10 Most Radical Wrestler Attitude Adjustments
7. Jake Roberts
Jake Roberts’ fall from grace was arguably the most upsetting to see for fans that had followed his in-ring highs so closely - not least because the worst moments from it hit silver screens in 1999.
In Barry Blaustein’s sensational (and somewhat sensationalist) Beyond The Mat, Roberts was cast as the ultimate deadbeat former star. Followed as he worked independent dates “for crack”, he tried and failed to mend fences with his detached daughter and retold the harrowing tales of the youth that fractured his adulthood.
Pulled back from the brink at his 2012 nadir, Roberts was emotionally and physically rebuilt by everyday saint Diamond Dallas Page. Over several years living and re-living his life with DDP, Jake lost over 50 pounds in weight, tackled his once-thought-insurmountable demons and even won an unexpected battle with knee cancer.
Roberts made a brief return to WWE television in 2014 a younger man than the one that left for good in 1997. He couldn’t mask his beaming expression as he hit the ring to drape his snake over a fallen Dean Ambrose. ‘The Lunatic Fringe’ too was unable to hide his obvious excitement and adulation.