WWE Hall of Famer Jake “The Snake” Roberts took some fan questions this week on The Snake Pit podcast. Fights with fans, Jake’s relationship with Vince McMahon, flying with Ronnie Garvin, Jake’s favorite TV shows, and other topics are discussed.
Roberts was asked if bringing a snake or another animal to the ring today would help them in the same way that WWE did in the 1980s:
“I don’t think they’re being missed and I don’t think with today’s characters that it really works. The characters don’t come across as strong as their counterpart would be. They’re not going to let a snake back in the ring. Television won’t allow it. We found that out in AEW. I put it on Rhodes’ wife. I crawled all over myself and I had to be sure that when I crawled on top of her that I didn’t touch her. They said, ‘Don’t do it man. TV won’t allow it. TBS would not allow it.’ We got the snake out and they were really pissed off that we used the snake. I guess they told us that wasn’t gonna be allowed, but we tried to do it anyway and they came down hard.”
“They talked about spending the money to come up with a mechanical one which was going to be really expensive to have a snake move like a snake and come up and open its mouth and all that shit.”
It was noted that Tony Khan is roughly the same age as Vince McMahon was when McMahon and WWE first took off. Roberts was asked what similarities and differences there are between the two at this age:
“Well, it wasn’t Vince’s kindness. Tony Khan is very kind. They’re completely two different animals. They really are. Vince was a guy that surrounded himself with people that knew what the fu** to do, whereas Tony Khan already knows what the fu** to do. He’s much wiser as far as the wrestling business goes, way more than Vince McMahon. He can quote you stuff from 30 years ago and give it to you move by move. He’s an amazing, amazing man. I don’t know that I’ve ever met anybody any smarter than him. I really don’t think I have.”
When asked about his relationship with Vince McMahon, Roberts replied:
“It’s not there. You can’t have a relationship with Vince McMahon. He’s not gonna let you get that close to him. I think he respects me and I respect him. Vince did a great thing for wrestling, but he could have done it a whole lot better if he would have just been more fair, if he would have paid the guys better, if he would have taken care of the guys after they got busted up. That’s my bitch. You’re a big billionaire and you got guys rotting and dying needing help. The worst was probably Kamala who desperately needed help. He made Vince a lot of fu**ing money. He was a big draw. I do know that Vince helped Scott Hall, but he didn’t help Kamala and that just rubs me the wrong way.”
Jake recalls an incident with Fabio at an autograph signing many years ago:
“I got rid of him one time. We were at a signing back to back. There was a curtain between us. I had probably 300 people in line. They had paid him big money to come in. Big money. His lawyer flew with him. His agent flew with him. His whole entourage. I’m over there and I’ve got, like I said, 300 people and he’s got like 20 women. I poked my head through and said, ‘Hey man. When are they going to let your crowd in?’ He looked at me and then his manager said, You need to get on your side of the curtain. This is Fabio, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.’ I’m like, ‘Okay, no problem.’ I couldn’t take it. I fu**ing got the bag, got the snake out, went through the curtain, and put the snake on him. He screamed and ran like a little girl and refused to come back. It got me in a lot of trouble and he threatened to sue me.”
You can listen to the complete podcast below:
(h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription)
