The following are highlights from a Busted Open Satellite radio interview with WWE legend Jake “The Snake” Roberts:
On being proud of his Old School RAW return and dealing with sobriety: “Big time. Big time. You gotta deal with each moment; that’s part of sobriety. Is taking the hard stuff in the face and laying it out in front of you. And saying okay, here’s where I go from there. Before it was just an F that and got drunk, got high. And woke up three days later with more problems. That’s the funny thing about drugs and alcohol. There’s no problem that gets better when you get high. It will be back.”
On having to overcome changes in his life and heading in the right direction: “Yeah, man. Oh god brother, it’s–life is so wonderful, man. I mean it’s great to wake up in the morning and remember what you did the night before. It’s also great to wake up knowing that you have kids that love you and grandchildren that love you and they’re not ashamed of you anymore. And they don’t have to check in with you to make sure that you are in the visiting mode. Because there were a lot of days, man that I wouldn’t answer the phone. A lot of days that I didn’t want to talk to anybody. And a lot of days you didn’t want to see me. It was just a point for me where it got to; I took down all the mirrors in my house cause I didn’t want to look at my stupid ass. And what I became. But having said that; I’ve been to a lot of rehabs. Compliments of WWE. But I’ve also been to a few jails, but I never met anybody in a place who said you know what, Jake? When I was a kid, my dream was to grow up and become a drug addict or an alcoholic. Nobody dreams of that. Nobody wants that. But that’s the animal you invite into your house man, if you start doing the wrong thing. People often say, “Well Jake, why did you do drugs?” Cause I liked that stuff! I liked it! It was cool for a while. A short while. But at some point, it no longer became a choice to do that drug or drink. It was a necessity. And as soon as it became a necessity, it takes the life away from you and it owns your life. So guys and girls out there, don’t be a stupid snake and do that stuff. Because sooner or later, you’re gonna pay the piper. If you do the dance, somebody’s gonna pay the fiddler, okay? And that’s that. Okay, now let’s move on to happy shit.”
On if he ever thought he’d be walking down the aisle in WWE again: “No, god no. No, I’d already given up on that man. That was one of the hardest things about getting sober was looking at the carnage I’d created. And remembering some of these statements–oh my god! I must’ve been so F upped. But you know what a drug addict or an alcoholic can justify any sin. I can justify murder when I’m high. I can justify rape when I’m high. I can justify anything when I’m wanting my dope. And that’s the sickness. And some of the stuff I said about WWE and McMahon and anybody else up there, was just me lashing out because of my hate for myself. That’s not an excuse to do it. It shows me how big they are; not only to pay for rehab for an asshole that’s going out here and blasting the hell out of them, but they also–for them to open the door and say “Dude, come back.” And it’s like are you serious? Cause I had given up on that. I’d truly given up on them–I gave up on the Hall Of Fame, I gave up on everything. Like you know, what the hell man; Koko B. Ware’s there and I’m not? Are you serious? Geez. Warrior? Christ, man. That really hurts.”
On Ultimate Warrior’s Hall Of Fame induction and how he and Warrior’s careers can’t be compared: “I know, man! I know that. But maybe they’re taking in assholes and not great talent. I don’t know.”
