| Jake Roberts | |
|---|---|
Roberts in 2008 |
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| Ring name(s) | Jake Roberts[1][2] Jake Smith, Jr.[2] El Diablo The Texan |
| Billed height | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)[1] |
| Billed weight | 249 lb (113 kg)[1] |
| Born | May 30, 1955 [2] Gainesville, Texas, U.S.[3] |
| Resides | Oak Ridge, Texas, U.S. |
| Billed from | Stone Mountain, Georgia, U.S.[1] |
| Trained by | Grizzly Smith[2] Moose Morowski[2] |
| Debut | May 13, 1975[2] |
| Retired | January 29, 2011[4] |
Aurelian Jake Smith, Jr.[5] (born May 30, 1955) is a second-generation American professional wrestler, the son of former wrestler Aurelian "Grizzly" Smith. He is best known by his ring name of Jake "The Snake" Roberts, and often brought snakes into the ring, including a python named Damien and even a de-venomed cobra.
Roberts is best known for his two stints in the World Wrestling Federation—the first between 1986-92, and the second between 1996-97. He wrestled in the National Wrestling Alliance in 1983, World Championship Wrestling in 1992, and the Mexico-based Asistencia Asesoría y Administración between 1993 and 1994 and again in 1997. He appeared in Extreme Championship Wrestling during the summer of 1997, and made appearances for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling from 2006 through 2008.
Throughout his career he was known for his intense and cerebral promos, his dark charisma, his extensive use of psychology in his matches, and has been credited as inventor of the DDT maneuver. Roberts was also one of the subjects of the 1999 documentary film Beyond the Mat.
Roberts' first major feud was against Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat. The feud began on a nationally televised episode of Saturday Night's Main Event in May 1986. Roberts executed the DDT on Steamboat on the floor right in front of his wife, Bonnie, whom Roberts had pointed to just before delivering the blow and then proceeded to rest his snake Damien on top of a prone Steamboat. Roberts went so far as to put the snake in Steamboat's mouth. He later stated that he was initially against doing the angle for fear that he might seriously injure or kill Steamboat. While Vince McMahon and booker George Scott were adamant about wanting the DDT to take place on the floor, he refused until Steamboat told him that he would be able to adequately protect himself from injury. Steamboat was rendered unconscious and sustained a concussion.[6] After Steamboat's recovery, the feud featured Steamboat introducing a "Komodo dragon" as his "pet" to combat the psychological effects Roberts' reptilian counterpart had on most adversaries. The feud continued with Steamboat winning most of the matches (losing only one because he threw Roberts back in the ring before the 10 count, then not beating said count himself), most notably a Snake Pit Match (ostensibly a no-DQ match) at The Big Event in Toronto, and the rematch on the October 1986 edition of Saturday Night's Main Event. Since their feud ended, both men have cited tremendous respect for one another, stating that the feud was a personal favorite for both. When asked about "The Dragon" in an interview, Roberts stated, "[Steamboat] was a great wrestler, but an even better man." Roberts began hosting a talk segment called "The Snake Pit," which debuted on the first episode of WWF Wrestling Challenge. "The Snake Pit" was patterned after "Piper's Pit," wherein Roberts would conduct interviews with wrestlers or managers to help push wrestlers and get feuds over with the crowd. The segment was eventually moved to WWF Superstars of Wrestling (to replace "Piper's Pit") before the last segment aired in July 1987.
In November 1986, Roberts challenged Randy "Macho Man" Savage for the Intercontinental Championship in a nationally televised match. Before the match, announcer Vince McMahon stated that the fans would probably support Savage against the disliked Roberts. However, to the surprise of both McMahon and fellow broadcaster Jesse Ventura, the fans cheered loudly for Roberts throughout the fight. The match ended in a double disqualification. Around this time, the WWF was trying to get a feud between Roberts and Hulk Hogan going, but after Roberts DDT'd Hogan during an episode of The Snake Pit, too many people started chanting for the DDT rather than for Hogan, forcing them to step away from this like it never happened.
