[ mid-tempo music plays ]
-My name is aurelian smith jr.,
But I haven't been called that in years.
♪♪
My name is jake "the snake" roberts.
♪♪
[ cheers and applause ] -the people have grown
To love this man.
He's got such a great fighting heart.
-I'm the kind of man that walks and talks and do as I pleases.
Spent my life in the ring.
Some people are imitators, and some are innovators.
And I'm an innovator.
I'll drop you so fast with that ddt,
Your whole family will fall down.
-And there it is! -Oh!
-He enjoys what he's doing, don't he?
-That's my home.
It's in my blood.
-Listen to the standing ovation
From this capacity crowd
For jake "the snake" roberts.
They're on their feet.
-This is the bad guy that everybody loves.
-There's damien.
-I am the snake, and when I bite, brother,
It's gonna be nasty.
-What is he doing?!
-It's a strange thing that happens.
-He is vicious!
He'll strike!
-You play a villain
Day after day,
Night after night,
The bad guy...
Come on. Better if you quit.
...Sooner or later, you are.
-What's going through that evil mind?
-Beg, damn it.
You want to save his ass,
You better start begging now. -Aah!
-I don't know if you could come up with very many villains
That were as good as jake roberts.
-This is disgraceful!
This is despicable!
-Fans start to hate you.
[ jeering ] -oh, god.
They love to hate you.
-That's the devil himself.
-Me and satan walked side by side for a long time!
Little by little, piece by piece,
You stack it up and you give them a nice pile...
-Wait a minute.
Oh! Jake roberts again with a chair!
-...Things just to hate you for.
-Look at this! -Roberts with a king cobra.
Wait a minute, the snake is biting --
Oh, the snake is biting him!
Jake "the snake" has lost it!
He's lost it!
-He should be suspended for life!
-I gave wrestling every damn thing I had.
♪♪
And what little bit that I didn't give up...
♪♪
...Wrestling took that, too.
-He's got to get over into the corner.
He's trying to stretch out there.
-I don't think jake knows where he is.
-[ crying ] I'd do anything for my kids.
[ sniffle ] and I can't imagine, as a father,
Not doing that for your own kids...
♪♪
...Knowing the hurt you've caused them.
-Everybody makes mistakes.
Jake has made probably more than his share.
-Anger -- that's your tool.
Full of hate!
-You could see it getting out of control.
-[ crying ] he -- he smoked crack
The entire drive
From texas to georgia.
-When you pull back that curtain, the real story...
♪♪
...People don't want to see that, hear that, smell that.
They damn sure don't want to live that.
-There's probably a lot of shame about who his dad was.
♪♪
I can't imagine going through what he went through
And thinking that he had a way out.
♪♪
-Aurelian smith jr -- [ scoffs ] he's gone.
♪♪
And there ain't no damn way back.
You're not giving me the same respect, man.
Shut the "f" up.
[ dramatic music plays ]
♪♪
-How many did you get?
-Well, you haven't caught any, either.
But I had a -- I had a good --
-It doesn't matter how many you miss.
-Had one on. Had one on.
It rimmed out. It rimmed out. -[ laughs ]
-It didn't rim out. It did not rim out.
-It did not rim out. -You weren't even --
You weren't even close. -It was on the pole
For 10 seconds, guys. -If it ain't in the --
If it ain't the boat, you didn't have a fish.
-You didn't even make it to half court.
-[ laughs ] -it's not my fault
He has an undersized pole.
If I'd had a bigger pole, I would have probably --
-Oh, now it's the pole's fault.
-It's the pole's fault.
♪♪
This is what life's supposed to be about, man.
When you're out with your boys and just looking at the sky
And enjoy the water and just breathe.
♪♪
Because you got to have this.
If you just work, work, work, work, work, man,
That's not much of a life.
This is living here.
Nice breeze in your face.
♪♪
You know, the last 10 years have been wonderful.
-You know, when he was in his prime,
You know, in his career, time was going fast, you know...
...And it's hard to get those moments.
-Our relationship is kind of like building a house.
Ten years ago, you started building the foundation...
-Yeah.
-...Putting a slab in,
And we started framing the walls...
-Yeah. -...And now we have a house.
-Yeah, we do have a house, man.
♪♪
-That's why we come fishing.
Now we have something to build to.
♪♪
-There you go. -Yeah.
-Fish on, baby! -Yes, sir, baby!
-Fish on! -One on, baby!
[ mid-tempo music plays ]
♪♪
-Gainesville, texas. It was almost like
You were on the farm, you know? We had a little --
Probably a couple acres there that --
For a while, I had a horse.
My grandmother had chickens and stuff.
And she raised chickens to sell the eggs and to feed us.
[ train wheels clacking ]
[ train whistle blows ]
♪♪
-There was no hustle and bustle.
You knew everyone.
Everyone knew whose kid you were
And, you know, would, uh,
Just look after you as if you were their own.
♪♪
-I played a little football.
Wasn't that good.
♪♪
I wanted to be an architect, man.
I dug buildings, man.
♪♪
He was actually known to us as buster.
♪♪
He was the big brother that --
He was our greg brady.
♪♪
Everything he did was cool.
You know, if he -- if he picked up a guitar,
And even if he couldn't play it, he was cool.
He played the guitar.
So you -- you -- you kind of looked at him and --
And he was that role model, the big brother.
♪♪
-My mother --
My mother loved me in her own way.
She had a special way of loving people that was deep.
♪♪
And what I learned in life is this --
You don't get to choose the way somebody loves you.
They love you in their own way, right or wrong.
♪♪
And you don't get to pick your parents.
Because, if I get to pick my parents,
I'd have kept my mother, but my father, go to hell.
♪♪
[ cheering ]
-Our father was over --
A little over 7'0" tall
And 350 pounds.
You know, huge, huge.
Probably the biggest person, you know,
Any of us would ever see.
This is not somebody you were going to talk back to.
And not just kids, but, you know, any-- anyone.
So he was -- could be pretty overbearing.
♪♪
-My father.
There was a man that really knew how to mold a person.
And he molded me.
He did it the right way.
♪♪
He would give you a whupping for lying to him.
He'd give you a whupping whenever he thought
You needed it.
He'd give you a whupping for making a mistake.
And believe me, I made my share of mistakes.
[ cheers and applause ]
-Growing up, I hated wrestling, hated it with a passion
Because I felt like wrestling
Had cheated me out of the father that I wanted.
But the truth was, it wasn't wrestling that did it,
It was my father that did it.
♪♪
-I can count on one hand
How many times my dad took me fishing.
Oh, here. Let me --
Here we go.
Okay.
♪♪
I can count on one hand how many times my dad took me hunting.
I don't need to raise that hand up because he didn't.
That's the little-boy things that you miss.
[ somber music plays ]
♪♪
-I was the first one in my family
[laughing] to ever graduate high school.
♪♪
I went to see my father
Because he wasn't there for graduation,
Which did not upset me because he was never there
For anything, anyway.
He didn't come to ballgames.
He didn't do that stuff.
