WWE Hall of Famer Jake Roberts recently appeared on Primo Nutmeg Episode #53, and below are some interview highlights:
On His Biggest Influences in Wrestling at Georgia Championship Wrestling:
I was really going at it. I spent several years going up to the ranks, and very fortunate time for me, spending time with some of the best in the world, like the Brisco’s, and in the early years, Hiro Matsuda, Bob Sweetan, Buck Robley, had molded me into the man I became, especially Buck Robley who had an amazing influence on me. I remember a time with Stu Hart, which was really when I molded my character to say, okay, this is where I am going with it, and that lasted for about a year when I was there. Then, I went back to Louisiana, and in Louisiana you had to be on your game, and Mid-South demanded a lot out of you, and stressed to run with what you have and they ran my a** to the ground, and from there I went to Mid-Atlantic; which in Mid-Atlantic I had to change gears again because you had to be. You’re out there with [Ricky] Steamboat and [Roddy] Piper and Sgt. Slaughter, these guys were unbelievable. To be in the ring against them was just a whole other experience. With [Barry] Windham, to go up to Florida and face him one on one with many nights; to go, putting in 40-45 minutes a night, that was my first experience as a heel, and that was when it really exploded for me.
On Fans Cheering For Him in His Early Days With the WWF:
Well, one thing about the fans is that they don’t want to be part of a loser. They want to be part of the winning side; they want to be with someone that is cool and bad and all that stuff. It didn’t matter whether I was being beaten or not, because in people’s eyes I was unbeatable; I was all those things that you feared. Little kids loved me because when they were around Mommy and Daddy, the parents would mention how much they hated that damn snake, and anytime Mom and Dad said no, the kids would say yes; that’s just the way it is. They believed in the DDT, why not because it works. It was a simple move, anybody can do it.
On his dislike of The Honky Tonk Man:
Alice Cooper was absolutely talented and great; to be on that stage with over 93,000 fans, he almost passes out because it was just too much of a rush for him. It was pretty funny because he was sliding down my arms because he didn’t want fall down the end of the ring and fall forward, it was a long ways down. Working with the Honky Tonk Man at the time was okay, but since then he has become a real piece of s*it, you know, because he’s trying to buy people’s names and own them, and if you try to use your name you would have to pay him. He has tried it with too many people now. He has a few names under his belt; he took The Patriot, he has the trademark registration, so now any money that is made by The Patriot, the money goes to him. He even tried that with my name–can you believe that? That scumbag piece of s*it also owns Jim Duggan’s name. I hate to be The Honky Tonk Man when Jim Duggan gets a hold of him. It’s not going to be pretty. I ran into him recently and I just stared at him. The man has no balls; he just ducked his head and just sucked up to some girl that was working for him at the Con. I’ve seen it in the past where he would dress his son up and call him The Patriot and cheap the fans out of money and sell them bogus Patriot stuff, it’s like, come on man. What are you? I guess that is what drunks do; I used to be a drunk but I never did anything that dumb.
