Jake Roberts is taking his tales of the road, ribs, and redemption to a town near you. Dirty Details tour is rolling through and the WWE Hall of Famer is stoked to meet you. So he can share his tales but also for fans to connect with him so Jake can get to know his fanbase better as individual people. Roberts has booked a myriad of dates throughout the US and Canada this October and things kick off today! A man with an undeniably inspirational comeback arc you can’t help but rally behind. A man as stoic and ominous on television as he is an empathetic, kind soul in his day to day life. LM2’s Dylan Bowker was fortunate enough to speak with Jake Roberts ahead of this Dirty Details tour.
Peanut Butter Falcon
One of Jake’s big projects as of late is the blockbuster success The Peanut Butter Falcon. It has an all-star cast and the role that Roberts played resonated with him on a personal level. Roberts said, “I play a real dirtbag. I do some horrible things in that movie. It was really fun to do, man. It was kind of emotional for me because I had a stepbrother that was mentally challenged. He had a lot of problems. He grew old and had dental problems. People liked to point at him and make fun of him. So it was a little bit emotional for me. I lost him when we were 13. He died of a common cold. It left a hole in my heart.”
Roberts continued, “One thing about these kids that are autistic or mentally challenged, I’ve never seen any of them do anything mean to anybody or intentionally hurt someone else. I see regular people that are supposed to have their stuff together be complete jerks. Yet these kids who are supposedly mentally challenged are sweet and wonderful. For me to have to be mean to that kid in the movie, it was tough. I’d go back to him after we’d do the shoot, I’m like ‘look now, man. Zack this is what I’m supposed to do, man. It’s not the way I feel. I wouldn’t be saying these things, man. But they want me to say them.’ He’d just look at me and just ‘it’s ok, Jake’. And make me feel like complete crap. So that was kind of funny.”
Dirty Details Tour
Roberts has been able to use his well-documented experiences overcoming drugs and alcohol to help people out. This can range from talking things out on a Hollywood film sets or talking to fans one on one at live shows.
Jake Roberts said, “Being there with Shia LaBeouf he struggles with alcohol and drugs. And I was able to hopefully help him a little bit and that’s what I like to do now, man. Try to help others get a grip on their lives and turn back that clock a little bit. Have some happiness by being simple and being clean. That’s basically what the show’s about, man. Just remembering the good times. I love doing the show because I meet fans that have been fans of wrestling for years. I get to hear their stories about the first time they’ve seen Jake the Snake or what they were doing when they’d seen the Macho Man get bit by the cobra. Maybe they want to talk about Rick Rude or something. That program that we did and hear those stories.”
Roberts continued, “Each time they start telling them I can see their eyes light up. Start dancing. It’s like fire in their eyes. I can see they’re having a good time remembering that. They’re remembering somebody that’s passed now probably. Whether it be a father or grandfather or whatever that they shared that moment with. Hearing those stories makes me feel wonderful and it tells me that all those years and times I doubted what I was doing made a difference. And evidently it did. That’s pretty good to know that your life’s work was actually worth doing.”
The Comeback
The struggles Jake Roberts has gone through with substance abuse have been well documented over a couple of films. For him to come back from what seemed like a drug-addled point of no return to eventually return to Raw was a true triumph. A moment that existed beyond the narrative confines of WWE’s episodic storytelling devices. When CM Punk held the ropes open for Jake on the Raw throwback show, where Ambrose smiled at Roberts’ entrance and broke through the veil of his character, etc. These gestures spoke volumes about not just the respect Roberts commands but also the elation from peers that Jake did the seemingly impossible.
No one can command a crowd and hold their attention quite like Jake Roberts. Jake the Snake has a palpable passion for the business and feels there’s a certain something missing from the present landscape.
Roberts said, “I love wrestling so much although I don’t agree with what they’re doing with it these days. They gotta do what they gotta do I guess, man. They’re obviously really short in talent these days. Nobody gets the time to learn the trade properly. There’s a lot of short cuts being taken so you don’t see the psychology anymore. You don’t see the complete wrestler. The guy that can do his own damn interviews. Speak out of his own mouth. Without a plug in his ear telling him what to say and that’s just sad. Just an incomplete piece of talent out there, I think. You’ve got AEW starting up so maybe something’s going to come out of that. I certainly hope so. Competition’s good for everybody. Makes you step up your game a little bit.”
Redemption and the Road Ahead
Jake Roberts is getting so much nowadays out of hearing stories from fans about overcoming addictions. Guiding people who have been taken over by addiction and putting them on the right path is Roberts way of paying it forward. Receiving letters from kids talking about how Jake saved their dad and other touching examples abound. These are moments that seem to be just as important to Jake as any seminal Wrestlemania moment he’s had, if not even more important.