I informed him that I'd graduated
From high school with honors,
And I wanted to go on to college and become an architect.
That was my dream.
And what I wanted from him at that time
Was just for him to love me and say, "that's great, son."
But instead, what he said was,
"well, I hope you don't want anything from me."
I'm like, "want anything? What do you mean?"
He goes, "money or anything.
I don't have it to give to you."
I'm like, "you've never given me anything.
Why would I expect it now?"
And he still wouldn't say he was proud of me!
And I remember being so upset about that.
You know, why didn't he just give me a big hug
And say, "I'm proud of you, son.
And what is this architect thing?"
Ask me a question about what I want to be.
But nothing. I got nothing.
♪♪
Sometimes parents just don't measure up, man.
I mean...
♪♪
...You know, sometimes they just can't give you what you need.
♪♪
Whether they want to or not.
♪♪
[ exhales sharply ]
♪♪
[ sighs ]
My father... [ scoffs ]
...He was the worst kind of monster there is.
His victims were little girls.
Even his own.
[ dramatic music plays ]
-There's a tree in texas called the iron oak.
♪♪
Tangled limbs, broken, goes wherever it wants.
♪♪
Doesn't give a damn what gets in its way.
♪♪
Iron oaks, though,
They rot from the inside out.
♪♪
Just like my damn father.
[ somber music plays ]
♪♪
The story I got from my grandmother, man, was
Pretty ugly because I remember asking her
If she had any regrets in her life.
And she said she only had one.
I said, "what was that?"
She goes, "I should've killed your father
When I had the chance."
I'm like, "wow! Why?"
♪♪
-I'm trying to make a family tree,
If that's possible.
♪♪
Start out with my dad.
♪♪
Dad had originally hooked up with my grandmother,
And they were dating, so to speak.
She's had a little too much to drink and passes out.
He gets with my mother, who's about 12 years old.
♪♪
-So, he just went into another room and...
[ scoffs ] ...Raped my mother.
12-year-old girl, man.
[ scoffs ]
♪♪
-He was conceived by rape that --
That our father somehow had that opportunity
And, you know, forced himself on -- on her
And that's when jake was conceived,
I guess, and -- and...
♪♪
...Then they got married.
I -- I'm not -- I don't even know.
I don't even know how all that, you know, went down.
♪♪
-Tiny is what people called his dad, right?
Because he's 7-foot-plus.
And I mean, I came up to his elbow.
♪♪
His elbow.
[ chuckles ]
♪♪
-Whatever you want to call this man, my grandfather,
I mean, he's a pedophile, clearly.
He stopped being interested when people got too old.
♪♪
-After --
After paula has jake, jo lynn,
And richard, they divorce
And then grizz comes over here to my mom, who is marsha...
♪♪
...Who, at the time, was probably no more than --
No more than 14 or 15.
Had to be.
♪♪
And mom has mike and me.
♪♪
-What makes me sick to my stomach, man,
Is that he did the same thing to my sisters.
[ somber music plays ]
♪♪
-He started abusing me, um, my -- my -- my --
The memory of that that I have is I was about eight years old.
And -- and there's no doubt in my mind
That the same thing happened to jo lynn.
♪♪
One day my mother was out on an errand at the store,
And he happened to be home
And told me [patting] to just come sit on his lap
And, from there, that was the first time
He put his hands on me.
[ clears throat ] I didn't think
I'd get upset, but, um...
And so that happened.
Um.
And that continued for a few years.
And that was the --
Wow.
I think it was the first time I got really upset
Just talking about that.
I don't know -- I don't even know
If I've told that whole story.
♪♪
-F--- him.
♪♪
So many...Girls had their innocence taken.
♪♪
-When I grew up, it was real different
Because I had some issues.
First of all, I lived with my grandparents.
-Jake wasn't primarily raised by his mother.
You know, she didn't have the skills to raise a child.
-And my grandfather was a good man,
But he was an alcoholic.
♪♪
I dug a hole, I built a wall,
And I learned to lie.
You know?
I stayed with my grandparents until I was 12.
That's when I chose to go with my father.
♪♪
Whew! It didn't start right away,
But within two or three months, it began.
♪♪
This was all done by my stepmother.
I started being molested by her.
♪♪
We'd have sex.
And then afterwards, she'd beat my ass, man.
She'd beat me with clothes hangers, hairbrushes.
You know, "if your father finds out about this,
He's going to kill you."
And I was scared to death that my dad would kill me.
-There was only about a five-year difference
Between my mother and jake.
If something happened there, I have to think
That it would have had to have been
At the request of jake's dad.
Our father.
I can't see my mother being -- being an abuser,
But it's very likely that, you know,
That's something that father might have wanted.
♪♪
-Where does he go to get help?
A small town, had to try to figure out all on his own.
And, you know,
I think most of us in that situation would have crumbled
In one way or another.
♪♪
-As a kid, I don't think he ever thought he had a chance.
♪♪
-You can take an ax to an iron oak.
Waste of time.
The roots run too deep.
They go every direction.
They never, never let go.
[ sighs ]
I still remember that night like it was yesterday.
♪♪
I went down to baton rouge, louisiana, to see him,
To tell him that I was going to go to college
And become an architect.
That's where my young brain, with the help of some alcohol,
Come up with the idea of "if you want your father
To be proud, you've got to get in that ring
And beat up a wrestler."
♪♪
"you can do it 'cause you're 18
And you're bad and you can kick ass."
I mean, I was a big kid.
I remember getting in the ring, man,
And hearing the fans, for the first time, cheering for me.
Wow. What a rush that was, man.
Man, I felt like king of the world.
"come on, I'm gonna kick your ass, old man."
He was a short, little dumpling guy, man,
And, uh, he humiliated the piss out of me, man.
He twisted me up in different ways
That my body's never been in since.
G--damn, that -- it was horrible.
I got to the locker room, and my father,
You know, he was standing there,
And he looks down at me and he goes,
"I am ashamed of you."
♪♪
"you're gutless.
And you'll never amount to a damn thing."
♪♪
-Jake told him -- he said, "I will f------ do it."
I was like, "oh, s---."
I went and got on the other side of the ring
Because I figured them two was fixing to go at it.
It was just -- the tension was so tight.
-And I remember praying to the devil.
"you help me become the biggest, baddest wrestler, devil,
And I'll do anything you want.
But I want to be bigger and badder than he is.
I want to make him eat those words."
♪♪
And that's the night that I gave up on being an architect.
♪♪
-You know what's on my birth certificate as his profession?
"wrestling referee."
I joke you not.
That is on my birth certificate from 1975.
-I was so bad, they made me become a referee.
That's how bad I was.
I didn't go and do it the smart way of, you know,
Going to a wrestling school or having someone train me.
I went the most foolish way there is,
The trial-and-error method.
-Let's get us some action, shall we?
We're going to watch jake roberts,
The long, lean, and lanky louisiana larruper.
-Jake roberts is finding out right now
This is a rough-and-tough sport.
This is a man's sport.
He looks like a little boy out there right now.
-I had no business in the ring.
I was absolutely horrible.
