WWE: 10 Things You Need To Know About Jake "The Snake" Roberts

4. Ravishing Rick Rude, And Jake's Wife

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iz2b0p8XPbM I loved this story, but I didn't know it at the time. Back in 1988, I had a hard time seeing past the rage induced by the feud between Jake and Ravishing Ric Rude. It was YEARS before I realized how amazing Rick Rude was at that time. As a kid, I only saw the cocky attitude, his insufferable treatment of women, and the discomforting hip thrusts. WHAT A MAN. Rick Rude started out by posing in the ring, showing off his finely chiseled body and demeaning all those in the audience. "Cut the music! Right now, what I'd like is for all you fat, lazy, cheese-eating sweat hogs to put down your bucket of French fries and see what it means to be RAVISHING. Hit the music!" Cue the ab muscles and hip thrusts. He had a male stripper vibe, enhanced by said music, but once the bell rang, Rude could wrestle. The next stage of his heel character came in the form of picking women out of the audience. He would boast about his masculinity, then lean in for a deep kiss whilst lowering them to the mat in a swoon. I was beside myself with horror. How gross! How beastly! How...well, rude! Well you can imagine my reaction when one week his female target is the first to reject his invitation to the ring. He is humiliated, and chastises her. She informs him that her husband is Jake Roberts, and slaps him across the face. I WAS RIVETED. Jake and Rick went on to have a red-hot series of matches, supercharged with emotion from both sides. On one occasion, Rick's post-match posing routine led to him tearing off his tights to reveal a SECOND pair of tights underneath €“ which were air-brushed with the face of Jake's wife, Cheryl. Jake proceeded to tear off THOSE tights, giving the live audience a view of Rude in a g-string. So modern! What made this feud special was the level of emotion from Roberts. He needed to defend his wife's honour, but Rude was just such a damn slippery villain! Not to mention the ever-present Bobby Heenan, who never failed to add fuel to the flames. If you watched wrestling in the 80's, you will never forget those Cheryl Roberts tights.