[35] At Bound for Glory, he performed a DDT on Raven, which helped Samoa Joe win the match. 2014 WWE HOF, Writer/Creator, Motivational Speaker on personal recovery, bookings . 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. ", turning Roberts heel for the first time since 1987. The Snake's still here, so clearly he beat it. [15] 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, which an irate Roberts tore off. Roberts has been praised for his ring psychology. [56], In October 2012, while financially distressed and having resumed abusing alcohol and drugs, Roberts moved in with former wrestler Diamond Dallas Page in Atlanta, Georgia, a time which was chronicled in the documentary The Resurrection of Jake the Snake. [42] On March 11, 2020, Roberts revealed Lance Archer as his new client. From there, he went to Mississippi to work with promoter George Culkin. Use the arrow keys to control your snake and spacebar to pause. Not everything bad in Jake's life is due to a broken family or alcoholism. Its a moment he doesnt take for granted. 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. Aurelian Smith Jr. better known by the ring name Jake "The Snake" Roberts, is an American professional wrestler and actor signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) where he performs as manager to Lance Archer. [4] While wrestling in Texas, Smith met Luke Brown, who he followed to Oklahoma. Magee said that Roberts was induced to a "coma-like" state in order to treat pneumonia. If youre like a lot of wrestling fans, you love the infinitely quotable 1999 pro wrestling documentary Beyond the Mat. [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. One of the most distinctive things about Jake Roberts is how seriously he took his "snake" gimmick. [60] Doctors also found an abnormality on his brain which they felt could be a result of all the bumps Roberts took over his long career. How Old is Jake The Snake? After a troubled and turbulent childhood, Jake followed in his father's footsteps by becoming a professional wrestler. It's still hard for me to watch this documentary and some of the clips, because I have to see just how bad I was. Jake "The Snake" Roberts was afraid of snakes. Rogers was knocked out when Roberts stuck the snake in Roger's pants. Aurelian Jake Smith Jr. (born May 30, 1955) is a second-generation professional wrestler best known as Jake "The Snake" Roberts. So when Dallas brought this to me, the first thing I did was scream, No way! It didn't really work, as Snake attempted to end the show by stuffing Damien down another man's trousers, head-first. Before the match, announcer Vince McMahon said the fans would probably support Savage against the disliked Roberts. Roberts, who was so drunk that he could not stand up, took the fall in the match after Bundy splashed and pinned him. [51] To accentuate this, he often slid ("slithered") into and out of the ring on his belly under the bottom rope. However, to the surprise of both McMahon and fellow broadcaster Jesse "The Body" Ventura, the fans cheered loudly for Roberts throughout the bout. He died on June 12, 2010 in Amarillo, Texas. As he toldone website, "Carrying that 100-pound snake around was brutal on my body." via playsleague.com [36], 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.[37]. The WWE icon was hit in the head with chairs and guitars and once broke his arm so badly during a match his bone was sticking out. Their match was determined via the Spin the Wheel, Make the Deal gimmick. A fallen professional wrestling superstar battles his past demons in a struggle to reclaim his life and the family that has given up on him. He then called the former superstar a "piece of sh*t" who ripped off all the fans who paid to see him. He is known for WCW Slamboree 1993 (1993), WCW Wrestle War (1991) and Wrestling Queen (1973). 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. When the wheel stopped, it had landed on what many observers believed was the worst option the Coal Miner's Glove match. Smith and Houston took on jobs performing maintenance in a cemetery near New Orleans' French Quarter. Roberts went so far as to wear white contact lenses to "prove" his blindness. Roberts returned to Mid-South Wrestling for 1985, ending his run there in February 1986 with a feud with Dick Slater after being told by management that he was not considered a top talent even though he was getting the biggest crowd reactions. If Smith had told his son the truth about wrestling, that could've helped Roberts' psyche immensely. Roberts always had a complicated family reality because his father was a pedophile with young women. 