Jake «The Snake» Roberts was one of professional wrestling’s first anti-heroes and left an indelible mark on the industry with his use of the DDT finishing move and his use of a python in the ring to create a sense of fear in the crowd. opponents and the watching audience. him.
Roberts’ prowess in the ring became the driving influence for Diamond Dallas Page to step between the ropes and make a name for himself in World Championship Wrestling and later in WWE.
Page was a three-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion but almost never returned to wrestling after his first stint in the industry didn’t pan out. He told Fox News Digital in a recent interview that he had stopped watching professional wrestling altogether until he saw Roberts on his television screen.
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Jake «The Snake» Roberts places his snake on Dino Bravo after their WWF match on November 6, 1987 at the Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, New York. (Bruce Bennett Studios via Getty Images Studios/Getty Images)
«I was flipping through the channels in 1986 and I saw this guy walk through the curtain and who is this guy? He’s got a bag over his shoulder, a Fu Manchu, long hair and he had a different style that I’ve never seen him walk into the ring. «Page said of Roberts. «And then he got in the ring and you watched his matches, he was so believable… I couldn’t see through it.
«And then when I heard him do a promo, I was like, ‘Okay, I’m a huge fan again. Jake literally sucked me back on TV and the next thing you know I’m a wrestling fan again.’
Maybe it was a sign of things to come.
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Page said he was running a nightclub in Fort Myers, Florida, when he saw Roberts walk in. She said that she ran around the building trying to get close to him and strike up a conversation. The two hit it off and became very close after that.
Roberts’ story from a troubled childhood to the height of his wrestling fame, the addiction he battled with drugs and alcohol and his return to WWE and his induction into the company’s Hall of Fame will be featured on » Bio: WWE Legends» on Sunday at 8 pm ET on A&E.
Roberts was all over the wrestling map during his career, starting out in Mid-South Wrestling, Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling, and Georgia Championship Wrestling before making his debut in 1986 for the World Wrestling Federation (now known as WWE). He had several feuds with Randy Savage, the Honky Tonk Man, Andre the Giant, The Undertaker, and others.
Wrestler Jake «The Snake» Roberts from «The Resurrection of Jake The Snake Roberts» poses for a portrait at Village at the Lift Presented by McDonald’s McCafe during the 2015 Sundance Film Festival on January 23, 2015 in Park City, Utah . (Larry Busacca/Getty Images)
He would bring the snake into the ring to intimidate his opponent and the crowd as well. Roberts admitted and Page corroborated that the wrestler was actually afraid of snakes.
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«When he becomes Jake ‘The Snake’ Roberts, it doesn’t matter how big that snake is or if it’s a cobra or a rattlesnake or whatever… When I saw the python, I was like wow, this is a level different from something for people to see,» Page said. «He was a rude (bad boy) at first. He was scared of them when he was a kid. He was scary. He was believable.»
From left to right, Diamond Dallas Page, Scott Hall and Jake «The Snake» Roberts pose on Main Street during the 2015 Sundance Film Festival on January 22, 2015 in Park City, Utah. (Images by Joe Scarnici/GC)
For Page, he really made his mark on WCW. Not only was he a WCW World Heavyweight Champion, but he was a four-time Tag Team Champion, a two-time US Champion, and a Television Champion. He didn’t have the same appeal when he moved to WWE even though he won the European Championship once and a tag team championship another time.
He told Fox News Digital that he was in training for the WCW Power Plant when he reconnected with Roberts after the legendary wrestler made the jump to WCW.
«It was like brothers from there. It was like being at the foot of Yoda because Kevin Nash and I were teammates at the time and Jake is in the company, so we grabbed his bags, we drove the car, like I just wanted to be in the company. Yoda’s foot,» Page said. «Jake has always been known as the best ring psychologist on the planet because his matches were so believable and he never had the big bang in the middle, it all led to the end.»
Diamond Dallas Page in action at the WCW Bash at the Beach at Cox Arena in San Diego in 1998. (Elsa Hasch/Allsport)
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Page and Roberts became even closer over the course of their careers. She said Roberts had been living with him for a while, but had to kick him out after she «lost a 12-foot king cobra» at his home. He added that Roberts moved to Georgia and let Page bring him tapes of his games to review.
«Him and Dusty (Rhodes), they taught me a lot,» Page said. «He would never have been able to have a career, let alone a Hall of Fame career, without Dusty and Jake.»
Wrestler Diamond Dallas Page attends the Slamdance Cinema Club screening of ‘Resurrection Of Jake The Snake’ at ArcLight Cinemas on March 8, 2015 in Hollywood, California. (Jason Kempin/Getty Images)
Roberts’ path to sobriety with Page’s help is recounted in the documentary «The Resurrection of Jake the Serpent.» After 18 months, Page helped Roberts lose enough weight for the former wrestler to regain mobility.
Page said it was an honor for him to induct Roberts into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2014.
«When you start (the documentary), you see Jake at his lowest point, 300 pounds, I mean he’s walking dead,» he told Fox News Digital. «From the moment we started, my goal was to make it so that Jake could walk away from the business with his head held high. The way he should have been.
Christian and Diamond Dallas Page at Wrestlemania X8. (George Pimentel/Wire Image)
«His goal was to be in the (Royal) Rumble. My goal was always the Hall of Fame.»
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Roberts, whose real name is Aurelian Smith Jr., currently works for All Elite Wrestling as a special advisor on the company’s community outreach program.