He officially turned face when he feuded with The Honky Tonk Man, a heel with an Elvis impersonator gimmick. The Honky Tonk Man attacked Roberts[7] with a guitar during his interview segment The Snake Pit. In reality, The Honky Tonk Man's guitar shot legitimately injured Roberts' neck.[8] The shot was prior to the use of gimmicked breakable guitars, so it caused a legitimate injury.[8] The Honky Tonk Man denies that he legitimately injured Roberts, although Jimmy Hart, as well as a video of the incident (seen on the Pick Your Poison DVD) suggests otherwise. The attack led to their match at WrestleMania III in which Roberts had Alice Cooper in his corner. He would go on to unsuccessfully challenge The Honky Tonk Man for the Intercontinental Championship several times throughout the rest of 1987. The initial plan was for Roberts to win the Intercontinental Championship shortly after The Honky Tonk Man's win over Ricky Steamboat and begin an angle with the Million Dollar Man Ted DiBiase, but because of the injuries he suffered from the guitar shot, the decision was made to keep the belt with The Honky Tonk Man.
Perhaps his best-known feud was against "Ravishing" Rick Rude, who began a gimmick of selecting a woman from the crowd to kiss after each match. In one segment, Rude chose Roberts' real-life wife, Cheryl, who refused the kiss. After Rude began insulting Roberts, Cheryl slapped him, angering Rude before Roberts ran out for the save. This began a heated feud throughout the summer of 1988, which escalated after Rude began wearing a pair of tights emblazoned with a visage of Mrs. Roberts, (another act that was not sanctioned by WWF at the time and was Rude's own brainchild) which an irate Roberts tore off. Many believe this angle was far ahead of its time, a precursor to The Attitude Era.
Roberts moved from the feud with Rude into a feud with André the Giant. On a nationally televised Saturday Night's Main Event, Roberts and Rude fought to a no-contest, and Andre came out to help Rude. Roberts used his snake, Damien, to scare Andre into an eventual "heart attack." Although the subsequent feud on the house show circuit saw Andre victorious after most of those matches, Roberts can claim a victory via disqualification over André after André attacked special guest referee Big John Studd at WrestleMania V.
Shortly after his feud with André had ended, Roberts entered into a feud originally scheduled to happen years before with Ted DiBiase. Instead of fighting for the Intercontinental Championship, the prize of the feud was DiBiase's Million Dollar Belt. It was at this time that Roberts' disc problems were publicly acknowledged, as DiBiase attacked Roberts after a victory over his bodyguard Virgil on WWF Superstars of Wrestling. In the attack, Roberts was (storyline) injured by DiBiase and needed time off to have surgery to repair the damage. Roberts returned and feuded with DiBiase throughout the end of 1989 into 1990, including a point where Roberts stole DiBiase's Million Dollar Belt, daring him or Virgil to reach into the canvas sack to retrieve it. The culmination of their feud took place at WrestleMania VI, where in a match where the Million Dollar Belt was on the line, DiBiase gained a count-out victory over Roberts, thus regaining the non-sanctioned title. After the match, Roberts mounted an offensive against DiBiase and Virgil and then began giving away DiBiase's "money".
Following a brief feud with Bad News Brown in the summer of 1990, Roberts feuded with Rick "The Model" Martel throughout late 1990 into early 1991, after Martel (kayfabe) blinded Roberts by spraying cologne into his eyes. Roberts went so far as to wear white contact lenses to "prove" his blindness. After several months, the feud culminated in a match at WrestleMania VII, in which both contestants were blindfolded. The bout ended after Roberts beat Martel with a DDT.
In early to mid-1991, Roberts engaged in a feud with Earthquake after he "squashed" Damien with a pair of Earthquake splashes during a televised match; in actuality, Roberts' bag contained hamburger stuffed in pantyhose with a small motor to make it appear that a live snake was in the bag. When the match aired on WWF Superstars of Wrestling, footage of Earthquake landing on Damien was interrupted with cutaway shots to that show's "Events Center," but when aired later on WWF Prime Time Wrestling the following week, Earthquake's actions toward Damien aired uninterrupted and uncensored. The feud was advanced when, several weeks later, Earthquake appeared on WWF Prime Time Wrestling and served "Quakeburgers" to co-host Lord Alfred Hayes, later revealing that the meat was ground from Damien's carcass.
