Ya'll Remember Jake the Snake roberts ?
- Thread starter mustynutz
- Start date
On the other hand, witness Jake Roberts, a man who probably should retire but hasn't, as he needs the money to fuel his crack addiction. When Blaustein interviews him shortly after he gets high, the results are chilling to someone who grew up idolizing this man in the '80s. His drug habit is understandable, however, given his history: Jake was conceived when his father raped the 13-year-old daughter of a woman he was dating; his sister was murdered by the ex-wife of her elderly husband, the body never found; and his favorite stepdad was accidentally electrocuted. And the cycle continues: Jake's relationship with his own daughter is every bit as dysfunctional as his own uncomfortable parental communications. Think VH-1's Behind the Music without the requisite redemption at the end.
Jake Roberts: Deluded, Demented, Tanked-Up
By DANIEL FITCH
WrestleLine.com Staff Writer
This past weekend saw England's number one promotion the FWA put on their latest show Carpe Diem — featuring a wealth of top talent from the UK, and as always a star from across the pond. On this show former ECW and NWA Champion Steve Corino was advertised as the American star — however, due to flight problems he was unable to make it. In his place the FWA booked wrestling legend Jake "The Snake" Roberts to main event the show — despite having problems a few months ago when Roberts went head-to-head with FWA star Alex Shane backstage — so booking Roberts again was a bit of a surprise to say the least!
Jake 'The Snake' Roberts was up to his usual antics backstage in England this weekend. (WL)
Anyone who has been a wrestling fan for more than a few months will know Jake Roberts back history. In the 1980's he was one of the WWF's top stars — with his trademark python wrapped around his neck Roberts was predominately a face and had top level feuds with Rick Rude and Rick Martel amongst others. In 1991 he turned heel on Randy Savage and started what would be his farewell tour in the WWF — which culminated at WrestleMania 8 when he was cleanly beaten by the Undertaker, turning 'Taker face and making him look like a million dollars in the process. That was Roberts greatest strength
His undoubted charisma and his ability to use wrestling psychology to put himself and his opponent over. However, the one thing that always held Jake back was his problems with drink and drugs. Like many wrestlers from the boom period of the 1980's Roberts was hooked on drugs of all kinds, and like many of his colleagues he was unable to get out of the "rock and roll lifestyle" once he had left the big leagues. After short stints in WCW and Mexico's AAA Roberts faded into obscurity and further into his crack addiction. In 1998 he was invited to be a part of a documentary filmmaker Barry Blaustein was making entitled Beyond the Mat. Blaustein travelled with Roberts for a few weeks observing just how much he had let himself go — on several occasions Blaustein found Roberts in a drunken heap, one promoter went as far to say that he would only show up if he was promised crack before hand. This was all a long way from January 1996 when Jake made a triumphant return to the WWF at the Royal Rumble. Jake did several interviews in which he denounced his former self and drug habit claiming that he was a different man and had found God. Sadly this was all lies and Roberts was given the boot a few months later for his unprofessional behaviour. Once again Roberts had let his demons get in the way of his career, as Jim Ross would later go on to say in Beyond the Mat — Jake has such a good mind for the business and could be a real player behind the scenes, but unfortunately he can't escape his demons.
After Beyond the Mat aired to critical acclaim Jake must have realised that he was a spent force in the US, even in the indies and opted to move to England, first living with the editor of his fanzine "The DDT". Over the last few years Jake has made appearances for every top promotion in the country (as well as a few dodgy ones too!) He even made it onto BBC television last year when he was a guest on sports quiz They think its all Over. He hit the headlines earlier this year when he was accused of animal cruelty to his pet snake, no charges were brought against him — but it still painted Roberts in a bad light. Which brings us full circle to his latest scrape. Roberts turned up at the Brent Town Hall in no state to wrestle — his behaviour was so bad that he started throwing furniture around the building, and at one point threatened to stab an FWA employee!
