Jake Roberts

While this weekend is filled with the opulence of the Class of 2007 of the WWE Hall of Fame at the Fox Theater in Detroit and WrestleMania 23 at Ford Field, I need to reflect back on one of the most innovative men to ever don a pair of tights.

He was not the first one to carry a snake into the ring with him, but he was the extreme psychologist in the ring and on the mike. When he spoke … YOU LISTENED!

He was born A. Jake Smith Jr. on May 30, 1955 and was the son of wrestling great "Grizzly Smith." He would travel many nights with his dad and watch the audiences as they were mesmerized by the way that Grizzly would handle opponents in the ring.

It wasn't long before Jake found himself with a striped shirt on and being a third man in the ring. Jake was a straight forward referee that let neither injustice nor bad taste get the best of his judgment calls.

Not long afterwards, in 1975, he tried wrestling and was happy with the outcome that his decision to become a wrestler had made on his life. He chose Jake Roberts for a name, as he did not want to ride his father’s reputation.

Jake was a mainstay in Mid South, along with other territories, and had many feuds with men like Ricky Steamboat, Hulk Hogan, The Honky Tonk Man, Rick Rude, Andre the Giant, Rick Martel and Randy Savage, to name a few that come to my mind.

He also had a few other feuds with The Undertaker, The Ultimate Warrior and Ron Garvin. Just about everybody that feuded with Jake met the end result of having that huge python, Damien, dumped on their body following a DDT.

That move came about and was invented during a match in his NWA days. Roberts had his opponent in a front face lock, but he slipped and fell. Roberts' opponent fell on his head, legitimately knocking him out. From that match, Roberts incorporated the move as his finisher, naming it the DDT, though, instead of falling back, he stepped back before falling (which, as he explained on his DVD Pick your Poison, was the quickest way to drive his opponent's head into the mat, and also gave the move a "snap" effect).

Ricky Steamboat felt the DDT on the floor in front of his wife, Bonnie, whom Roberts had pointed to just before delivering the blow. He later stated that he was initially against doing the angle for fear that he might seriously injure or kill Steamboat. Steamboat was rendered unconscious and sustained a concussion from the force of the blow.

Rick Rude was doing a gimmick where he would select a woman from the audience to kiss after each match. Rude inadvertently chose Jake's real life wife Cheryl, who refused the kiss. Jake rescued her before Rude could attack, although Cheryl slapped him hard enough to send Rude reeling. At another event, Rude wore a pair of tights emblazoned with a visage of Mrs. Roberts, which an irate Jake tore off, sending Rude running apparently naked from the ring when shown on TV, when those at the arena saw Rude in a thong.

Following a brief feud with Bad News Brown in the summer of 1990, Roberts feuded with "The Model" Rick Martel throughout late 1990 into early 1991, after Martel blinded Roberts by spraying cologne into his eyes. After several months, the feud culminated in a match at WrestleMania VII, in which both contestants were blindfolded. The bout ended after Roberts vanquished his rival with the DDT.

Jake had many sides to him and would often confuse wrestlers with his psychology. For weeks, he was the one the Ultimate Warrior turned to in his feud with The Undertaker. The angle involved Roberts telling the Warrior that he would have the knowledge of the dark side necessary to defeat his adversary after passing three tests, which would be shown on WWF TV in consecutive weeks.

The first was to be locked inside of a coffin, repeating an incident that occurred on The Funeral Parlor (which was hosted by Taker's manager, Paul Bearer, a few months prior.) The second test had Roberts "bury" the Warrior alive in dirt and walk off screen. The third test involved Warrior entering a room full of snakes and having to walk through them to find "the answer" in a chest in the middle of the room.

When the Warrior opened the chest, he was alarmed to find a king cobra, which bit him in the face. As Warrior "weakened" from the "effects" of the cobra's strike, Roberts was joined by The Undertaker and Paul Bearer, revealing the three were in cahoots all along, with Roberts telling Warrior "Never trust a snake."

To be continued ...

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