Roberts appeared on Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake's interview segment The Barbershop and stated that "You could do two things: Roll over and die, or get yourself a bigger snake", in which he revealed that his new snake was a larger python, a reticulated python whom he named "Lucifer" — the supposed big brother of Damien and "the devil himself."
Roberts began a heel turn later in the summer of 1991 following a series of televised vignettes featuring the Ultimate Warrior turning to Roberts for help in his feud with The Undertaker. In the set-up, Roberts explained to Warrior that, after passing three tests, he would have the "knowledge of the dark side" to defeat Undertaker. The segments included Warrior being locked inside a coffin (a reprise of an incident that occurred on The Funeral Parlor, hosted by the Undertaker's manager, Paul Bearer; earlier in the year); the Warrior being "buried alive" in dirt before being abandoned; and Warrior walking through a room full of live snakes to reach a chest containing "the answer." During the latter segment, the Warrior opened the chest, only to be immediately bitten by a King Cobra (the snake was a rubber prop). As Warrior "weakened" from the "effects" of the cobra's strike, Roberts was joined by The Undertaker and Paul Bearer, revealing the three were working together all along;[9] Roberts closed the final segment by proclaiming, "Never trust a snake."[10] A series of matches were planned, but the feud was canceled after the Ultimate Warrior was fired by the WWF the night of SummerSlam.
After SummerSlam, Roberts was placed in a feud with "Macho Man" Randy Savage. The set-up story had Roberts crashing the post-SummerSlam wedding reception of Savage and Miss Elizabeth; Roberts' presence was explained when Elizabeth opened a gift package to reveal a live snake. Roberts and The Undertaker appeared to beat up Savage, until Sid Justice ran them off. Roberts was then in a short feud with Sid Justice. It began when Sid was scheduled to wrestle "El Diablo", The Undertaker came out and accepted the Challenge to Sid. Then when "El Diablo" unmasked himself, it revealed to be was Jake. Jake proceeded to unleash a king cobra on Sid, until Hacksaw Jim Duggan saved him. Sid and Jake wrestled on Superstars a week later. But soon, Sid injured his biceps, which forced the feud to end.
Roberts immediately began berating Randy Savage in a series of promos, aware that Savage - who had lost a retirement match to the Ultimate Warrior earlier in the year - was unable to exact revenge. During an October 21 taping for WWF Superstars of Wrestling in Fort Wayne, Indiana, Roberts goaded Savage into the ring and brutally attacked him, eventually tying Savage into the ropes and getting a live cobra to bite his arm; the snake was devenomized and, according to Roberts' DVD Pick Your Poison, he had trouble getting the cobra to release his bite. The segment went on longer than planned, and Savage's blood was clearly visible as it dripped from the puncture wounds. The footage of Savage suffering was censored with a large "X" when aired on WWF Superstars of Wrestling on November 23, but aired uncensored on cable television. Ironically, the snake died shortly afterwards, causing Savage to later joke that the snake got the venom from him.
WWF president Jack Tunney reinstated Savage as an active wrestler to get revenge for the attack. To explain the absence of the cobra in kayfabe, Tunney "banned" Roberts from ever bringing a snake to the ring again. Savage and Roberts feuded for the next few months. Their first match was at the Tuesday in Texas pay-per-view December 3 in San Antonio, Texas, which saw Savage earn a victory over Roberts; the two continued to brawl after the match, and Roberts eventually gained the upper hand by laying Savage out with a series of DDTs. Roberts then demanded that Elizabeth beg him to stop the assault, but when he was dissatisfied with her pleas, he slapped her in the middle of the ring. The feud would continue through the early part of 1992, and included Savage eliminating Roberts from that year's Royal Rumble match. The feud ended on Saturday Night's Main Event, with Savage getting the win. Roberts, livid at having lost to him and having received two of Savage's flying elbow drops (one of which happened after the match; Savage was going for a third until officials intervened), was helped backstage. Enraged, he grabbed a steel chair and said that he was going to hit whoever came backstage first, whether it was Savage or Elizabeth. Just as Roberts was about to swing the chair, an unknown person stopped him. Roberts turned to confront this person, who turned out to be the Undertaker; Roberts was distracted long enough for Savage to hit him with the chair instead. That incident helped set up Roberts' feud with the Undertaker, who along with Bearer were in the midst of a face turn. Roberts appeared on The Funeral Parlor to demand answers from the Undertaker about why he stopped him from attacking Elizabeth. When Roberts was dissatisfied with the answers, he DDT'ed Bearer and, after jamming Undertaker's hand in a coffin, began hitting him with a steel chair; however, Undertaker was able to fend off the blows and chased Roberts backstage. At WrestleMania VIII, Roberts lost the match.
