[6] The Kentuckians biggest win over The Assassins came while competing in the Los Angeles-based World Wrestling Association on August 8, 1965, when they defeated their rivals to win the WWA World Tag Team Championship. Sadly, this is what can happen when someone who hates snakes is in charge of one. [34] Roberts then gave a "mumbling" promo. [49], On February 1, 2023, it was announced that Roberts, along with Mark Henry, Paul Wight, and Shawn Dean was named a special advisor in AEW's community outreach program, titled AEW Together. [9], Smith then returned to Texas, where he was involved in a rivalry with The Spoiler. After several months, the feud culminated in a match at WrestleMania VII, in which both contestants were blindfolded (though both Roberts and Martel did later confess to having some limited vision due to mesh holes in the masks - these were briefly visible due to Jake putting his hand inside the mask after donning it shortly before the start of the match). [17][18][19], Smith was born in Houston, Texas and grew up with a brother, who died at age nine, and two sisters. [5] He has a half-brother, Michael Smith, and a half-sister, Robin Smith, both of whom also became wrestlers. Her solution was to run off with a 55-year-old man when she was just 18. He was apparently passed out in the locker room, with mere moments to go before he was set to wrestle. Before the match, announcer Vince McMahon said the fans would probably support Savage against the disliked Roberts. Changes had to be made to the match's scripting as legitimate injuries sustained earlier in the evening in a match with Vader left Roberts unable to engage in the longer, more evenly matched bout originally intended between the men. He was born Aurelian Smith Jr., but wrestling fans know him by his more famous, far catchier ring name: Jake "The Snake" Roberts. I wanted everyone to be afraid of me." Im not going to get hurt again. You know? He announced he would referee the Monster's Ball match between Brother Runt, Abyss, Raven, and Samoa Joe at Bound for Glory. But at 18, he decided to give wrestling a try to prove his toughness to his infamous father Grizzly Smith. This sister was also a regular victim of Grizzly Smith. This episode, entitled In the Shadow of Grizzly Smith, was most definitely not for the faint of heart. Eat as many apples as you can to grow as long as possible. Showing Editorial results for jake the snake roberts. In fact, according to Dallas Page, he cared more about missing appearancesor letting down fans. On the November 2 episode of Saturday Night, Tony Schiavone conducted a sit-down interview with Roberts regarding the decision of Bill Watts to ban his bringing of the snake to ringside, and his impending first-round match against Dustin Rhodes in the first round of the King of Cable tournament. His attack on Randy Savage with a cobra stunned the fans. He had a massive following. I grew up in the small Texas town where Jake was born (the same town where DDP picks him up at the beginning of the Resurrection of Jake the Snake documentary). Smith has been the subject of allegations of repeated sexual abuse of minors, including several of his own children. He promptly clotheslined Lawler, who fell onto Dreamer for a two count before exiting the ring. By 2012, Roberts was a total mess. Then there was the first time Jake tried to wrestle. It's not perfect, wrapped up in a bow, but a work in progress. As Jake recounted in his documentary The Resurrection of Jake Roberts, the only reason he was born at all was because his father raped a young woman. 5. We went to great lengths to show how far down I went and the road to recovery.. Up until the late '90s, fans might have been aware that Jake Roberts had some personal issues, but many had no clue how bad they truly were. After graduating high school (his ever-supportive dad said, "Well, I hope you don't want anything from me"), Roberts attended one of Smith's matches and decided to challenge another wrestler. Upon arrival at the ICU in Las Vegas, he was diagnosed with double pneumonia. [35] At Bound for Glory, he performed a DDT on Raven, which helped Samoa Joe win the match. The feud ended on Saturday Night's Main Event XXX, with Savage getting the win. His gimmick also mirrored his real life, as Roberts had recently become a born-again Christian and had been preaching around the country.