-Oh, he's in trouble now.
So it's roberts over the top.
And that's a lot of beef to go air freight.
-Jake "the snake" is --
Is physically not who you would picture as a pro wrestler.
-Roberts is in trouble now. -Yes, he is.
-I'm afraid this is a mismatch.
♪♪
-Stunk the place up for two years.
-Jake is trying to come out.
-Jake was a second-generation wrestler.
And I think that says a lot right there.
When you grow up in the business
And you watch it all your life,
You have a better grasp of what works, what doesn't,
And how you want to do it.
♪♪
And bit by bit, I learned things.
I picked up things.
♪♪
I used to find myself going to little, bitty towns, man.
You know, they run once a year.
Of course, the guys today would never go to those towns,
But back then, you know, the small promotions
Did their things.
♪♪
-It was really a traveling act, constantly.
People would jump in a car after the matches.
Three or four guys get in the car.
Very often, you know, a case of beer in the back seat.
Drink in the back seat while telling stories
And making the towns, as they say.
-He's got roberts down, and it may be over.
-Dave picks him up.
[ thump ] hard slam down on the mat.
[ bell dings ]
-You're in chicago tonight, then you're in milwaukee
The next night, green bay the next night,
Then you drive all the way back to chicago.
-He can strike with the swiftness of a rattler.
There's no question about that.
-I would wake up some mornings, and I'd have to look
At the nameplate on the phone to remember what city I was in.
'cause it was go, go, go, go, go, go, go.
-Night after night after night,
Spending more time with your co-workers
Than you would ever possibly get to spend with your family.
♪♪
-You reach a point in wrestling that you get it.
It finally clicks up here, what you're doing.
And once you figure it out, you realize how beautiful it is.
It is art.
-Big daddy ritter, jake roberts.
-Wrestlers are the greatest actors of all time.
-Roberts has got the sleeper on him!
-Because we do it every night and we do it absolutely perfect.
-Riding him down!
-Because if we don't, the fan won't buy it.
[ bell dings ] -roberts has won the belt!
The place is totally wild!
People are going totally out of their skulls!
[ cheers and applause ]
-I could argue that jake the snake's ddt
Is the greatest finishing move of all time.
-Oh! -Ddt!
Ddt, right there!
-The ddt is number one with a bullet.
-The ddt!
-The brain buster!
-Drives that head hard to the mat.
Oh, and he just can't get up from that.
-It's not easy to think up a new move in wrestling,
And especially even back then.
Like, I mean, there was guys like me going,
"geez, I wish I could think up a new move."
-Beautiful. Ohh!
[ cheers and applause ]
Did you see that? That was like a pile driver.
-Well, I was wrestling a guy called the grappler.
This masked devil.
And we had these little things that we'd do each other,
And one of those things was,
I would have his head stuck in here
And I'd just be wrenching his neck, you know?
So this night, he goes to push me into the corner,
And he steps on my left foot.
And when he did, that caused me to fall flat on my ass.
When we fell and his head hit that mat, people just popped.
When I say "popped," that means jump out of their seats
Up and down, screaming, "yeah, man.
That's the greatest move ever!"
And they're absolutely right.
It was the greatest move ever.
-Oh! -Did you see that?
-And he just dropped him! And listen to this crowd!
They love him.
-Now, here's the hard part.
I got to come up with a cool name.
I mean, if it's not a cool name, the hold is worthless, okay?
And I went to breakfast one morning in tampa, florida,
And picked up a usa today newspaper.
And the front page, big letters,
"ddt outlawed by u.S. Government."
And I looked at that and I'm like,
"that's the name right there -- ddt. Yeah."
[ crowd chanting "ddt" ] -there goes a ddt,
The most vicious hold I think I've ever seen in wrestling.
-You're back there playing cowboys and indians.
I tell you what I'm doing. I'm dealing with "1984."
When you put that ddt on them, jordan,
It's just like nuclear holocaust coming down, man,
Because it's over.
[ cheers and applause ]
-The crowd calling for the ddt.
-They would start the "ddt, ddt,"
And he'd get ready and give us the finger like he did.
It was more of a communication to make sure
The crowd was really locked in and involved with what he did.
-Listen to the people!
They're standing! They want it!
They want the ddt!
And they're gonna get it!
Jake delivers the ddt!
Nobody gets up from that one.
-Oh, yeah.
Jake the snake with the ddt and the victory.
Look at this crowd.
There you see the man of the ddt.
[ cheers and applause ]
♪♪
-In 1986, he signed with the wwe.
Now jake the snake arrives.
And I think for most people,
This is when jake the snake became a household name.
-Wrestling's not rocket science.
Come on.
It doesn't matter if they love you or they hate you.
As long as they remember you.
-I was wrestling in mid-south sports in louisiana
And oklahoma, texas, and, um, the phone rang.
I picked it up, and it was vince mcmahon.
♪♪
And he said, "can you get on a plane and come up here?
We need to talk."
Damn right.
"who's paying for the trip?"
"well, we'll pay for it." "okay, no problem."
I'd never had a promoter offer me a flight.
He comes in and he says, "well, we're gonna dress you up
In lime-green or royal-purple tights, spandex."
[ chuckles ] I didn't say anything yet.
And he said, "we're gonna put you in lace-up,
Knee-high snakeskin boots."
And right before I throw the flag
And say, "I'm not interested in doing this s---,"
Vince wrote some numbers on a piece of paper
And gingerly slipped them over to me.
And at the same time, he said,
"and carry a large 12-foot python."
♪♪
Me being severely scared of snakes...
That fear went out the window when I seen the zeros
On that piece of paper.
♪♪
I'd never seen that many zeros on a check towards me.
And I was blown away to the point
That I immediately took his bad idea and made sense of it.
-I mean, if you're going to go with the name jake the snake,
You got to figure mr. Mcmahon is gonna put a snake in your --
In your hands.
♪♪
-From stone mountain, georgia, jake "the snake" roberts!
-Jake "the snake" roberts making his debut here this week
In the world wrestling entertainment.
And we know what's in the bag.
-The only time I'm not afraid
Of those damn snakes is when the bell rings.
[ bell dings ]
-Jake "the snake" roberts, newcomer here
To the world wrestling entertainment,
But certainly not to the squared circle.
-Oh, what a slam.
He just drove him into the canvas.
-This man is known worldwide. Tough competitor.
-He is gonna be a force to reckon with here
In the world wrestling entertainment.
-There's that patented move by the snake called the ddt.
[ bell dings ]
Look at him slithering over towards that bag.
[ screaming ] -wow.
-Oh, look at the size of it. Holy mackerel.
-He's not gonna put it on top of him, is he?
-Yes, he is.
-Oh, my. Look at it.
-If that isn't an insult, I've never seen one.
-Huh? Come on. Come on.
-In no way, shape, or form that should be allowed
In the world of professional wrestling.
-The snake was incredible. It was shocking.
-Don't do that. -It was memorable.
You couldn't take your eyes off of it.
It's legitimately one of the absolute best gimmicks
Ever in pro wrestling.
