Jake Roberts

Early life

Aurelian Smith Jr. was born in Gainesville, Texas. His father, Aurelian "Grizzly" Smith (1932–2010), also a wrestler, left his mother when she was 17 by which time she had given birth to another child. Roberts lived with his grandmother until she died in 1966, forcing him to move back to live with his father and his new wife. Roberts had a strained relationship with his pedophilic father, and was sexually and physically abused by his stepmother during his childhood, which included vaginal penetration - his father was doing the same thing to his daughters (Aurelian Jr.'s sisters) too. He has a half-brother, Michael Smith, and a half-sister, Robin Smith, both of whom also became wrestlers. During the late 1980s, all three wrestled at the same time for the WWF (now WWE).

Professional wrestling career

Early career (1974–1986)

Roberts started his career in 1974 in the Louisiana area, as a referee and a year later, made his debut as a wrestler, making his name in Mid-South Wrestling, Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling and Georgia Championship Wrestling. Roberts had trouble developing his character, so in the late 1970s he traveled to Canada to wrestle. While in Stampede Wrestling, Roberts feuded with Big Daddy Ritter, later known as the Junkyard Dog.

It was in Georgia Championship Wrestling during 1983 that Roberts became part of Paul Ellering's stable, the Legion of Doom, and began a feud with Ron Garvin over the NWA National Television Championship that lasted into 1984. In 1984, Roberts entered World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW) joining up with "Gentleman" Chris Adams and Gino Hernandez in their feud against the Von Erichs, winning the WCCW Television title and 6-Man Tag Team title (with Adams and Hernandez). Roberts returned to Mid-South Wrestling for 1985, ending his run there in February 1986 with a feud with Dick Slater after being told by management, namely Terry Taylor that he was only considered the "Number 5 babyface" even though he was getting the biggest crowd reactions.

World Wrestling Federation (1986–1992)

Roberts debuted in the World Wrestling Federation on March 8, 1986, at the Boston Garden defeating Jose Luis Rivera. A month later, he made his pay-per-view debut, defeating George Wells at WrestleMania 2. During the match, Roberts made Wells foam from the mouth when he wrapped his snake Damien around Wells' head; however, contrary to popular belief, he had been using the "Snake" nickname before his WWF debut, including while in Georgia Championship Wrestling.

Roberts' first major feud was against Ricky "the Dragon" Steamboat, beginning on a nationally televised episode of Saturday Night's Main Event VI in May 1986. Roberts executed the DDT on Steamboat on the exposed concrete floor right in front of his wife Bonnie and then proceeded to rest his snake Damien on top of a prone Steamboat. While Vince McMahon and booker George Scott were adamant about wanting the DDT to take place on the floor, Roberts initially refused until Steamboat told him that he would be able to adequately protect himself from injury. Unfortunately, Steamboat was unable to stop his head from hitting the concrete and was rendered unconscious, sustaining a concussion. After Steamboat's recovery, Steamboat introduced a "Komodo dragon" as his pet to combat the psychological effects of Roberts' snake. The feud continued with Steamboat winning most of the matches (losing only one because he threw Roberts back in the ring before the 10 count, while not beating the count himself), most notably a Snake Pit Match (ostensibly a no-DQ match) at The Big Event in Toronto, and the rematch on the October 1986 edition of Saturday Night's Main Event VII.

