Growing up, I idolized WWF—now WWE—professional wrestlers. I rented all the VHS tapes from the local video store and re-played all the matches with my Hasbro figures (should have saved those—I’d be sitting on a gold mine). With the Arizona Diamondbacks in town, it feels like a good time to mention one grappler in particular with an interesting story.
Jake Roberts was an entertainer through and through, the progeny of “Grizzly” Smith (if you happen to go back even further in the wrestling annals). His in-ring work was spectacular and he could cut a promo like nobody’s business.
But of course, everyone knows Jake as “The Snake” for his gimmick of carrying a giant python (later a cobra) to the ring with him—notably terrorizing the likes of Andre the Giant & Macho Man Randy Savage. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Jake got as big of a “crowd pop” as anyone this side of Hulk Hogan.
Alas, Vince McMahon’s operation had a nasty habit of chewing up and spitting out mat men once past their prime—and that’s exactly what happened to Roberts. After an out-of-shape, ill-fated comeback in the early 2000s, by 2010 Jake was barely alive. An alcohol and drug abuser, the Snake was—and this is not an exaggeration—on death’s doorstep.
Life-savingly, however, he called upon fellow squared circle compatriot Diamond Dallas Page. DDP’s yoga/rehab program saved the former purveyor of the DDT. It’s all chronicled in this excellent documentary…
Jake Roberts is hanging in there to this day—even appearing on a weekly podcast talking about his career & life! Considering the mortality rate of his contemporaries, this is truly remarkable.
Perhaps the Twins can slither out of Target Field this afternoon with a series victory. Ben or a reasonable facsimile thereof will take you home with the recap as I head to US Bank Stadium for the Vikings home opener!