Obviously Jake hasn't heeded the warnings from the deaths of fellow ex-wrestling stars Curt Hennig, Hercules, Rick Rude, Davey Boy Smith, et al and is continuing to let his demons take a hold of him — then again judging from Beyond the Mat Roberts still hasn't faced up to his problems — instead blaming it on his upbringing. My advice would be for any promoters to stop booking Jake and feeding his drug habit — before he ends up the same way and the aforementioned wrestlers.
Odds n very much Sods
Next Sunday UK's Wrestling Channel is showing a best of Dynamite Kid four hour show. I already have this from a tape trader and it is definitely worth watching and for all of you have never seen the Dynamite Kid wrestle you're about to see the greatest wrestler of all-time!
I was happy to hear that Sid Vicious has recently made a comeback. Not that I'm a big fan of his but after viewing that horrendous leg injury he suffered in 2001 its amazing that he could ever step foot in a ring again!
Isn't the whole Paul Heyman/Undertaker angle just another rehash of the 1994 Ted Dibase/'Taker one?
I'm writing this just a few hours before tonight's crucial European Championship soccer game between England and Croatia. Lets just say I'm a bit nervous, but plan on downing a enough beer to quell my nerves! Come on England!
By DANIEL FITCH
WrestleLine.com Staff Writer
This past weekend saw England's number one promotion the FWA put on their latest show Carpe Diem — featuring a wealth of top talent from the UK, and as always a star from across the pond. On this show former ECW and NWA Champion Steve Corino was advertised as the American star — however, due to flight problems he was unable to make it. In his place the FWA booked wrestling legend Jake "The Snake" Roberts to main event the show — despite having problems a few months ago when Roberts went head-to-head with FWA star Alex Shane backstage — so booking Roberts again was a bit of a surprise to say the least!
Jake 'The Snake' Roberts was up to his usual antics backstage in England this weekend. (WL)
Anyone who has been a wrestling fan for more than a few months will know Jake Roberts back history. In the 1980's he was one of the WWF's top stars — with his trademark python wrapped around his neck Roberts was predominately a face and had top level feuds with Rick Rude and Rick Martel amongst others. In 1991 he turned heel on Randy Savage and started what would be his farewell tour in the WWF — which culminated at WrestleMania 8 when he was cleanly beaten by the Undertaker, turning 'Taker face and making him look like a million dollars in the process. That was Roberts greatest strength
His undoubted charisma and his ability to use wrestling psychology to put himself and his opponent over. However, the one thing that always held Jake back was his problems with drink and drugs. Like many wrestlers from the boom period of the 1980's Roberts was hooked on drugs of all kinds, and like many of his colleagues he was unable to get out of the "rock and roll lifestyle" once he had left the big leagues. After short stints in WCW and Mexico's AAA Roberts faded into obscurity and further into his crack addiction. In 1998 he was invited to be a part of a documentary filmmaker Barry Blaustein was making entitled Beyond the Mat. Blaustein travelled with Roberts for a few weeks observing just how much he had let himself go — on several occasions Blaustein found Roberts in a drunken heap, one promoter went as far to say that he would only show up if he was promised crack before hand. This was all a long way from January 1996 when Jake made a triumphant return to the WWF at the Royal Rumble. Jake did several interviews in which he denounced his former self and drug habit claiming that he was a different man and had found God. Sadly this was all lies and Roberts was given the boot a few months later for his unprofessional behaviour. Once again Roberts had let his demons get in the way of his career, as Jim Ross would later go on to say in Beyond the Mat — Jake has such a good mind for the business and could be a real player behind the scenes, but unfortunately he can't escape his demons.