Recognizing his microphone skills, Roberts was given his own talk segment called "The Snake Pit", which debuted on the first episode of WWF Wrestling Challenge in late 1986. "The Snake Pit" was patterned after "Piper's Pit", wherein Roberts would conduct interviews with wrestlers or managers to help push wrestlers and get feuds over with the crowd. The segment was eventually moved to WWF Superstars of Wrestling (to replace "Piper's Pit" after Roddy Piper's retirement following WrestleMania III) until the final segment aired in July 1987. In late 1986, Roberts began to enjoy an upsurge in fan popularity, despite the WWF's attempts to cast him as an unpopular villain. In November 1986, Roberts challenged Randy Savage for the Intercontinental Championship. Before the match, announcer Vince McMahon said the fans would probably support Savage against the disliked Roberts. However, to the surprise of both McMahon and fellow broadcaster Jesse "The Body" Ventura, the fans cheered loudly for Roberts throughout the bout. The match ended in a double disqualification. Around the same time, the WWF had also tried to set Roberts up as a nemesis to then fan-favorite WWF World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan, and challenging him for the title. However, after Roberts hit Hogan with a DDT during an episode of The Snake Pit, fans responded positively to the attack by chanting "DDT" rather than for Hogan, and McMahon abandoned his plans for a feud between them. Years later in a 2015 shoot interview, Roberts jokingly thanked the fans for ruining what would have been the biggest (and most profitable) run of his career as at the time Hogan was the biggest and most popular babyface and a run against Hogan would have meant main event television and pay-per-view matches.

World Championship Wrestling (1992)

Roberts went on to work for World Championship Wrestling (WCW) alongside his father, Grizzly Smith, where he aligned himself with The Barbarian and Cactus Jack to feud against Sting and Nikita Koloff. However, before he could officially join WCW, he had to wait 90 days. According to the Pick Your Poison DVD, Roberts had initially signed a lucrative contract under Kip Allen Frey, who was running WCW at the time. On the 87th day, Frey stepped down and was replaced by Bill Watts, for whom Roberts had legit heat with back in his days at Mid-South Wrestling. Ultimately, Roberts estimates that he went from making about $3.5 million (equivalent to $8.03 million in 2025) a year to approximately $200,000 (equivalent to $459,000 in 2025) a year.

Roberts made his first television appearance on August 2, 1992, at a Main Event taping in Baltimore, Maryland after coming through the crowd to attack Sting. His first WCW match came six days later when he defeated Marcus Alexander Bagwell on a house show in Chicago, Illinois. He would quickly ally with Cactus Jack and The Barbarian. His first major TV wrestling appearance for WCW was at Clash of the Champions XX, where his team won a 4-man elimination tag match. Roberts scored a pinfall victory over Sting, which built their feud further. His single WCW pay-per-view match was against Sting at Halloween Havoc in 1992. Their match was determined via the Spin the Wheel, Make the Deal gimmick. When the wheel stopped, it had landed on what many observers believed was the worst option — the Coal Miner's Glove match. While Halloween Havoc was the company's top-selling pay-per-view for several years, Roberts soon left WCW.

Following the loss to Sting he continued his feud, facing him on several house shows immediately after the event. On the November 2 episode of Saturday Night, Tony Schiavone conducted a sit-down interview with Roberts regarding the decision of Bill Watts to ban his bringing of the snake to ringside, and his impending first-round match against Dustin Rhodes in the first round of the King of Cable tournament. He was replaced in the tournament by The Barbarian.

Various promotions (1993–1994)

After leaving WCW, Roberts spent his next couple of years wrestling around the world. In February 1993, he took part in a tour in Australia. He won the American Wrestling Federation Heavyweight Title defeating Don Muraco on March 4. Then in April 1993, he toured Europe, particularly Austria and Germany. In September 1993, he took part wrestling a tour for New Japan Pro-Wrestling.

Roberts debuted in the Mexican promotion Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA) in April 1993, causing the defeat of Konnan in the career vs. career match at Triplemanía I. Roberts' run-in started a feud that lasted until 1994 at Triplemanía II-C, in which Konnan defeated Roberts in a hair vs. hair match which Roberts got his long hair cut off and shaved bald.

In the spring of 1994, Roberts returned to the United States to wrestle for Smoky Mountain Wrestling (SMW). On May 2, he defeated Tony Anthony to win the SMW Heavyweight Championship; the title change aired on May 14. Roberts no-showed several defenses, forcing SMW to give the title back to Anthony on July 5. By the end of 1994, Roberts took a hiatus.