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. I was trying to die at the time.. In October 1999, Roberts was one of several former NWA, WWF, and ECW wrestlers brought in to compete in the first Heroes of Wrestling event in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. In fact, he's been dealing with adversity from day one, thanks to his father. Despite this, Roberts would perform the DDT on Savage 3 times after the match and things came to a head when Roberts slapped Miss Elizabeth. After a childhood lived under a cloud of sexual abuse, that night set him on a path to creating one of the best personas in wrestling history while helping build some of the companys top stars in the process. One of the big avenues the documentary gets into is Roberts as wrestlings first anti-hero. [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. [13] He then worked for Bill Watts in the Mid-South territory[14] until being fired during a disagreement over wages. [5], In 1964, the Kentuckians made a brief stop in the WWWF in the Northeast. The former wrestler, 67, survived one attempt because he vomited all over himself in his sleep. On October 6, 2007, he lost to Scott Hall at Juggalo Championship Wrestling. All signs point to Jake's tragic life story being over, and a happier one being told from here on out. 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 Bodhi as "Team Jake". 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 where Damien was to retrieve it. They won the match and the title belts but were stripped of the championship later that month. [18] In reality, Roberts' bag contained hamburger meat intended to look like a snake and a small mechanical device to depict movement. In 2016, he went on his Unspoken Word tour. Moss regained the title the next night in Ashford, Kent, though. The Resurrection of Jake the Snake is now streaming for free on Prime Video! He said that often instead of following his partners lead he would try something at the wrong place and time during a match. The Resurrection of Jake The Snake. 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. Her solution was to run off with a 55-year-old man when she was just 18. On television, Rude's lower body was blurred outintimating that Rude was stripped nude. Plus, Smith never bothered telling his son how wrestling worked. Talk about your Psalms, talk about John 3:16 Austin 3:16 says I just whipped your ass!". I can wake up in the morning and look in the mirror and go, You know what dude, youre a bad son of bitch. But Roberts, real name Aurelian Jake Smith Jr, . By Raj Giri / Updated: Feb. 12, 2022 8:16 pm EST. In the late 1980s, Roberts made a guest appearance on the DJ Kat Show on Fox, challenging DJ to a match after the Kat had badmouthed the profession. It was at this time that Roberts' problems with the discs in his back were publicly acknowledged, as DiBiase attacked Roberts after a victory over his bodyguard Virgil on WWF Superstars of Wrestling. The documentary opens with Roberts, who has eight children, fishing on a boat with two of his sons, Derek and Dustin. He was the father of professional wrestlers Aurelian, Jr. (Jake "The Snake" Roberts), Michael (Sam Houston), and Robin (Rockin' Robin). He officially turned face when he feuded with The Honky Tonk Man, an Elvis impersonator, who attacked Roberts[12] with a guitar during his interview segment The Snake Pit. Over 20 bottles of airplane vodka were littered all around him. Roberts made his first television appearance on August 2, 1992, at a Main Event taping in Baltimore, Maryland after coming through the crowd to attack Sting. If that wasn't enough, Jake also had to deal with said grandmother dying of cancer, his beloved stepfather being electrocuted to death, and constant abuse from his stepmother. A month later, he made his pay-per-view debut, defeating George Wells at WrestleMania 2. According to the source of the news, wrestlingnewssource.com got the story from WWEMania a wrestling website. After Snake stumbled to the mat, an exasperated Lightning forcefully held him down for an unscripted three-count. 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. [61], Jim Ross in one of the episodes of his 'Grilling JR' podcast revealed that Roberts still remains in poor health with breathing issues and pending surgeries.[62]. The 67-year-old wrestling legend said he spent around 18 months on oxygen after getting COVID-19 three times since the pandemic started and dealing with lung issues that include hereditary chronic. His father, Aurelian "Grizzly" Smith (19322010), also a wrestler, left his mother when she was 17 by which time she had given birth to another child. You couldnt see through my st.. Regardless if that is 100% accurate, in storylineJake attacked rude and ripped the tights right off of Rude in the middle of the ring. I was in a bad mood and underproductive and wouldn't, couldn't get up off the couch unless I had something to drink.". Ive built crossbows. 