The WrestleMania VIII match turned out to be Roberts' last for the WWF for nearly four years. Roberts' departure came after he was upset that WWF chairman Vince McMahon did not offer him a position on the writing staff, despite being promised such previously. After Pat Patterson stepped down from his post on the writing staff, McMahon decided that out of respect for Patterson, the spot would be left vacant. Roberts felt he was not only being lied to, but also being betrayed. In response, he threatened to no-show WrestleMania if he was not given a release from his contract.
Roberts went on to work for World Championship Wrestling (WCW) alongside his father, Grizzly Smith, where he aligned himself with The Barbarian and Cactus Jack to feud against Sting and Nikita Koloff. However, before he could officially join WCW, he had to wait almost 90 days. According to the Pick Your Poison DVD, Roberts had initially signed a lucrative contract under Kip Allen Frey, who was running WCW at the time. On the 87th day, Frey stepped down and was replaced by Bill Watts, for whom Roberts had legitimate heat with back in his days at Mid-South Wrestling. Ultimately, Roberts estimates that he went from making about $3.5 million a year to approximately $200,000 a year.
His first major TV wrestling appearance for WCW was at Clash of the Champions, where his team won a 4-man elimination tag match. Roberts scored a pinfall victory over Sting, which built their feud further. His single WCW pay-per-view match was against Sting at Halloween Havoc in 1992. Their match was determined via the Spin the Wheel, Make the Deal gimmick.[11] There was a series of gimmick matches on the wheel, but because the wheel itself was not gimmicked, neither Roberts nor Sting knew the kind of match they'd be wrestling until the wheel stopped spinning. When the wheel stopped, it had landed on what many pundits believed was the worst option—the Coal Miner's Glove match. While it was the company's top-selling PPV for several years,[11] Roberts soon left WCW.
Roberts debuted in the Mexican promotion Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA) in April 1993, causing the defeat of Konnan on the career vs. career match at TripleMania I. Jake's run-in started a feud that lasted until 1994 at TripleMania II-C, in which Konnan managed to defeat Roberts in a hair vs. hair match.
For some months of 1997 Roberts fought again in the AAA, teaming with Gorgeous George III, Glenn Jacobs, and Rick Bognar. This stint was not successful and Roberts left after TripleMania V.
Roberts returned to WWF at the Royal Rumble in 1996, as a Bible-preaching face.[11] To go along with his new gimmick, his new Albino Burmese Python was named "Revelations." His gimmick also mirrored his real life, as Roberts had recently become a born-again Christian and had been preaching around the country.[11]
During his second tenure with the company, Roberts was pushed as a "Cinderella story" and faced "Stone Cold" Steve Austin in the final match of the King of the Ring tournament. Due to injuries received at the hands of Vader in their semi-final match that night, Austin easily defeated him and mocked his recital of the biblical passage John 3:16 by saying "You sit there, and you thump your Bible, and you say your prayers, and it didn't get you anywhere... Talk about your Psalms, talk about your John 3:16 ... Austin 3:16 says I just whooped your ass!".[11] The catchphrase would help propel Austin to the top of the WWF and pro wrestling throughout "The Attitude Era" of the late 1990s to early 2000s. Roberts next feuded with Jerry "The King" Lawler, who went to great lengths to ridicule Roberts' past bouts against alcoholism. At one point, Lawler spat real whiskey at Roberts.
In November 1996, Roberts, Vader, and Brother Love appeared on the ABC sitcom Boy Meets World for one episode. In early 1997, the WWF wanted Roberts to wind down his in-ring career and to join the backstage side of the company. Since he still loved to wrestle, he did not make this transition well. This led to a relapse with drugs and alcohol. He was fired in February 1997. According to the Pick Your Poison DVD, after his firing, his long-time wife Cheryl filed for divorce.