-Bite him, damien. Bite him.
-If you keep playing with snakes,
You got to expect one thing.
You're gonna get bit.
-Give me a break, referee.
Don't let him do that.
-No wonder they call him jake "the snake" roberts.
-He literally would smother people
And strangle them with a snake, with a python on national tv.
-This thing weighed almost 200 pounds.
And jake would just --
Just pick that thing up and sling it and hit you with it.
It was like hitting you with a baseball bat,
With that snake.
-The first time he got ricky "the dragon" steamboat
Was a big one.
-Oh, he's jamming it in his mouth!
I can't believe it!
-Why do I put the snake
Across somebody's body and let him crawl?
[ laughs ] I get off on it.
Don't you?
-Come on, referee. This is despicable.
-He just loves it. Look at the snake going to him.
-It becomes a big part of what people want to see.
I mean, they just -- they would go crazy.
[ cheers and applause ] -oh, my goodness, damien!
-They'd go crazy just seeing the bag in the corner.
-Oh, look at this. -Oh, my gosh.
-Wanting to get out of the bag already.
-At wrestlemania ii, he had a dude foaming at the mouth.
-Imagine the constricting of the snake.
-Oh, look at that!
-I really tried to stay away from the snake because,
You know, jake would always talk to the snake and kiss the snake.
Andre was scared to death of the snake.
-Andre the giant looks like he's terrified of that snake.
-[imitating andre the giant] "no, no snake."
-Look at this. Andre backing off.
-When andre had to work with him,
It was kind of funny to watch
Because he was scared to death of the snake.
-Oh, no! A collar on the giant!
Look at this! It's choking andre the giant!
Andre going down.
And jake putting damien all over him.
Andre clutching his chest.
Andre is just terrified.
He's terrified of the snake.
Jake "the snake" roberts and damien
Have really done a job on andre the giant.
Standing triumphant is jake "the snake" roberts!
[ cheers and applause ]
-What'd you think of this matchup here?
-Jake, you're the best, jake!
-What'd you think of this matchup?
-He's the best. Jake's the best. Jake's the best.
-Yeah, I guess he's going to say it all.
As you can see, not a bad seat in the house.
Back to you, gorilla.
♪♪
-Everybody hated that snake.
Jake would just dump it on the floor in the shower.
It would just -- people would go in the shower,
And the snake would just be there.
-And guys would just freak out
And come running out of the shower naked.
-And then jake would have a heck of time
Trying to get the snake in the bag after that.
-Unfortunately, from the locker room,
I would have to put it in a bag and put it in a trunk
And then carry it to the car.
And then once I got to the hotel,
I had to put it in the bathroom, little water in the tub,
And hope like hell he doesn't break that sink off the wall
Or the toilet off the floor, which they've done.
♪♪
-Well, he's lucky he's got damien,
Because that's probably the only friend this man has.
♪♪
-Every good wrestler knows how to walk the walk.
Hell, if they didn't,
They wouldn't be allowed to get in the damn ring.
Great wrestlers, well, they answer the real question --
Can you talk the talk?
You want to play something real?
Then you get real close and listen.
[ cheers and applause ]
-Good guys, bad guys --
In wrestling, you're one or the other.
I was both. [ laughs ]
You know, it's kind of like that nursery rhyme.
You know, when I was bad, I was very, very bad.
When I was good, I was still f------ bad.
Very, very bad.
♪♪
-Now, this jake roberts is a very cruel man.
I doubt if this man even has any feelings.
-My goodness, this man causes all kind of controversy
Every place he goes, jake the snake.
-Look at this. Just measuring him here.
Oh, he got caught right in the middle of that move.
-He was a storyteller, and I think that's so valuable
To being a good performer is being a good storyteller.
-You heard heenan yell, "he's out, he's out."
-Well, he's not out yet.
And jake always told stories,
And I-I think he was one of the greatest at it.
-Oh, look at that!
-Jake "the snake" roberts is fired up.
Look at the revenge in those eyes.
-Jake was such a master villain.
You know, and I always think of the guy tying the girl
Up on the railroad tracks, I'm thinking of a guy
That looks something like jake roberts,
With a dirty little mustache and the creepy little eyebrows.
And I don't know if you could come up with very many villains
In -- in history that were as good as jake roberts.
-And look at that maneuver! Oh, can you believe that?
-You get jake the snake hot, he is vicious.
He'll strike.
-Man, there is nothing better than getting the reaction
You want from the fans when you do the simplest of things
Or you do the meanest of things.
♪♪
-One -- -teasing them.
And I don't want to do that.
"oh, you son of a bitch."
They'd get so pissed off at me, man, for not doing it
Because I teased them.
You know, if you're gonna offer it to somebody,
You got to give it to them.
So for me to pull it away and not do it was a heel move.
I cheated them.
I robbed them of their moment.
-You hate the bad guy.
You love the good guy.
Jake actually redefined that.
-You know, jake -- he likes to turn it
Into a fight, doesn't he?
You know, he's got a lot of good natural wrestling ability,
But the guy likes to fight.
-He likes to take it any way you want to take it.
Roughhouse style, that's the way he'll do it.
Scientific wrestling, he'll carry you there, too.
-Jake is the first anti-hero.
-Jake "the snake" roberts!
-"stone cold" steve austin is an anti-hero.
-Diamond dallas page was an anti-hero.
You know, everybody's got something
In their bag from jake.
♪♪
-I've got numbness in my fingers,
But the stiffness and the numbness and the weakness
Are nothing compared to the hatred
That sits behind these cold eyes, my man, or...
[ cheers and applause ]
...The fire -- the fire that spews ashes out of my brain each
And every time I think of you.
-I don't think anyone ever has been better
At talking on a microphone
In pro wrestling than jake "the snake" roberts.
-You're bringing elizabeth to the ring
To watch what you're gonna do to me.
Think about this.
When you look down at your wife,
After I've done what I'm going to do,
What are you going to do?
Wake her up.
Princess, the glass slipper doesn't fit this time.
-It's all his eyes.
It's -- it's just the way jake looks at the camera.
Jake "the snake" was the first wrestler
I ever saw who didn't need to yell.
-I'm not your average local yokel from k-mart.
No, I'm a little bit different. Yeah.
I think I see things that people don't normally see,
The little things that mean so much,
You know, how to look at a camera and glare or smile.
You see, I've got something you can't handle.
You or anybody else.
It's ddt.
So, what are you gonna do, snowman?
Melt.
I learned that as a kid, how to manipulate emotions
By your facial expressions.
'cause there were lots of times
That I had to, uh, spin the wheel
To keep from being abused.
So I learned to lie at a very young age.
And I know there's only one way to serve up revenge.
But everybody's a fine cook.
Mama can make grits, and mama can make biscuits and gravy.
But the only way you can serve up revenge is to serve it cold.
-I envied him.
Like, I really wished I had that ability to turn it off
And on like he did, to become this --
Morph into this character, good guy or bad guy.
-Anything that I do is your fault.
Snake in the corner -- trust me.
Trust me.
-He had a different cadence.
