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"THE SNAKE" ROBERTS
Aurelian Smith Jr. was
born on 5/30/1955. He is the son of wrestler
Grizzly Smith and half brother of wrestlers Sam
Houston and Rockin' Robin. Jake had a very
bizarre family life which is detailed in depth
in his Pick Your Poison DVD and my review of
that DVD. He made his wrestling debut in 1975.
He wrestled primarily in the Georgia, Texas, and
Oklahoma territories before joining the WWF in
1986.
The Snake:
He was known as The Snake before entering the
WWF because of his long lanky body. In the WWF,
he was given a python snake named Damien that he
would wrap on the unconscious victims of his
DDT. His first feud was with Ricky Steamboat who
brought a Kimono Dragon to the ring with him.
Around this time, he was given his own talk show
called The Snake Pit.
A Good Guy:
Jake became a good guy when he was hit with
a guitar by The Honky Tonk Man. That guitar was
real and caused damage to Jake's neck that
resulted in him becoming dependent on pain pills
and eventually having to take time off. After
feuding with The Honky Tonk Man, he got into a
feud with Rick Rude when Rude tried to hit on
his wife Cheryl Roberts. For those wondering,
that was really his wife. Since then, they have
divorced.
A Giant, a Millionaire,
a Model, and a Deadly Earthquake:
While feuding with Rude, Andre interfered in
one of their matches and was afraid of Damien.
After his feud with Andre, he had his neck
broken by Ted DiBiase. In reality, he was
resting his neck that was injured by The Honky
Tonk Man. He was then blinded by Rick Martel's
cologne Arrogance. Their feud culminated in a
blindfold match. A few months later, Damien was
murdered by The Earthquake when the 400+ pounder
sat on him.
Jake Turns Heel:
Jake went insane after this incident and
introduced a cobra named Lucifer as his new pet.
He had a few bizarre vignettes where he aligned
with The Undertaker and turned on The Ultimate
Warrior. Before they were able to fight, Warrior
left the WWF. He then presented the cobra to
Elizabeth as a wedding gift and beat up Randy
Savage at their wedding reception. Their feud
reached epic proportions when the cobra gnawed
on Savage's arm for several minutes.
Leaving the WWF and a
Quick Stop in WCW:
He had a brief feud with The Undertaker
before going to WCW. In WCW, he had a main event
match with Sting and then left the business to
confront his personal problems. Jake was heavily
into drugs and alcohol. He returned to the WWF
in 1996 sober but severely out of shape. He left
shortly after and has been fighting his drug
addictions since.
Beyond the Mat and
Heroes of Wrestling:
The late 90's were embarrasing for Jake. The
documentary Beyond the Mat captured his
addictions and family problems on film. He hit
rock bottom at The Heroes of Wrestling PPV in
1999. This was an old timers wrestling event
that features Jake fighting his problems. In his
pre-match interview, he was making no sense
while slurring his words. His in ring
performance was "interesting" and required other
wrestlers to join the match to make the match
safe for his opponent.
Pay Per View Matches:
Wrestlemania 2 - Beat George Welles
Wrestlemania III - Lost to The Honky Tonk Man
Survivor Series 1987 - With Jim Duggan, Brutus
Beefcake, Randy Savage, & Ricky Steamboat beat
The Honky Tonk Man, Harley Race, Hercules
Hernandez, Danny Davis, & Ron Bass
Wrestlemania IV - Time limit draw with Rick Rude
SummerSlam 1988 - Beat Hercules Hernandez
Survivor Series 1988 - Andre the Giant, Dino
Bravo, Rick Rude, Harley Race, & Curt Henning
beat Jim Duggan, Jake Roberts, Scott Casey, Ken
Patera, & Tito Santana
(Sources: PWI Almanac,
Obsessed with Wrestling.com, & Jake Roberts Pick
Your Poison DVD)
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