During the summer of 1997, Jake debuted in ECW. His introduction came towards the end of a match between Lawler and Tommy Dreamer, which was the main event of the show. As the match went on, the arena lights were turned off. Moments later when the lights came back on, Roberts was already in the ring, and had given his signature DDT on Dreamer. He then went to the camera man and screamed; "Your God... he giveth, and he can taketh away. My God, he giveth... but he aint got the balls to do nothin' else." He promptly clotheslined Lawler, dragging him over Dreamer for the victory in Lawler's favor before exiting the ring.
In 1999, Roberts was unflatteringly featured in the wrestling documentary Beyond the Mat. Throughout the film he made numerous confessions about his tragic past, including the murder of his sister and the collapse of his marriage. Amongst the more disturbing moments was Roberts reportedly smoking crack in a hotel room after a reunion with his daughter Brandy, though the act is not shown on camera. In 2005, Roberts, along with others, heavily criticized the film for showing him in a negative light, complaining that the depiction of him was "not the real Jake Roberts." Roberts also claimed that director Barry Blaustein and Terry Funk lied to him about the aims of the film, telling him it was a television special on the effects of drug and alcohol abuse. Jake has stated that he hasn't seen the movie.
In 2001, Roberts moved to Great Britain, where he began competing for Brian Dixon's All Star Wrestling. In December, he made his debut for Ricky Knight's World Association of Wrestling in Lowestoft. On October 20, 2002, Roberts became the NWA UK Hammerlock Heavyweight Champion in Maidstone, Kent, England by defeating "Vigilante" Johnny Moss. Moss regained the title the next night in Ashford, Kent, though. In November 2002, Roberts started his own wrestling promotion in the UK, called "Real Stars of Wrestling".
Roberts made his final British appearance at WAW's October Outrage show in Canvey Island, Essex, once again teaming with Steve Quintain against the UK Pitbulls. However, Roberts turned up at the show "in no fit state to compete", but went ahead with his match. Roberts cut a drunken promo paying tribute to Ray Traylor, who had died a few days before, and almost got into a scuffle with several WAW wrestlers who were sent out to defuse the situation. This involved challenging Zak Zodiac, son of Ricky Knight and Sweet Saraya, and who was only 13 at the time, to a fight.
Roberts made a World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) appearance on March 14, 2005 on Raw, where he confronted Randy Orton, who was preparing to challenge The Undertaker at WrestleMania 21. Roberts warned Orton that facing The Undertaker, particularly at WrestleMania, could be a soul-altering experience; he then fell victim to Orton's "RKO," helping to fuel Orton's "Legend Killer" gimmick. He worked with the company to create a DVD retrospective of his career (the aforementioned Pick Your Poison DVD), which was released later that year.
Roberts made an appearance on the October 19, 2006 edition of TNA Impact!. He announced he would referee the Monster's Ball match between Brother Runt, Abyss, Raven, and Samoa Joe at Bound for Glory. Roberts proceeded to cut a rambling, incoherent promo that was barely audible to the live audience. At least once, he ended up on his back during the promo and had trouble getting up. The promo lasted a couple of minutes live but was so incoherent that it was edited down to about 15 seconds on the broadcast of Impact! He had a snake in a bag, which he placed on Brother Runt after Runt came out and confronted Roberts. At one point, he even stuffed the snake's head down the front of Runt's pants. The confrontation was only partially aired on Impact!. At Bound for Glory, he performed his signature DDT on Raven, giving Samoa Joe the win in the match. Roberts did his signature after match ritual by putting a snake (which resembled "Revelations") on Raven.
Roberts made a one-night return to TNA in 2008 as a guest of "Black Machismo" Jay Lethal and SoCal Val's storyline wedding at Slammiversary.
Roberts made an appearance at Booker T's Houston-based Pro Wrestling Alliance (PWA) promotion, in which he cut a promo urging those who want to enter the wrestling business to not follow along his path. At one point he stated that he loved the wrestling business more than anything else in the world. PWA wrestler "Rockstar" Robbie Gillmore then interrupted Jake and attempted to make an alliance based upon the fact that Robbie wears an 80s style shirt featuring a cobra. Jake had just stated that all he ever wanted was a little respect, and the Rockstar's interruption irritated him. Jake then attacked Gillmore.