On WrestleMania XXX being in New Orleans and wanting to get into the Hall Of Fame: “I know. If I was writing a book and I wanted a perfect ending; which I did write a book. About my life. It’ll be coming out about April 1st, man. Because of my career and life; it’s a trilogy. The first book is about the first 15-20 years of my life and career before I got to the WWE. And it’s the most interesting part, I think. And it’ll be coming out. There’s also a movie Diamond Dallas Page has been working on since I started this process; this resurrection if you will. It’ll be coming out soon. And I’ve got so many great things happening in my life right now that to be honest with you, I don’t know if I could fit that in! It’s fun to say no. Of course I wouldn’t say no (on being inducted to the HOF). Are you serious? I love wrestling, okay? I don’t love wrestlers cause there are a lot of them–just cause they have tights, don’t mean they’re wrestlers, okay? But there are a lot of assholes–they can take that stuff off, put it in a big pile and moving forward; their boots, burn it and never come back to wrestling. You’d be doing wrestling a favor. But no, I have a true passion for it. I’ve got a lot that I want to offer now. Will it ever happen on the level that I want it? I doubt it. Cause I’d certainly love to contribute to the product today. I would love to teach. I don’t know if there’s enough hours in the day to teach all the people I think I need to teach. But I would certainly try. I just love wrestling, man. Nobody understands it unless you’ve been there. I’m not talking about walking out and getting in the ring. I’m talking about being a guy that–wrestling is the only lover I never cheated on, okay? I screwed around on my wife but when it came to wrestling brother, I was there. If I was f’d up, I’d go to the ring and put in twice the time. If I was sick–to me, that’s the mark of a true professional. A true professional is somebody that at there physical and mental worst, they will go out and raise the bar and go above that bar. Because I felt guilty about if I got f’d up the night before oh man, you jerk! How dare you cheat these fans? And I’d go out and put in twice the time.”
On being deserving of a Hall Of Fame induction: “Well, whether you deserve it or not is not up to me man. And my life isn’t dependent upon that. If it doesn’t happen this year, maybe it’ll happen next year. I can only hope. I’m not going to let that take me down, man. Where as before, I could think of any reason to get high. ‘I didn’t get this; I didn’t get that; they screwed me over this; they screwed me over that.’ Yeah, yeah, yeah. I can fabricate any bullshit. But right now I’m just stating what’s the truth. The truth is I’m not in there and that’s okay. That’s okay. Look, I came back to Raw, brother! And I stole the f’ing show.”
On Diamond Dallas Page: “It’s real simple. That guy saved my life man. That guy is changing millions of people’s lives right now. If you don’t do his program, you’re an idiot. Bottom line. You’re a fricking idiot. And it’s fixed to get even grander and grander. Cause there’s more things in the works, and once they get sprung on the public man; it’s gonna blow your minds, man. I couldn’t be more proud to be associated with him. Not only because what he did for me but more so for what he’s done for all these other people. I mean it’s crazy the number of people he has effected. The number of people he has brought back to real life. The number of effected people who have dropped a 100 lbs; a 125 lbs; 200 lbs! We have a guy that’s dropped over 200 lbs and he’s still 400 lbs. And this guy is doing it! I don’t know how–he saves lives man. He is a constant; constantly on the move. Shaking and baking and meeting; talking. Everybody that buys his damn DVD; he calls them! Are you serious? This resurrection, this life is so good man. If you’re not happy with your life, it’s pretty simple: change it! Change it. If you’re not happy with your woman, toss her. If you’re not happy with your wife, divorce that and move on to the next one. It’s your choice. You can lay in that sh*t and live, if you want to call it that. That’s not living man; it’s existence. Or you can start making changes. I’ve dropped 75 lbs. I can get up and down. I can move now. I can wrestle again. When I retired two years ago, it left a big hole in my heart! I’m 58 years old and I’m in the best shape of the last 25-30 years. I’m so pissed off at myself. Why didn’t I do this sooner? Why didn’t I do this sooner? Because the program is not that hard. It is not hard. I’ll tell ya it is not hard to do. Anybody can do it. There’s adjustments you can make and modifications you can make in this program. There’s no–in a fricking wheelchair you can do this! So what’s your excuse? If Jake Roberts can be clean and sober, lose 75 lbs, return to wrestling and be victorious in his resurrection; what the F is your excuse? That’s all I got to say.”
On where he ranks the Old School RAW moment in his career: “I don’t know man cause it hasn’t really sunk in. I still keep waking up thinking, okay it didn’t really happen. Okay, that did not happen. I don’t know man. It was so surreal. It just hasn’t sunk in. It hasn’t sunk in. All this grandiosity and all that stuff man, it has not got into my bones yet. Because I denied it for so long. You understand? I said it wasn’t going to happen for so long even though it has happened, I don’t believe it. And maybe that’s a good thing. Maybe I’ll keep striving in the right direction. Having said that; they can’t take it away from me, so f— them! (Laughing)”
Check out the complete interview at Facebook.com/BustedOpenRadio.
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