Return to WWF (1996–1997)

After spending over a year in hiatus, Roberts returned to WWF at the Royal Rumble in 1996, as a Bible-preacher. To go along with his new gimmick, his new albino Burmese python was named "Revelations". His gimmick also mirrored his real life, as Roberts had recently become a born-again Christian and had been preaching around the country.

During his second tenure with the company, Roberts was pushed as a "Cinderella story" and faced Stone Cold Steve Austin in the final match of the 1996 King of the Ring tournament. Changes had to be made to the match's scripting as legitimate injuries sustained earlier in the evening in a match with Vader left Roberts unable to engage in the longer, more evenly matched bout originally intended between the men. To prevent Roberts from sustaining a further injury, he was quickly defeated by Austin; in a post-match interview, Austin mocked his recital of the biblical passage John 3:16 by saying, "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!" The catchphrase helped propel Austin to the top of the WWF, and is one of the moments that is often cited as helping to kickstart the Attitude Era. Roberts next feuded with Jerry "The King" Lawler, who went to great lengths to ridicule Roberts' past alcoholism.

In early 1997, the WWF wanted Roberts to wind down his in-ring career and join the company's backstage side. Since he still loved to wrestle, he did not make this transition well. This led to a relapse with drugs and alcohol. He appeared at the 1997 Royal Rumble where he entered at no. 7 and was eliminated by Stone Cold Steve Austin. His last match with WWF was at Shotgun Saturday Night on January 25, 1997, against Salvatore Sincere in a winning effort. He was released in March 1997 after not only for being deemed too out of shape for WrestleMania, but also for being frustrated by the behavior of Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart backstage, and was a part of a creative team that had to mediate their real-life backstage bickering.

Extreme Championship Wrestling (1997–1998)

During the summer of 1997, Roberts debuted in ECW. His introduction came towards the end of a match between Lawler and Tommy Dreamer, which was the main event of the show. As the match went on, the arena lights were turned off. Moments later when the lights came back on, Roberts was already in the ring, and proceeded to give Tommy Dreamer a clothesline. He then went to the camera man and screamed; "Your God... he giveth, and he can taketh away. My God, he giveth... but he ain't got the balls to do nothin' else." He promptly clotheslined Lawler, who fell onto Dreamer for a two count before exiting the ring.

Roberts also teamed with Tommy Dreamer at the 1998 November to Remember as his mystery partner defeating Justin Credible and Jack Victory.

Independent circuit (1999–2018)

In October 1999, Roberts was one of several former NWA, WWF, and ECW wrestlers brought in to compete in the first Heroes of Wrestling event in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. He was booked to face Jim Neidhart in one half of the card's double main event in what was billed as a "special grudge match" between the two. Roberts was so intoxicated that during the course of the night, he slurred his way through a promo before the match and staggered to, from, and around the ring during his entrance. After doing such things as pretending his snake was a penis and stroking it like he was masturbating and attempting to kiss the snake with his tongue, the show's promoter sent King Kong Bundy and Yokozuna, who were supposed to compete in the other main event match, to the ring and made the main event a tag team match with Roberts teaming with Yokozuna against Bundy and Neidhart. Roberts, who was so drunk that he could not stand up, took the fall in the match after Bundy splashed and pinned him.

In 2001, Roberts moved to Great Britain, where he began competing for Brian Dixon's All Star Wrestling. In December, he made his debut for Ricky Knight's World Association of Wrestling in Lowestoft. On October 20, 2002, Roberts became the NWA UK Hammerlock Heavyweight Champion in Maidstone, Kent, England by defeating "Vigilante" Johnny Moss. Moss regained the title the next night in Ashford, Kent, though. In November 2002, Roberts started his own wrestling promotion in the UK, called "Real Stars of Wrestling". RSOW ran three events, each headlined by Roberts vs. The Honky Tonk Man.

Roberts made his final British appearance at WAW's October Outrage show in Canvey Island, Essex, once again teaming with Steve Quintain against the UK Pitbulls. However, Roberts turned up at the show "in no fit state to compete", but went ahead with his match. Roberts cut a drunken promo paying tribute to Ray Traylor, who had died a few days before, and almost got into a scuffle with several WAW wrestlers who were sent out to defuse the situation.