[28]. He appeared at the 1997 Royal Rumble where he entered at no. In early to mid-1991, Roberts engaged in a feud with Earthquake who "squashed" Damien with a pair of Earthquake splashes during their match on the April 27 (taped March 26) edition of WWF Superstars of Wrestling. As he told Newsday, "We're changing the oil, we're changing the headlights, we're changing the damn tires, everything. [5] Notably, although Ambrose's onscreen character was unconscious, he himself was visibly attempting not to smile during the segment as Roberts had been his favorite wrestler during his childhood. And yet, there he was hanging around with a 12-foot python called Damien night in and night out. Roberts came to the ring to help Beefcake, who eventually won by disqualification. In a response to the article, Roberts was quoted as saying, "If the devil can't defeat me, cancer doesn't stand a chance in hell! It's little wonder he preferred working with Lucifer, the devenomized king cobra he wielded as a bad guy. How Old is Jake The Snake? [26] In the DVD documentary, Old School with Rockin' Robin, Robin details how she was sexually abused by her father, beginning at age 8. If you've never seen the film, it follows Jake through an independent wrestling event "I like his snakes, I like his style!" and a failed attempt to reconnect with his daughter, and speaks. Roberts has several siblings, but one of them is no longer with us. Luckily for him, an appellate court concluded Roberts' lawyer sucked at his job and nullified the verdict. Unfortunately, the courts could never prove a murder took place since they never found the body, meaning the ex-wife only got ten years in prison on the kidnapping charge. He was known in the Mid-South Wrestling, Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling, and Georgia Championship Wrestling at that time. [48] Roberts would accompany Archer to the ring during Archer's match with Wardlow on the April 27, 2022 episode of Dynamite. 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, Roberts was known for his intense and cerebral promos, dark charisma, extensive use of psychology in his matches, and innovative use of the DDT finishing move (which was later named the "coolest" maneuver of all time by WWE). The documentary opens with Roberts, who has eight children, fishing on a boat with two of his sons, Derek and Dustin. via playsleague.com [41] On March 4, 2020, he made a surprise appearance on AEW Dynamite, interrupting Cody. Roberts had just said all he ever wanted was a little respect, and the Rockstar's interruption irritated him. [10][11], The Kentuckians reunited in the NWA Tri-State territory. Then "El Diablo" unmasked revealing himself as Jake. First reports indicated that Roberts had fallen unconscious, but his manager/lawyer, Kyle P. Magee, confirmed that Roberts was alert and awake during the flight and notified the flight attendant of his pain and shortness of breath. [5], On January 6, 2014, Roberts made an appearance on the "Old School" episode of Raw, laying a python over the face of an unconscious Dean Ambrose. Roberts felt he was not only being lied to, but also being betrayed. And by young, we mean she was 12 years old. He won the American Wrestling Federation Heavyweight Title defeating Don Muraco on March 4. On June 14, 2014, Roberts participated in a six-man tag match in the main event for Reborn Wrestling (a Christian wrestling organization in Johnson City, Tennessee), teaming with The Stallion and Alex Cage to defeat E. Z. In February 1993, he took part in a tour in Australia. He is best known for his two stints in the World Wrestling Federation (later called WWE); the first between 1986 and 1992, and the second between 1996 and 1997. The reason why haunts Jake to this day. On the April 23, 1988 edition of WWF Superstars of Wrestling, Rude chose Roberts' real-life wife Cheryl, who refused the kiss and revealed that she was in fact the wife of Jake "The Snake". Years later in a 2015 shoot interview, Roberts jokingly thanked the fans for ruining what would have been the biggest (and most profitable) run of his career as at the time Hogan was the biggest and most popular babyface and a run against Hogan would have meant main event television and pay-per-view matches. He teamed with Eric Chapel and CraziiWolf (Crazii Shea and Greywolf), defeating the team of Salvatore Sincere, Steve C Wrestling and Pretty Ugly (Jimmy Dream and Adam Ugly). [5] His weight had ballooned to over 300lb (136kg) and he was having trouble doing simple tasks such as walking without becoming short of breath. Roberts immediately began berating Randy