In May 2009, Roberts joined the Jim Rose Circus for the Jim Rose Circus vs. Jake "The Snake" Roberts: The Legends Collide Tour. Advertised as "a grueling 40 city campaign" containing pretty girls, wrestling, amazing circus stunts, and a fist fight, the tour features Jim Rose and wrestler Sinn Bouldi as "Team Jake".
On January 29, 2011, Roberts wrestled what was billed as his retirement match, when he defeated Sinn Bodhi at the Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG) show during the WrestleReunion 5 weekend.[4]
Jake Roberts claims to have invented the DDT in a match where he had his opponent, The Grappler, in a front facelock, but when Jake tripped over Denton's foot he fell backwards and[12][13] Roberts' opponent landed on his head. From that match, Roberts claimed the move as his finisher, calling it the DDT, though instead of falling back, he stepped back before falling (which, as he explained on his DVD Pick Your Poison, was the quickest way to drive his opponent's head into the mat and also gave the move a "snap" effect). When asked what the initials DDT stood for, he famously replied "The End." In the 2005 DVD documentary, World Wrestling Entertainment employee Bruce Prichard said Roberts named the move after the pesticide of the same name. Roberts has also said often that "DDT" stands for "Drop Dead Twice". Roberts has further been said to claim it stands for "Don't Do it Twice." Many critics of Roberts are quick to point out that he never tells a story the same way twice and that if asked the same question in two separate interviews, Jake Roberts is known for giving two completely different versions of the "honest to God truth".
Roberts derived his nickname for being known as "snake like" and untrustworthy. Roberts also said on the Pick Your Poison DVD that he got his nickname by copying Oakland Raiders quarterback Ken "The Snake" Stabler (of whom Roberts was a huge fan).[14] To accentuate this, he would often slide ("slither") into and out of the ring on his belly under the bottom rope. Once he reached the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in March 1986, Roberts would bring a huge, live Burmese Python (though various snakes were used over the years, most were named "Damien") to ringside in a canvas bag. Other snakes used were a Reticulated Python named Lucifer, who was called Damiens' older brother after Earthquake sat on the bag that (kayfabe) contained Damien, an unnamed de-venomized Cobra that bit Macho Man Randy Savage, and an albino Burmese Python named Revelations (during Jake's Christian conversion gimmick in 1996). After executing a DDT, Roberts would coil the constrictor around the opponent's neck, and the snake would slither around on top of the fallen wrestler, sometimes appearing to strangle him. Besides the fact that numerous fellow wrestlers and commentators were legitimately afraid of snakes, it was a masterful show as the wrestler lay twitching and sometimes foaming at the mouth with the monstrous snake appearing to squeeze the life out of him.
Roberts is the son of wrestler Grizzly Smith, with whom he had a strained relationship.[15] He has a half-brother, Michael and a half-sister, Robin, both of whom also became wrestlers (Sam Houston and Rockin' Robin).
Roberts married his first wife Karen Rauschuber on February 27, 1975.[16] The couple have a daughter named Brandy Grace (born July 29, 1975)[17] who appeared in the 1999 wrestling documentary, Beyond the Mat. Roberts also has twin sons from his first marriage, named Dustin and Derek (born 1980).[18][19] On August 2, 1984 Roberts married his second wife, Cheryl Hagood. The couple had 2 children before divorcing in 2000.[20]
In 2004, Roberts faced a charge of "causing unnecessary suffering" after his snake, "Damien", was allowed to starve to death in the garage of his London Colney home.[21]
In 2007, WWE started a policy that they would pay all expenses for any former WWWF/WWF/WWE performer who needed to enter into any form of drug rehabilitation. According to various wrestling news reports, as well as his own MySpace page, Roberts was placed in a 14-week voluntary rehab program by WWE as of December 10, 2007.[22][23] In May 2008, Jim Ross reported that, "Jake Roberts has been doing well the past few weeks, after completing a treatment program."[24] Roberts' official MySpace page reported that he was back to working indy shows. Roberts is an unlockable character in WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2011, alongside several other legends, such as Stone Cold Steve Austin, Jimmy Snuka, and Terry Funk.