You know, it was almost like a mystique to him
That he would almost hypnotize people.
-It's pretty simple to me.
Some people claim to be things that they're not.
Me, I've always claimed to be a snake.
I never said I could walk on water.
I never said that I could part the sea.
I never said I could feed the masses with a loaf of bread.
But, then again, I never tried.
-I think the biggest thing that came from jake
Was just how evil and how sinister he was.
-You know, what a wicked web we can weave
When first we labor to deceive.
Now, what I'm telling you is this.
I've always said I was on the other side of the fence.
And I ask you -- oh, yeah, that's where
You're at, too -- you're right with me.
You can't ride the edge, brother, like I can.
That razor's too sharp for you.
So you think about this.
At wrestlemania, I'm gonna get what I want.
-I was in a room watching jake roberts
Do promos in front of vince mcmahon.
And I can remember vince just going crazy
At how good jake's promos were.
-Million dollar man, you stood up so proud and you told me,
"if you want that million-dollar belt,
Jake 'the snake' roberts, you got to come and get it."
-Charisma -- you can't teach it to anybody.
You either have it or you don't.
He's got that savvy.
I can't -- I don't know how to put it in any other term.
-You see, damien and I don't forget.
We remember all the times you made people grovel
For your money.
These were people far less fortunate than you,
People who could use your money for essentials.
-He made you feel when he was cutting a promo.
He didn't make you feel like he was talking to "mean" gene.
He made you feel like he was talking to you.
-This time, you'll be the one that's humbled.
This time, you'll be the one that's humiliated.
And this time, you will be the one that grovels for the money.
And how appropriate... [ chuckles ]
...That the money you grovel for is your very own.
A victim of your own greed,
Wallowing in the muck of avarice.
-Longfellow couldn't have said it better.
♪♪
-All that glitters is not gold.
Yeah, shakespeare wrote that.
Whoa, how about that, hmm?
He was a smart guy.
-I saw my dad more on television than I did in person.
Do you -- can imagine what that's like?
Do you know how mortifying that is?
-We knew what our dad did.
We knew kind of the career path he chose.
But we didn't really ever know where he was.
-I didn't see him for years, and especially
When he first started making a name for himself.
I don't even know if he knew that I was even training.
It wasn't the typical brother-sister family kumbaya,
You know, and we just didn't -- there was no family support.
-Most people, uh, parent when their children are young.
You know, my dad didn't.
He didn't parent when I was young.
He was not around.
So my parents weren't around each other.
They divorced when I was in the second grade.
-See, there's a price you pay for being a wrestler.
But jake did not see it wasn't a life.
I thought I was -- "I'm this big star now.
I'm going to make my kids happy.
Everybody's going to love me. Everything's going to be fine."
♪♪
How foolish are we?
You see, that dream is beautiful, man,
Till somebody takes it away from you.
♪♪
-You know, if you haven't got a story, you ain't got s---.
-And there it is -- the million-dollar belt.
-The double clothesline, and the money goes flying!
Mary tyler moore gets $100. [ cheers and applause ]
-Come on, face it -- a great rivalry,
That makes a great story.
-Aaah!
-[ laughs ]
-Jake "the snake" roberts and alice cooper.
And, boy, has this guy got a score to settle.
-Whoa! He broke his guitar!
We haven't seen the last of this confrontation.
-David and goliath,
Apollo creed and rocky.
You got to be fighting something.
-Ricky steamboat, you're gonna be the first big test
For jake "the snake" in his career,
And tonight's the night.
-I've seen too many good wrestlers go down
And be humiliated by this man,
Laying that snake across the body.
I won't tolerate that, jake roberts.
-Back with more of Saturday night's main event,
The match we have anticipated coming up now --
Ricky "the dragon" steamboat squaring off
Against the undefeated jake "the snake" roberts.
-Well, they came to me, and they said,
"jake, we want you to ddt steamboat on the floor."
And I'm like, "holy s---, I can't do that."
-Ricky "the dragon" steamboat,
One of the most popular athletes in the
World wrestling entertainment today, saying hello.
Wait a minute. Off the rope now.
Ooh! What a clothesline.
-They were like, "why not?"
I said, "'cause if I do it, I'll kill him."
-The ricky steamboat match was brutal.
-Another clothesline! Down to the concrete.
-This isn't the modern era outside the ring.
This is a cement floor of an arena.
-"do you understand death? This will kill him."
"well, that's what --" you know, steamboat came to me,
And he's like, "jake, do it to me.
I can protect myself. I know what to do."
I said, "ricky, you don't."
I was right. It damn near killed him.
-He's signaling for that ddt. -He's not -- oh, no!
-Hey, steamboat, that's using your head.
-Oh, my goodness.
-It sounded like a hand grenade went off in my brain.
Exploded.
-Steamboat unconscious.
He has to be totally out of it.
-At the time, I thought he was dead.
It was horrifying, man.
-Ricky steamboat, back into the ring.
I think "the dragon" is out.
-[ imitates explosion ]
Swelled up, had a bad concussion.
Was taken to the hospital.
The whole side of my face blew up.
-Ricky steamboat still unconscious.
-That ddt on the outside of the ring was the first time
That you really saw
Just how vicious jake "the snake" could be.
[ cheers and applause ]
-As cold as a razor blade,
As tight as a tourniquet like the skin on a dying man.
Randy savage, the last time I seen you,
You were flailing like some helpless child.
-You think that you're shakespeare.
You think that you're so eloquent
When you talk, snake man.
But I don't like anything about you.
-Look at that snake eyes, and you'll see something so cold
And so devilish and so deliberate.
Yes, he takes care of what he has to,
Does what he has to, just like me.
-Jake roberts all over randy savage!
Tying him up in the ropes!
-Get out of there, macho! Look at that!
-Roberts with a king cobra.
Keep it away from him!
-Wait a minute! The snake is on him!
Oh, and the snake is biting him! The snake is biting him!
-Mind blown.
-The snake is gnawing on the arm of randy savage,
Who's helpless, tied to the ropes!
-[ laughs ] I remember before randy agreed
To do it that the cobra bite jake first.
-All I can say is that snake better be de-venomized.
-I let the snake bite me.
But when his turn came up, boy, did he light him up.
-I got really freaked out because it was
Only supposed to be for a couple seconds.
And then jake -- I don't know
If he didn't want to tear randy's arm apart,
Or if he had some problems with the snake,
But the snake would not release.
-The snake digs deeper!
-[ laughing ] oh, s---.
Oh, my god. My favorite time.
[ laughs ]
-Jake "the snake" has lost it. -He's sick!
-This is disgraceful! This is despicable!
He should be suspended for life!
[ crowd jeering ]
-[ speaking indistinctly ]
-This allowed jake to really thrive
As the monster that he could be.
-It was pretty powerful tv,
And then people started cheering the bad guy.
They started cheering the monster, right?
This indestructible force that just changed the way
People think about what good guys and bad guys are.
-Just who in the hell do you think you are?
And whose side are you on?
-Not yours.
[ cheers and applause ]
-I owe you one.
