During the latest edition of his “DDP Snakepit” podcast, WWE Hall of Famer Jake Roberts commented on his substance abuse issues during his career, almost being choked out by one of his snakes during a match with Ricky Steamboat, and more.
You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
On looking back if his career wasn’t affected by substance abuse: “You know, looking back, hindsight is such an evil thing. You know, because hindsight. you can clean it up and say, ‘What would’ve happened if you done this and done that. What if? What if?’ You know? If a frog has wings he wouldn’t bust his a** when he jumped. You can’t look at it that way. All it’s going to do is hurt you. I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my life, but I’ve survived them.”
On a python choking him out during a match once: “Ricky Steamboat had to pull one off of me in Indianapolis that choked me out in the match. I collapsed, went down, and Steamboat’s seeing that the snake was around my throat and that I was turning and he knew to unwind the snake. You can’t break the snake’s grip because what happens when you lay across their scales like this, their scales interlock You can’t break that lock. So you have to either get the head or the tail and unravel them. Well, Steamboat unraveled it then let go because Steamboat is afraid of snakes too. As I come to, the snake is going into the fourth row and the tail, luckily, is still in the ring. And I lunge and grab the tail and I whip it all back in. It’s about a 17 footer. Because the people were starting the red sea movement where they’re all running and screaming. It was pretty incredible.”
On what happened when he went back to Indianapolis: “We went back to Indianapolis about three months later. As soon as I got there, I thought I was fixing to be arrested because the police were coming and the building manager and I’m like, ‘What have I done?’ They’re like, ‘Did you bring the same snake?’ I’m like, ‘Why?’ ‘Because, man, everyone called wanting to know if it’s the same snake because they want to watch that son-of-a-b*tch kill you’. I’m like, ‘Oh I love my fans.’”
(h/t – Wrestling Inc)
