Jake "The Snake" Roberts cut the best promos in the history of wrestling. Words seemed to pour out of Roberts, and not the made-up, Ultimate Warrior kind. Roberts had the ability to hype a match like no other, and did it in a far more intelligent manner than the usual blathering, yelling style that wrestling fans had become accustomed to. Although he didn't have the most traditional body type, Roberts's in-ring work was second to none. Since he didn't have the bodybuilder physique of the Rock N' Wrestling era, he had to work extra hard to make his matches realistic. His slew of dirty tricks, including his patented DDT finishing maneuver, convinced fans that, face or heel, he was the most dangerous man in wrestling. These qualities alone should have guaranteed Jake Roberts a top spot, but it wasn't in the cards. He left the WWF in 1992, played a heel in WCW for a while, then returned to the WWF in 1996 with a born-again Christian gimmick, inadvertently playing a vital role in Steve Austin's rise to the top of the company. He was hoping to get a writing gig with the WWF, but it didn't pan out and he left again. His appearance in 1999's Beyond the Mat cemented his legacy in the eyes of many fans. The documentary was a high-profile release, and depicted Jake as a crack-smoking womanizer with an estranged daughter. He made sporadic wrestling appearances afterwards, and even released his own documentary with WWE, but the damage was done. The most recent news about Jake Roberts is that he's recovering with the help of his friend, Diamond Dallas Page. If yoga can get Roberts back into wrestling shape, we may see his best work yet.
Check out "The Champ" by my alter ego, Greg Forrest, in Heater #12, at http://fictionmagazines.com.
I used to do a mean Glenn Danzig impression. Now I just hang around and co-host The Workprint podcast at http://southboundcinema.com/.