Don't turn your back on me.
-Oh, wait a minute! -No!
You've locked it! What have you done?
-His hand -- his hand is caught in the end of that coffin.
-Wait a minute.
Oh, look at that!
Jake just -- and again!
-Oh! -Oh!
-And he beats the crap out of me with a chair,
But I keep coming, right?
I just keep going after him.
-Undertaker is coming for him.
-Jake was so brilliant with his reactions of,
"what have I gotten myself into here?"
-The undertaker slowly but surely
Continuing to stalk jake "the snake" roberts.
-It just set the tone for, "wow! What's gonna happen
When undertaker gets his revenge?"
-Oh, my.
Nothing is going to stop the undertaker.
-Wrestlemania viii, indianapolis, the hoosier dome.
Let me tell you something, mr. Undertaker.
Claim to be from the dark side.
I'm gonna show you what the devil's all about, my man.
Me and satan walked side by side for a long time.
Shared the same thoughts.
Shared the same souls.
[ dramatic music plays ]
-A very cunning, a very dangerous individual.
But he may just have dug his own grave.
-Jake "the snake" roberts!
[ cheers and applause ]
His opponent, weighing 328 pounds...
-Somebody's gonna get hurt here.
-...The undertaker!
[ cheers and applause ] -look at jake.
He's ready, monsoon.
[ cheers and applause ]
-By the time you get to wrestlemania viii,
Undertaker is truly getting to his prime
As an absolute dominant force.
[ cheers and applause ]
-Whoa!
Now he's pulled "the snake" outside with him!
-Oh! -Oh, right into the steel post!
-The fact that jake was a viable opponent for undertaker
At wrestlemania,
That says a lot in and of itself.
-Tremendous -- well, there it is!
-He did it! He did it.
[ humming chopin's "funeral March" ]
-He is out. -He is not making any moves.
And, oh, look at that!
He sat right up! -Oh, no. Oh, my god.
-And that was the first time that I had tombstoned, you know,
Anyone really outside of the ring.
[ cheers and applause ]
-No, not on the floor! -Oh! Tombstone!
-Oh! -Tombstone city!
-It was kind of an exclamation point
Because jake went away after --
You know, after that wrestlemania.
-One, two, three.
Holy mackerel! [ bell dings ]
I've never seen jake "the snake" defeated
That severely as I've seen him at the hands of the undertaker.
That was actually the end.
That was jake's final story in the wwe for a very long time.
[ somber music plays ]
-It was a really hard time for me at the show because I --
My life as I knew it was about to end.
-You could kind of see it getting out of control.
You know, before he left, you could tell that it was --
It was becoming -- the -- the outer-ring stuff
Was becoming a little more important
Than the -- the in-ring.
-I went off the deep end.
You know, idle hands, the devil's playground.
♪♪
I spun out of control for the next 15, 20 years.
♪♪
-I want to talk about people
That have reached the pinnacle of success in their own sports.
But what do they do? What do they do?
A moment's weakness, and they take the devil's powder
And they run it up their nose.
They call it cocaine, say it's a good time,
And their careers are gone.
♪♪
All addiction is, is when you're able to be satisfied
In life with a drug or a drink and nothing else.
That's all I cared about -- how much coke did I have?
Because when I ran out of dope, everything else was gone.
I was gone.
-'cause he'd been wrestling since he was, you know, 20,
So his body was hurting.
And you got to try to kill the pain.
And he made a lot of choices
That were not good choices.
♪♪
-Man, we were out there 25, 26 days a month, man, at least.
At least.
When I came off the road,
I was so friggin' beat up,
And I barely would have time to wash my clothes and repack them
And would take off again.
♪♪
-I spent a lot of time with jake.
And I got to see some of that firsthand.
You know, he would stay up all night
And -- and party and do whatever.
-At the point where he did become more famous, certainly,
And more successful than our father, he's like a tornado.
He just spun right out of control.
♪♪
-People want to be around you
And they want you to come to their bars
And they want you to -- so all -- all of these things
That were -- you know, that were jake's demon,
People are just, you know, presenting it to him.
♪♪
-In 1993, I had just graduated from high school, and...
He was "sober."
And he was making it work in his second family.
And I packed everything and moved to georgia
For the first time, to go to college.
He talked to my mom.
We packed everything up
And took the risk because he was my dad.
And, so, he smoked crack
The entire drive
From texas to georgia.
I drove.
He smoked crack.
Because when he drove and smoked crack,
I was terrified for my life.
♪♪
-Growing up, I always swore that I would never,
Ever treat my children the way my father treated me.
I-I swore that up and down a million times.
And what did I do?
♪♪
I wasn't there for my children either.
-During the time of our teen years and towards --
On towards adulthood, we didn't --
We didn't see him a lot.
He was an absentee father.
He was a dad that everyone wanted to have
But didn't know what that meant and what it looked like.
-Those are the darkest moments of my life
Because of him not being there.
Being an absentee father really has an impact on you
When -- when you're trying to figure out who you are.
♪♪
-You know, as a kid, you still just want
Your father's love, so...
♪♪
-Too busy being a star.
Or a drunk or a drug addict.
♪♪
Wasn't there.
-And it's hard.
♪♪
It's real hard.
Because I -- I'd do anything for my kids.
And I can't imagine, as a father, not doing that
For your own kids,
Knowing the hurt you've caused them,
Some of the pain that they live with.
♪♪
So for that, you know, I-I don't understand.
I never will.
-1996, I came back to the wwe -- briefly.
I was actually being given the spot I'd asked for,
That I would be part of the booking committee
And in writing, and it was a great thing.
The most important thing to jake roberts today
Is giving glory to god.
[ cheers and applause ]
Because without the blood of the lamb that was put on me
By a gift from jesus, a victory so many years ago,
I would not be standing here today.
-Jake came back in 1996 as a born-again christian
Because he was born again and he had found sobriety
And he had found god
And he was going around the country talking about it.
And this really was his personality.
-No, the snake's not named damien no more.
This is revelations. This is the truth.
And I will use this serpent to expose the darkness
To the true light.
[ cheers and applause ]
-He was willing to include that sort of
As part of his character,
The recovering alcoholic who had found god.
-I've got it on good authority that poor jake
Has fallen off the wagon again.
He missed his double "a" or his aa meeting.
As a matter of fact, with jake, it's a aaa meeting.
I hammered him pretty hard.
I mean, you know, it was all about the drinking, the booze,
And all of that sort of stuff.
I mean, it was constant, just hammering him, hammering him.
-Oh, it's driving him crazy, not having that.
-There was one time that I poured whiskey down his throat,
And it was real whiskey.
-He's not gonna do this to jake. -Oh, my goodness.
-And that's raw -- that's raw booze
He's dumping down jake's throat.
Look at this. -I-I'm sorry for it, too.
I believe it did have some long-lasting effects,
Because that's something that --
You know, sobriety is something that's an ongoing process.
-Oh, my god. -You hear what jake said?
He wants to know if anybody's got a beer for a chaser.
