I recently conducted an interview with Jake ‘The Snake’ Roberts prior to his appearance at PCW Ultra tonight, as the WWE Hall of Famer opened up on everything from his redemption story to his true feelings about the modern day wrestling scene.
RELATED: Jake Roberts Frustrated With Today’s Wrestling
On how much he watches WWE & wrestling in general:
Not much. I’m pretty busy and to be brutally honest man, I could say well I don’t like what they’re doing, that’s the easy way out, but the bottom line is I don’t like watching it because I miss it so much. I know that I watch and I think I’d have done this and I’d have done that, and the next thing I know I’m talking myself into getting back into the ring one more time and I can’t do that. My body will not take that. It’s like, do you really wanna enjoy your grandkids, or do you wanna sit in a corner and drool. I don’t watch it because it hurts.
On watching back The Resurrection of Jake The Snake:
It’s tough, man, it’s tough. Because that’s who I was. It’s not candy-coated, it’s not about making money, I didn’t make any money off of that film – not one cent. I did it so that I could help others. That’s the reason. We do everything for different reasons, and I did it so that hopefully someone won’t make the same mistakes that I did.
On helping out others:
That’s the reason I still go out and do my comedy shows man, because I go out and encourage people to come and see me after the show if they are struggling and want help. I receive letters and emails all the time from people that have been there, and people that have come out the other side because of me, and because they thought well dammit if Jake can do it I can do it to. Let’s do it together. I’ve done all the drugs you can do, but the best high I’ve ever received is the one where I’m helping somebody else. That’s the greatest feeling in the world when you can raise somebody up and rescue them from the fire. You’re facing death here.
On travelling the world:
I do wanna go out and actually see these places now. Yeah I’ve been every place in the world, I know every damn bathroom in every damn airport in the country. But I never actually get time to go see something, to go do something in that area – so now I’m taking the time, and really enjoying it. I hope to do a month in Alaska, we’re trying to set something up there, and there’s some other places I have in mind.
On the advice he gives young wrestlers:
I think the one thing I tell them is shut up and get in the car you don’t know a damn thing about what you’re doing. They waste so much, they expose so much, you can’t build something if you don’t believe in something. They don’t believe in anything that they do. They’re like pinballs out there, they bounce around the ring, there’s no pain, there’s no sacrifice or loss, and at some point they ring the bell. The most vicious hold in wrestling today is the schoolboy – are you serious? Everything else means completely nothing, including the DDT. I want you guys to keep doing the DDT, because it just tells the world that Jake Roberts is that much better than you! That’s right.
On the future:
I’m expecting magical things to happen, because that’s what’s happened since I got sober. It’s been six years now man that I haven’t had a drink or a drug. That just blows me away. I couldn’t go six hours before, and now I’ve done six years. In the next 18-24 months I’ll be looking at eight years sobriety, and that’s awesome.
Try something different, man, help somebody today. Help one person today without expecting something back from it. Try that.
