they were into drugs and deviant sexual practices as well…
When I first learned about the Love Brothers, I was a bit surprised that a “Hippie” tag team was being depicted as the Villains. Nowadays, Hippies are considered cool, open-minded, and Far Out, like the Beatles or Bob Dylan. A modern wrestler with long hair, a soulful goatee, and colorful pants is likely to be a Hero, not a Villain. But in the 1970’s, a culture war between Liberals and Conservatives was underway, and pro wrestling fans were more apt to despise, rather than embrace, the draft-dodging Hippies.
The antithesis of the devious Love Brothers is their brave young opponent: Raymond Rougeau. He was a fan favorite, an exciting high-flier, a Canadian from a pro wrestling family, and a handsome smiley young man — everything the fans wanted in a Champion.
A victory by Raymond over the Love Brothers would represent the supremacy of Conservative morality over Liberal, free-loving, lazy, drug-addled deviance that was perceived to be ruining western civilization in the 70’s.
Raymond Rougeau was therefore defending nothing less than the Canadian way of life, the pride of his nation, the superiority of traditional values, and the purity of the Great White North when he went to war with the Love Brothers.
Raymond’s partner was Denis Gauthier, seen here receiving a Pile-Driver from some Mad Dog. Gauthier usually acted as the “Jannetty” of his team — the Babyface-in-Peril who always needed to be rescued by his high-flying partner.
Denis Gauthier was muscular and powerful looking, but his strength was depicted as ineffective and useless against evil Tag Teams. He was the original Vulnerable Superman. Only his partner — the spectacular young Ray Rougeau — could beat down the villains and save Gauthier like a damsel in distress.
Many prominent wrestling families who ran federations would bring in a Buff Ineffective Family Friend (BIFF) to act as their muscular but clumsy charity case. This gorgeous but helpless buddy was a Vulnerable Superman whom the family members must protect from evil forces.
For example, the Von Erichs used their muscular “Cousin” Lance as a BIFF. The Hart family‘s BIFF was Brian Pillman. And the Rougeaus had Denis Gauthier.
Notice that in nearly all these magazine photos, Gauthier is depicted in a helpless state, suffering and desperate for rescue despite his super-human strength.
There are several reasons why a pro wrestling family (particularly a family with not-so-handsome offspring) will often forge a relationship with a BIFF and practically adopt him.
First, having a BIFF in your wrestling federation will definitely sell more tickets and pad your income. Many people are addicted to eye candy and will attend pro wrestling shows to gawk at, and lust after, the beefcake in the ring (but I’m sure you know that already…)
Second, when the boys in a family hang around with a BIFF, some of his sex appeal rubs off on them and their attractiveness increases by association.
Men normally run with other men of similar looks, income, and fitness level. So when Lance, for example, was brought into the Von Erich clan, Kevin and Kerry suddenly seemed a bit hotter for being his cousin (to their father’s financial benefit).
Third, the BIFF appears huge and strong but always needs to be rescued by the family, which implies that the family members are even stronger and more powerful for saving him.
One of the easiest ways to “put over” the brothers in a wrestling family is to constantly feature them protecting some big, strong BIFF — the bigger and stronger the better. Rescuing another man masculinizes the rescuer — and feminizes the rescued man by contrast.
Finally, some BIFFs end up marrying into the wrestling family — Gauthier married one of the Rougeau sisters. This strengthens the homosocial bond (the ideal relationship in pro wrestling) between the BIFF and the brothers. He can’t marry one of the brothers in the family, so he marries their sister to get closer to them.
Gauthier’s vulnerability is in full effect against the slacker Love Brothers in their flamboyant pants. They easily dominate the BIFF, choking him out and yanking on the waistband of his trunks.
This makes Raymond Rougeau — son of the promoter — seem to be that much more effective and able. Any success he enjoys against the villains is no thanks to his hapless partner.
Employing their usual dirty tricks, the Love Brothers work together to “cripple” our young hero Raymond. Why, oh why, must the Bodybuilding Ineffective Family Friend (BIFF) be so ineffective and helpless, unable to assist our poor Raymond!?
Clearly it takes two Love Brothers to over-power one Rougeau, so this dominance by the cheaters does not truly emasculate the fan favorite (and son of the promoter…)
The way most of their battles ended, Raymond would finally gain the advantage over the competition, using his flashy high-flying moves to establish his dominance.
The fact that he was able to secure the victory with little help from his BIFF further spoke to his strength, agility, and potency, raising the value of his stock in the estimation of the audience. This ensured a long, successful career in the wrestling ring for young Raymond (while poor, emasculated Denis Gauthier soon retired from the wrestling game and pursued other business interests…)