[ laughs ]
♪♪
-When you think about jake's return in 1996,
What you think about most is king of the ring
And "stone cold" steve austin.
-There it is! It's over! -That's it.
-And the stunner applied again.
One, two, and he got him!
[ bell dings ]
-The king of the ring, "stone cold" steve austin.
An incredible victory.
[ crowd shouting ]
-Get that piece of crap out of my ring.
You ain't got what it takes anymore.
You sit there and you thump your bible
And you say your prayers, and it didn't get you anywhere.
Talk about your psalms.
Talk about john 3:16.
Austin 3:16 says I just whipped your ass.
[ cheers and applause ]
And that's the bottom line because stone cold said so.
-If jake the snake isn't a born-again christian,
Then he never references john 3:16.
And if jake doesn't reference john 3:16,
There's no austin 3:16.
You can never forget that the attitude era and the --
And the future of wrestling was incredibly affected
By jake's appearance in 1996 and '97.
-The disheartening thing about an addict is he'll do anything,
Lie, cheat, steal, rob, even kill...
[ scoffs ]
...Or even lie to himself to have one more hit.
-They say when you hit bottom, it's time to stop digging.
You know, that's real easy to say,
Especially when you're sitting on top
Looking down at the dumbass that's digging his own grave.
♪♪
Down there is, uh -- is real dark.
There's no light.
So what do you do? You just keep digging.
♪♪
-Jake "the snake" roberts!
-I was at the top of my game in '93 and again in '96,
Main event anywhere I went.
-And the fans all over the world wrestling entertainment
Enamored with the great jake the snake.
-Here it comes. -You see the ddt!
-It soured pretty quick
Because I couldn't be around wrestlers that were partying.
I wasn't strong enough.
Christian or not, man, you got to fight the devil
Every damn day.
[ bell dings ]
-Winner of this contest, jake "the snake" roberts!
-The only comfort I could find was a drink and a drug.
It was the only thing that made pain go away.
But as I turned to it, it wound up destroying everything,
Every hope, every dream that I ever had.
[ cheers and applause ]
My wife was smart. She got away from me.
She gave me a choice.
"you can do your drugs and drink,
But you can't stay here and do it."
And she stood her ground.
♪♪
And we separated and divorced.
When that happened, all hell broke loose inside of me.
♪♪
Cocaine speeds me up so fast, I can't think about my past.
It speeds me up so fast that I don't have to be responsible.
-The jake of 1998...
You couldn't be in the room with.
It was painful to be with him.
-I'm just getting really...
Really...Up inside.
I don't know where to go.
-[ crying ] I was grateful when he stayed away.
I was...
I've never said that out loud.
-Thank you, gentlemen.
Back here, I have a man of legendary proportions.
The man, jake "the snake" roberts.
He is a man that you all recognize.
He's a legend.
-He was one of the first to come to casino magic.
-Oh!
-You know, you're in a casino, and everybody says,
"well, gosh, a casino, you should gamble."
Let me tell you something, man.
Well, you don't want to play cards with me
Because I'll cheat, okay?
I cheat.
-I don't think jake knows where he is.
-I don't think they're gonna fight
The way things are going now.
-I'm ashamed to tell you the -- the depth of how low I got.
It was horrible.
-To go from performing in front of
Tens of thousands of people on a regular basis --
To go from that level to high-school gyms and worse...
High -- wrestling high --
Wrestling drunk, asking promoters to find you crack --
It's -- it's one of the -- the -- the worst falls
We've ever seen in wrestling.
♪♪
-I wonder what goes through my head.
It's not like I-I set out to do that.
I-I -- I guess what I'm really trying to say is,
You know, I was sitting here thinking, you know,
"why do you just go off like that?
Why do you just keep pushing and pushing and pushing?!"
-It's hard to watch.
♪♪
Real hard to watch.
And I worry more now for my kids about what's out there,
Because they have a -- a --
A certain belief of who their papa jake is.
That's cool.
That is something you can be proud of.
But I know some of the stuff that's out there,
And it won't go away.
[ sniffles ]
-Well, guess what. That's what I do for you.
Somebody said, "kick your ass."
In about three or four or five minutes,
I'm gonna dump my s--- on you.
And I feel sorry for you.
So, buzz, look at them, because you know what?
I got something for you right here.
Bite me.
-For years, everyone expected that that was gonna be
The next, you know, in memoriam, on, you know, on wwe.
You know, and -- and, I mean, I-I thought so, too,
That it's just a matter of -- just a matter of time.
[ crowd chanting ] -but...
You're not giving me the same respect, man.
Shut the "f" up.
[ crowd shouting ]
-[ sighs ]
♪♪
I've tried to commit suicide a -- well, a handful of times.
♪♪
Took like a hundred valium. [ chuckles ]
That should have done it.
♪♪
But the next morning, I woke up, I had puked all over myself.
I guess that's what saved my life.
♪♪
The really ugly times were with cocaine...
Begging to die...
♪♪
...Just continually hitting that pipe.
It would get so hot that I'd burn my lips.
♪♪
I'd hit the pipe and curse the devil,
Hit the pipe and curse god, hit the pipe --
[ chuckles ] jesus.
Thank you, sweet jesus, for not letting me die.
♪♪
-[ voice breaking ] for my dad,
I worry that he can't break very many more times, right?
How -- how many times could he break and put himself together?
It's like the nine lives.
You -- certainly you've got to run out at some point.
♪♪
-You know, after a while,
You -- you get so freaking good at letting people down
That it just doesn't feel natural doing anything else.
♪♪
-You have to get down so low
That you're willing to do anything to get clean.
[ sighs ] you don't think I wouldn't cut off an arm to...
♪♪
...Roll back the time
To where I didn't walk away from my family?
[ sighs ]
I'd cut off both legs, man,
If I could have a relationship with some of my kids.
And I hate myself more than they could ever hate me
For that failure.
♪♪
[ sighs ] f---.
[ sighs ] alright, I need to stop for a little.
♪♪
[ sighing ]
♪♪
-Jake's my brother. He's my mentor.
He's probably one of the top-three closest people
In the world to me.
He finally understood, like, when you get high,
You are not a good person, man.
Like, you don't want to be around you.
Straight jake would never want to be around high jake, ever.
♪♪
-I'm gonna go over to ddp's house -- diamond dallas page.
And, um, this is where I got sober at.
For 2 1/2 years, I worked on getting sober,
And they turned it into a -- a movie or a documentary,
Whatever you want to call it.
And it's beyond belief how many people have came to me
And thanked me for doing the movie
"the resurrection of jake roberts."
-When we started filming him
Down there in gainesville, texas,
He literally had gone to rehab a month before,
But he went right back -- coke and crack,
And, you know, went right back drinking and pills and...
♪♪
-Recently, been talking to jake quite a bit.
I've known him for quite a number of years.
He's hit on some really hard times.
His body's really beat-up.
-Yeah, a little over a year ago, I retired officially.
The only passion I had was wrestling.
Had to give it up.
I had a life, but I poisoned it.
-Come up on your knees. I'm gonna show you something.
-[ grunting ] -you've not used your toes.