After Beyond the Mat aired to critical acclaim Jake must have realised that he was a spent force in the US, even in the indies and opted to move to England, first living with the editor of his fanzine "The DDT". Over the last few years Jake has made appearances for every top promotion in the country (as well as a few dodgy ones too!) He even made it onto BBC television last year when he was a guest on sports quiz They think its all Over. He hit the headlines earlier this year when he was accused of animal cruelty to his pet snake, no charges were brought against him — but it still painted Roberts in a bad light. Which brings us full circle to his latest scrape. Roberts turned up at the Brent Town Hall in no state to wrestle — his behaviour was so bad that he started throwing furniture around the building, and at one point threatened to stab an FWA employee!
Obviously Jake hasn't heeded the warnings from the deaths of fellow ex-wrestling stars Curt Hennig, Hercules, Rick Rude, Davey Boy Smith, et al and is continuing to let his demons take a hold of him — then again judging from Beyond the Mat Roberts still hasn't faced up to his problems — instead blaming it on his upbringing. My advice would be for any promoters to stop booking Jake and feeding his drug habit — before he ends up the same way and the aforementioned wrestlers.
Odds n very much Sods
Next Sunday UK's Wrestling Channel is showing a best of Dynamite Kid four hour show. I already have this from a tape trader and it is definitely worth watching and for all of you have never seen the Dynamite Kid wrestle you're about to see the greatest wrestler of all-time!
I was happy to hear that Sid Vicious has recently made a comeback. Not that I'm a big fan of his but after viewing that horrendous leg injury he suffered in 2001 its amazing that he could ever step foot in a ring again!
Isn't the whole Paul Heyman/Undertaker angle just another rehash of the 1994 Ted Dibase/'Taker one?
I'm writing this just a few hours before tonight's crucial European Championship soccer game between England and Croatia. Lets just say I'm a bit nervous, but plan on downing a enough beer to quell my nerves! Come on England!
Well, you're in the right area...the Can-Am Connection was Rick Martel and Tom Zenk. They first appeared at WWF events towards the end of '86, and they were at Wrestlemania #3 in '87 (against Cowboy Bob Orton and The Magnificent Muraco). They were hyped-up a lot by the WWF, and got in a feud w/ The Islanders (Haku and Tama) who had been a good guy team but turned heels after hooking up w/ the immortal Bobby "The Brain" Heenan!
But then, Tom Zenk left the WWF during the summer of '87 to join the AWA (I believe), and Tito Santana, who had been in the WWF for several years (he was the Intercontinental Champion early in '85), joined Martel, and they became Strike Force. They won the Tag Team titles from the then-evil Hart Foundation (Brett Hart and Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart), but later lost the titles to Demolition (who was at that time managed by Mr. Fuji) at Wrestlemania #4.
Shortly after that, Martel got injured, but returned to re-team w/ Santana at Wrestlemania #5, where Strike Force would reunite to fight the Brain Busters (Tully Blanchard and Arn Anderson). The gimmick, as promoted in interviews before Wrestlemania #5, was that Martel would stress that he "didn't want to be" in this match, but "whatever has to be will be" (his words). But when Santana tried to hit Blanchard w/ his flying forearm, Blanchard ducked, and Santana hit Martel. Martel then left Santana in the ring by himself (where Blanchard and Anderson basically made hash out of him), and eventually "The Model" was born. More great WWF memories...
PEACE!
Any of ya'll remember Bad News Brown, lol that nigga was comedy. Kamala was tight too, and the Demolition were the best tag team hands down. And ya'll remember when Lex Luger was in the WWF, I think he use to be called the Narcissist or some shit. I don't watch wrestling anymore, but looks like this thread brought back memories for a lot of folks.
