On the latest episode of his “The Snake Pit” podcast, WWE Hall of Famer Jake Roberts discussed why WWE executive Bruce Prichard has heat with certain people in the industry, working with The Barbarian in Mid-South Wrestling, and more.
You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
On the first time he met The Barbarian: “He came to TV interviews. You know, it’s 10 o’clock in the morning and he shows up. He’s got this woolly hair. And first thing I said is, ‘Oh, my tag team partner’s here.’ I spoke up, I put the apple in their head that I wanted to be his tag team partner. Because I damn sure didn’t wanna wrestle him, you know? I knew it was one of the two that was going to happen. Either I have to wrestle him, or he is gonna be my tag team partner. So I threw that out there.
“And so I’m looking at him like, ‘Dude, what happened to your eye?’ His eye was black. He goes, ‘Oh, that was my first match.’ ‘Your first match? How many matches did you have?’ ‘One.’ ‘So how did you get that?’ He goes, ‘I ran into the post too hard.’ I f**king guess you did! Good god almighty. And that was just a hint of what was to become a great relationship for me. Because I used him as only I could. I just pushed the button and said, ‘Go. Eat. Kill. ‘Destroy.’ Oh my God. And what an athlete, man. 6’5″, 285 pounds with a 36-inch waist. He was incredible, man. The arms that he had and legs, oh my God.”
On being paired with him as a tag team: “It was a bit of a burden [being paired with someone so green]. I mean, yeah. But I knew I had to be doing something, and why not take this guy who has that look? And if I can just manage him a little bit, we’ll be really good. And it turned out to be really good… He would do anything, man. He would do the Randy Savage elbow thing off the top, too, you know?”
On seeing him as a future main eventer: “Sure he is. Yeah yeah, he was definitely a main eventer. But again, his demons stopped him. It’s a damn shame.”
On why Bruce Prichard gets heat: “He works hard at it, man. He does work hard at it. He’s just that guy that’s a heat seeker, man. For the most part [when asked whether he got along with Bruce].”