Like, jake, you're like a year or two away
From not being able to walk.
-I know this is my last...Shot in life.
♪♪
I hated myself.
Truly hated myself.
I took the mirrors down in my house
'cause I couldn't stand to look at me.
♪♪
-I'm right here, okay? -Yeah.
-Now, try bending this knee to get down to that.
I'm right here, I'm right here, I'm right here, I'm right here.
-That's it, here! Oh, foot!
-I think ddp yoga is probably what saved my life,
Because I couldn't get around anymore.
I couldn't get up. I couldn't get down.
♪♪
-Once he really stayed sober and the fog lifted,
Now your brain starts to heal itself, and you get --
Like, you get sharper again.
Like, you could talk to jake about anything today.
Back then, not so much.
-I feel like I'm suffocating.
I actually want to drink.
Uh, uh, I don't want to use, g--damn it.
And right now, I'm -- I'm -- I'm --
I'm out here pacing, 'cause I don't want to do it.
-You know, even though I'd fall, you know,
I'd go for two or three months and be really good
And then -- boom -- I'd screw up again.
-Four...Beers today, brother.
I had...Oysters. [ laughs ]
-Please, please, sell that to someone else.
-Really, really?
-And it was heartbreaking to me to go through that,
'cause I so badly --
So badly I wanted sobriety and wasn't able to get it.
But by doing it and letting the people see it,
It gave them the courage to try.
-10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
-Maybe it was -- was that someone reached out
And -- and cared enough to say, "hey, there's worth in you."
-[ chuckles ] -maybe he didn't realize
For a long time how many people
Were -- were rooting for him all along.
-"bye-bye, papa jake."
-Bye-bye, papa jake. -Bye-bye, papa jake.
-Daddy always -- -"love you."
-Love you.
-[ sighs ] bust my --
-During his deepest struggles,
We couldn't have ever reached him to the degree
That -- that dallas was able to.
I don't think my dad would be alive if it wasn't for him.
-Jake roberts today is exactly who he wants to be,
And that's a good person who cares, loves his family,
And wants to help other people.
That's powerful.
♪♪
-Don't give up. Don't give up.
That's the thing. Don't ever give up.
You may fall and bust your butt and screw up,
But dust yourself off, get back up, and go at it again.
And that's what I've done.
[ cheers and applause ]
-Our next inductee to the class of 2014,
Ladies and gentlemen,
I proudly present the prodigal son --
The one, the only jake "the snake" roberts!
[ cheers and applause ]
♪♪
-I don't remember walking to the podium,
'cause I'm pretty sure
That I was just six inches off the ground
And I was just floating.
[ cheers and applause ]
-To see him inducted into the hall of fame
Was an incredibly beautiful full-circle moment.
[ crowd chanting "you still got it!", clapping rhythmically ]
-I think that that will be his legacy,
Is he's just a tremendous character and storyteller.
-I'm proud of him.
And I -- and I would say to anybody that runs into him,
Pat him on the back, tell him he's doing a great job,
'cause he is.
-I've got some special people here called family.
[ cheers and applause ]
Will my girls and boys please stand up?
'cause you're my heroes.
[ cheers and applause ]
-His grandkids only know him as papa jake,
And he gets to see what a blessing it is
To be around the kids and the grandkids
And getting to see them in these moments...
-Right? -...Be a part of their lives.
-Just to watch and see the emotions
That everybody went through,
To see that he was making progress on rebuilding...
That meant a lot.
[ cheers and applause ]
-I love them.
They gave me a second chance.
And god bless the wwe, because they gave me one, too.
Thank you very much.
[ cheers and applause ]
[ mid-tempo music plays ]
-He's a different person
And he wants to help a lot of people.
♪♪
-I'm that guy now.
I'm that guy that got friggin' sober, man.
I'm that guy that's doing the right thing.
-I guess whatever it is that -- that drives him
To continue to -- to live,
Thank god, is stronger than whatever demons
Were trying to kill him.
-Now I've got 10 years under my belt.
Man, I can't believe that.
And, uh, so grateful that, uh, wwe
Is wanting to put this piece out there,
'cause I think this piece is gonna help some people, too.
-There we go. -Fish on, baby! Fish on, baby!
Ah-roo! Ah-roo! -Oh, yeah, baby!
-Ah-roo! -Dang, that is --
That's a good size.
-Catch of the day. -Whoa!
-Yes, sir! -There you go, big boy.
-Whoo! That...
-Dang, that's a hog. That is a hog.
-That's gonna be striper candy. -How big you think it is?
17? 18? -Oh!
-Dang, that's a good size. -Hey, y'all can stop now.
♪♪
-If somebody had told me 15 years ago
That I would actually be on the lake with my boys
And having a great day and not chasing a crack pipe
Or bottle of wine or whiskey or whatever,
I-I'd have laughed at 'em.
-My siblings and I all have different types of relationships
With -- with dad,
And not everybody is okay with him.
Not everyone thinks he's a great guy.
-I've got eight children.
I've got four that...Still don't want much to do with me.
And I understand why, because I wasn't there.
♪♪
And all I want to do is -- is make --
Try to make up for some of that lost time.
And I want them to know that it wasn't them that was a problem.
It was me.
♪♪
-Deep down inside, he's not a bad person at all.
Um...
And that's, uh...
♪♪
[ sighs ]
[ voice breaking ] so it's so hard.
♪♪
'cause I know that he never wanted to do the things he did.
-And it's -- it's real life, man.
This -- this is not fake. This is not tv.
This is not some promo that he's cutting.
You know, it -- it's -- it's things
That you have to work on and build over many, many years.
Doesn't happen overnight.
♪♪
-He's got a lot of calluses and a lot of scars
From his former life,
But he's a very giving and generous person --
Not that different than [chuckles] most americans.
Just had an addiction.
♪♪
-I hope he's made it to that place
Where he is okay with himself.
♪♪
You can't apologize anymore.
It's -- it's not necessary.
I heard in an interview one time,
Talking about how he took all the mirrors out of the house,
Or he broke the mirrors in the house
'cause he couldn't look at himself.
Put the mirrors back up.
-I look forward to seeing the relationships
That he has and develops with my siblings,
Because this isn't the end of his story.
It's just part of his story.
You know, it's just one more chapter.
♪♪
My granny sat down
And explained our family history to me.
My question to her was, "tell me about dad as a kid."
And it was amazing.
He was sensitive, caring,
Loved animals.
She talked about him being this gentle,
Tender, precocious kid.
And that's who you see in that picture of aurelian.
♪♪
-You know, I can't put it in stone,
But I will tell you this --
That I'm gonna work the rest of my life
Trying to get it right
And helping others that want to get it right.
My history will not be my destiny.
My past will not look like my future at all.
If you go and meet people that you performed in front of,
And you see a little glimmer in their eye,
Because they're going back to that moment,
And they're reliving it.
And I realize that I was such a big part of their life,
That there's millions and millions of people out there
That remember something about jake roberts.
And if you can't enjoy that, man, you're a damn fool.
[ rattling ]