Savage in a series of promos, aware that Savage who had lost a retirement match to the Ultimate Warrior at Wrestlemania VII was unable to exact revenge. At one point, he said he loved the wrestling business more than anything else in the world. He described it as living in a sthole and youre not sure if you have enough money to eat for the week or pay the rent. We would like to show you a description here but the site won't allow us. But he seemed as optimistic as ever: "If the devil can't defeat me, cancer doesn't stand a chance in Hell!" Roberts had a strained relationship with his pedophilic father,[5] and was sexually and physically abused by his stepmother during his childhood, which included vaginal penetration - his father was doing the same thing to his daughters (Aurelian Jr.'s sisters) too. [5] During filming, Roberts had shoulder surgery which was paid for through crowdfunding. This match ended in a DQ. His first major TV wrestling appearance for WCW was at Clash of the Champions XX, where his team won a 4-man elimination tag match. If Smith had told his son the truth about wrestling, that could've helped Roberts' psyche immensely. [38] Regarding his Hall of Fame induction, he later said, "It wasn't at all what I expected it was more about healing between a man and his family. At one point in the documentary, Derek says I cant imagine as a father not doing that [everything] for your own kids. His daughter Brandy tells a story about how she drove her and her dad from Texas to Georgia in 1993 while he smoked crack the entire time. As he toldone website, "Carrying that 100-pound snake around was brutal on my body." His children Jake, Robin, Michael, and Richard were interviewed. Roberts wrestled for the WWE in the late '80s and '90s and was infamous for bringing a pet snake . While in Stampede Wrestling, Roberts feuded with the Junkyard Dog.[7][8]. He said the most important thing was creating new habits to replace his destructive ones, something he didnt feel traditional rehab provided. [28] The catchphrase helped propel Austin to the top of the WWF, and is one of the moments that is often cited as the beginning of "The Attitude Era". Roberts next feuded with Jerry "The King" Lawler, who went to great lengths to ridicule Roberts' past alcoholism. . If you dont like it, it dont go. And I said, Yeah. Were investing three years of hard work and filming. 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." Almost as well known is the dark side of Jake's life. After Honky Tonk won the Intercontinental Championship from Ricky Steamboat, Roberts unsuccessfully challenged him for the Championship several times throughout the rest of 1987. The only problem. Smith had a strained relationship with his son Aurelian Jr. (Jake Roberts), which Roberts stated was partially the result of his father not informing his children of the scripted nature of professional wrestling. Roberts no-showed several defenses, forcing SMW to give the title back to Anthony on July 5. 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. Roberts also made an appearance in An Almost True Story: TOXIC TUTU in 2015, as himself, in a scene with Jonny Fairplay from Survivor. A&E Network. As he explained, "I never wanted you to trust me.". Instead of fighting for the Intercontinental Championship, the prize of the feud was DiBiase's own Million Dollar Championship. The Resurrection of Jake the Snake is now streaming for free on Prime Video! Jake "The Snake" Roberts, 59 -- The Lowest Point It was a long journey - it's been almost three years now. He had dropped enough weight that he looked largely like he did in the '80s (minus the mullet, sadly), and appeared lucid as could be. Savage stated in a shoot interview that his arm swelled and he developed a high fever afterward and had to be checked at a hospital. It led to him praying to the devil to help him one day become a bigger wrestling star than his father. As the match went on, the arena lights were turned off. In 2018, Roberts embarked on his a series of spoken word shows dubbed The Dirty Details Tour, subtitled "Tales From The Pit". He was the father of professional wrestlers Jake "The Snake" Roberts, Rockin' Robin, and Sam Houston . Moss regained the title the next night in Ashford, Kent, though. It was severe enough that he lost consciousness in the hospital several times, but he wasn't interested in dying or giving up. By the end of 1994, Roberts took a hiatus. 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