LOL MEMORIES...
how about:
-the one man gang (and later when he turned into an african lol)
-when undertaker stuffed the ultimate warrior in the casket and "he couldnt breathe" hahahah i was hella scared he was gonna die
-when earthquake fucked hulk's ribs up and put him out for 6 months or something
-friday night main event (1987?) hulk vs. andre the giant where andre beat him somehow by cheating (i think with the help of the million dollar man) and then the ref's (earl hefner?) twin brother came out and tried to tell the ref about the sham and they started brawling in the ring LOL
-some random ass saturday in the late 80's maybe early 90's - jake the snake vs. rick rude where jake pulled rick's pants down like 5 times and rick wasnt wearing underwear hahaahaa they hella censored it by putting a black box on his ass that shit was hilarious
-undertaker vs. undertaker summer slam like 94-95
-undertaker vs. diesel on some pay-per-view where he choke slammed diesel into the ring that shit was sick
how about:
-the one man gang (and later when he turned into an african lol)
-when undertaker stuffed the ultimate warrior in the casket and "he couldnt breathe" hahahah i was hella scared he was gonna die
-when earthquake fucked hulk's ribs up and put him out for 6 months or something
-friday night main event (1987?) hulk vs. andre the giant where andre beat him somehow by cheating (i think with the help of the million dollar man) and then the ref's (earl hefner?) twin brother came out and tried to tell the ref about the sham and they started brawling in the ring LOL
-some random ass saturday in the late 80's maybe early 90's - jake the snake vs. rick rude where jake pulled rick's pants down like 5 times and rick wasnt wearing underwear hahaahaa they hella censored it by putting a black box on his ass that shit was hilarious
-undertaker vs. undertaker summer slam like 94-95
-undertaker vs. diesel on some pay-per-view where he choke slammed diesel into the ring that shit was sick
damn, definitely some memories, I was gonna post all kinds of shit I remembered, but y'all were on the same page there.
My fav. growin up was hulk hogan, but then I realized how gay he was. His name is terry bulier (boo lay) gay ass canadian. That leg drop he does is the gayest move in wrestling, short of the gay ass slow foot that he does after he's done shaking his head for like 20 seconds around the ring.
Ultimate warrior was cold as fuck.
My friend and I went to a couple of the RAW's that came to OKC. We saw rocky maivia(the rock) backstage with Farooq. They were supposed to be beefin on the show, but they were laughin havin a great time, so I said to thr rock. HEY ROCKY, YOU SUCK! and all he said back was, HEY FUCK YOU KID! to this day, my homeboy jerry calls me the fuck you kid every once in awhile.
That same dood met owen hart like a month before he died at burger king at got his autograph...it was kinda fucked up.
Koko b. ware was horrible
Y'all remember tugboat?
Do you remember when rick the model martel shot his cologne (arrogance) into jake the snakes eyes and jake was suppposed to be blind for like a month and shit, and then they had that blindfold match?
Shawn Michaels is the best wrestler of all time.
The Rock is the best character on wrestling of all time.
the cruiserweights from WCW were the most entertaining matches.
Best match ever was shawn michaels's hell in a cell match.
Bret the hitman hart was dope too
and my dad looks just like jake the snake, scary enough
My fav. growin up was hulk hogan, but then I realized how gay he was. His name is terry bulier (boo lay) gay ass canadian. That leg drop he does is the gayest move in wrestling, short of the gay ass slow foot that he does after he's done shaking his head for like 20 seconds around the ring.
Ultimate warrior was cold as fuck.
My friend and I went to a couple of the RAW's that came to OKC. We saw rocky maivia(the rock) backstage with Farooq. They were supposed to be beefin on the show, but they were laughin havin a great time, so I said to thr rock. HEY ROCKY, YOU SUCK! and all he said back was, HEY FUCK YOU KID! to this day, my homeboy jerry calls me the fuck you kid every once in awhile.
That same dood met owen hart like a month before he died at burger king at got his autograph...it was kinda fucked up.
Koko b. ware was horrible
Y'all remember tugboat?
Do you remember when rick the model martel shot his cologne (arrogance) into jake the snakes eyes and jake was suppposed to be blind for like a month and shit, and then they had that blindfold match?
Shawn Michaels is the best wrestler of all time.
The Rock is the best character on wrestling of all time.
the cruiserweights from WCW were the most entertaining matches.
Best match ever was shawn michaels's hell in a cell match.
Bret the hitman hart was dope too
and my dad looks just like jake the snake, scary enough