To that point though, there are even Jake the Snake fans who were inspired by him but aren’t ardent wrestling fans by any means. Roberts said, “I’ve met a lot of people that aren’t wrestling fans. That are just wanting to know more about my journey and how I got there. Most people don’t have somebody like Diamond Dallas Page. Who’d let you stay in his house for three years and not charge you a dime. He did that for me. You don’t break a habit you’ve been doing for years overnight.”
Jake talks about how a lot of addicts come out of rehab and get bogged down with life expenses. It’s a harsh reality that oftentimes takes them back to their vices. The appreciation and warmth that Jake Roberts has for DDP comes through in a way that permeated throughout the phone call. Jake Roberts seems to have a new lease on life and has a book on the way. “The Walls Do Talk” is a title that Jake finds apropos with his journey and the mood he wants to capture. Jake Roberts has also fallen in love with someone and is now living out in the country. As much as he has a woman in his life, Jake the Snake’s mind will always seem to wander back to his initial love and passion.
Modern Wrestling
When I asked Roberts if he would ever like to join up with an organization as booker or as a road agent, he said “I would love to do it. My heart would certainly be into it. But it’d have to be a special situation. Bottom line is the product would have to change for me to be a part of it. I want to go back to the old style of wrestling where you actually wrestled.”
Roberts continued, “You went out there and told a story with your matches instead of this bip, bam, boom, zip, boom, boom, boom, gone, done. What was that? I want to go back to wrestling where I can turn on the TV and see the fans actually get off their butts and cheer. When was the last time you’ve seen that happen? Been a while. They’ve seen the same crap over and over and over. It gets boring, man. Come on! Maybe AEW will help change that.”
Classic Moments
To narrow down specific career memories to discuss with Jake in the context of a media tour phone call was quite the task. There are innumerable moments Roberts has been a part of and a sit down for several hours would be more of a conversational framework to cover those bases. One moment that piqued Dylan Bowker’s curiosity though was the “Spin the Wheel, Make the Deal” match with Sting in WCW. It has become a cult classic moment in pro wrestling history but its not something that has aged all that well for Jake Roberts.
He said, “I had a miserable time in that match. Sting was pretty lazy. He didn’t care much about doing anything. His heart wasn’t into it. I guess I don’t understand that because he was given the reigns. You’re the guy, dude. They were paying him to be the guy. But the guaranteed contract made him lazy. I’d die for that. That’s kind of the attitude he had in the ring. He wasn’t excited about being in there. ‘Let’s just do the job and get out of there, man’. I hated that.”
There was a modicum of fun during the filming of the actual vignette. The American Dream kept the party going to a point but then the nightmare of a disgruntled booker spoiled that. Roberts said, “Dusty made it a little fun but Bill Watts ruined all that. He’s a real piece of shit. It’s shit work but he is shit. And that’s just the shit he is and he can’t help his shit because he’s just shit.”
AAA and Smoky Mountain Wrestling
Some of the more intriguing moments in Jake’s career have come in the 90’s between WWF and WCW runs. Jake the Snake slithered through New Japan Pro Wrestling, AAA, and Smoky Mountain Wrestling during these points in his career. He said, “It was great, man. Especially Smoky Mountain. I wound up DDTing Dirty White Boy’s wife and that was a blast. Any time I can DDT a woman I had fun. Whether it be Dark Journey or whatever. But yeah I got a hell of a reaction out of the fans, man. Of course for Smoky Mountian, it was kind of scary because they don’t play up there in those mountains, man. They take their wrestling serious and I had some death threats. Yeah, it was fun. I’d still like to go back to the old days where they take it to heart and enjoy it.”
Roberts continued, “AAA was the same thing. I was stuck in a bull arena for five hours in Mexico City because there were thousands of fans waiting outside for me to kill me. That’s just fun for me. Like in Dallas, Texas a guy stood up and pointed a gun at me and shot at me three times. He missed but he got his point across. I was real happy, man. Because if I can twist you up and make you do something like that which is completely out of your wheelhouse, I’m doing my job. I’m getting to you. That’s what your job should be as a wrestler. To get people emotionally involved in it to the point where they’re acting out. That to me has always been what wrestling is about. Basically masturbating people’s emotions.”
Oshawa is the hometown of LM2’s Dylan Bowker so he was excited to see a Shwa date on Jake’s itinerary. Roberts said, “I’m looking forward to coming up to Oshawa and having a good time.” Check out jakethesnakeroberts.com for information on what dates are coming up and how you can procure tickets for this unique live show.
Bowks Talking Bouts
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