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 1996 King of the Ring tournament. In May 1989, Roberts found himself arrested at a WWF show and charged with aggravated battery according to the Orlando Sentinel, he punched out a man in a Florida bar the previous December. This sister was also a regular victim of Grizzly Smith. That led to him reaching out to his friend Diamond Dallas Page and living with him for the next two years. Aurelian Smith Jr.[4] was born in Houston, Texas. By 2012, Roberts was a total mess. What's more, once on the road full-time, he added drugs to his repertoire, regularly smoking pot and even doing speed on occasion. Wash on gentle, cold water. Jake, perhaps finally sick of his old life, gave the program a shot between that and actually eating real food for once, he dropped 40 pounds in just a few months and dedicated himself entirely to the program. 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". [13] The Honky Tonk Man denies that he purposefully injured Roberts, although Honky's manager Jimmy Hart, as well as a video of the incident (seen on the Pick Your Poison DVD) suggests otherwise with Roberts later claiming that he was picking pieces of wood out of his back for weeks after. Roberts lived with his grandmother until she died in 1966, forcing him to move back to live with his father and his new wife. In 2004, he got nabbed on animal cruelty charges. 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. While Halloween Havoc was the company's top-selling pay-per-view for several years,[28] Roberts soon left WCW. While working in Mid-South in 1986 he caught the eye of Vince McMahon and WWE then the WWF. In December, he made his debut for Ricky Knight's World Association of Wrestling in Lowestoft. Sadly, few if any higher-ups told him to get help until it was almost too late. June 26, 2020. It was a necessity. I built a house full of furniture for my first marriage, but I loved working with wood. What many people may not realize is that Roberts had a fear of them! Fortunately, he's on the rise again, thanks to old friends unwilling to give up on him no matter how much he gave up on himself, but that doesn't change how often the man's been through the ringer, essentially since birth. Aurelian Jake Smith, Jr. (May 30, 1955) is a second-generation semi-retired American professional wrestler, the son of former wrestler Aurelian "Grizzly" Smith. Roberts has a role in the 2019 film The Peanut Butter Falcon. He was booked to face Jim Neidhart in one half of the card's double main event in what was billed as a "special grudge match" between the two. The only problem. So it was he posed for a "Just say no to drugs" poster, even if he couldn't say no himself. [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 also teamed with Tommy Dreamer at the 1998 November to Remember as his mystery partner defeating Justin Credible and Jack Victory.[29]. You got your st right.. After the ordeal, his father laid into him: "I'm ashamed of you, you're gutless, and you'll never amount to anything.". Jake "The Snake" Roberts began his career when he became a referee and a wrestler. Before Aurelian Smith Jr. ever stepped in a ring he hoped to be an architect, having a love of working with wood and buildings. Roberts also made an appearance in An Almost True Story: TOXIC TUTU in 2015, as himself, in a scene with Jonny Fairplay from Survivor. After Honky Tonk won the Intercontinental Championship from Ricky Steamboat, Roberts unsuccessfully challenged him for the Championship several times throughout the rest of 1987. Roberts made an appearance on the October 19, 2006 episode of TNA Impact!. Roberts moved from the feud with Rude into a feud with Andr the Giant who was also managed by Bobby Heenan. According to Jake, he started drinking at age 11, around 1966 or so. That wasn't enough for Roberts, sadly. The WrestleMania VIII match turned out to be Roberts' last for the WWF for nearly four years. |}} He was born Aurelian Smith Jr., but wrestling fans know him by his more famous, far catchier ring name: Jake "The Snake" Roberts. On the November 23 (taped October 21) edition of WWF Superstars of Wrestling, Roberts goaded Savage into the ring and brutally attacked him, eventually tying Savage into the ropes and got the king 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. Life as Grizzly Smith's kid wasn't easy, but the man only made it worse when it came to how he made his living: professional wrestling. [5] Ted DiBiase said he enjoyed working with Roberts,[5] and Bad News Brown called him his second-best opponent. Randy Savage said he enjoyed his run with Roberts, whose work was impressive. , 2006 episode of TNA Impact! moved from the feud with Rude into a feud with into... 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