Roberts made an appearance at Booker T's Houston-based Pro Wrestling Alliance (PWA) promotion, in which he cut a promo urging those who want to enter the wrestling business to not follow along his path. At one point, he said he loved the wrestling business more than anything else in the world. PWA wrestler "Rockstar" Robbie Gillmore then interrupted Roberts and attempted to make an alliance based upon the fact that Robbie wears an 80s style shirt featuring a cobra. Roberts had just said all he ever wanted was a little respect, and the Rockstar's interruption irritated him. Roberts then attacked Gillmore.

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2006, 2008)

Roberts made an appearance on the October 19, 2006 episode of TNA Impact!. He announced he would referee the Monster's Ball match between Brother Runt, Abyss, Raven, and Samoa Joe at Bound for Glory. Roberts then gave a "mumbling" promo. After Roberts took his snake out of a bag, Brother Runt told him to put it away. Roberts performed a DDT on Runt instead. At Bound for Glory, he performed a DDT on Raven, which helped Samoa Joe win the match. After the match, Roberts placed his snake on Raven.

Roberts made a one-night return to TNA in 2008 as a guest of "Black Machismo" Jay Lethal and SoCal Val's storyline wedding at Slammiversary.

Second return to WWE (2005, 2014–present)

Roberts made an appearance on March 14, 2005, on Raw, where he confronted Randy Orton, who was preparing to challenge The Undertaker at WrestleMania 21. Roberts warned Orton that facing The Undertaker, particularly at WrestleMania, could be a soul-altering experience; he then fell victim to Orton's "RKO," helping to fuel Orton's "Legend Killer" gimmick. He worked with the company to create a DVD retrospective of his career (the aforementioned Pick Your Poison DVD), which was released later that year.

In 2013, Roberts announced his desire to return to WWE as a participant in the 2014 Royal Rumble.

On January 6, 2014, Roberts made an appearance on the "Old School" episode of Raw, laying a python over the face of an unconscious Dean Ambrose. Roberts was announced as part of the 2014 Class of the WWE Hall of Fame. He was inducted by Diamond Dallas Page on April 5, 2014. Regarding his Hall of Fame induction, he later said, "It wasn't at all what I expected... it was more about healing between a man and his family." After his induction Roberts signed a legends deal with WWE, allowing him to appear on WWE programming and video games, and would also be a regular on WWE Story Time, even making an appearance on the show after his AEW debut.

All Elite Wrestling (2019–2026)

In 2019 during The Road to All Out, Roberts appeared as a dealer at a blackjack table dealing cards to Women's Casino Battle Royale participants, referring to his infamous "you wanna play 21?" promo from 1999. On March 4, 2020, he made a surprise appearance on AEW Dynamite, interrupting Cody and warning him that he had a "client" incoming to AEW to bring him down. On March 11, 2020, Roberts revealed Lance Archer as his new client. Roberts would manage Archer during the tournament for the AEW TNT Championship, where Archer was able to make it to the finals at Double or Nothing on May 23, 2020, before losing to Cody Rhodes after Mike Tyson prevented Roberts from interfering on Archer's behalf. In July 2021, Roberts announced he had signed a 2-year contract extension with AEW. Roberts would continue to sporadically appear with Archer throughout 2022 and 2023.

On February 1, 2023, it was announced that Roberts, along with Mark Henry, Paul Wight, and Shawn Dean was named a special advisor in AEW's community outreach program, titled AEW Together. In a press release, their roles were explained as "they will bring their experience and passion for community relations to help identify partner organizations across the country, assist in incorporating talent participation and provide counsel on enhancing activations."

On the October 8, 2024 episode of Dynamite, Roberts acquired La Facción Ingobernable or LFI (Rush, Dralístico, and The Beast Mortos) from Don Callis in exchange for Lance Archer. Roberts would manage the group until November, before being taken off television. In February 2025, LFI returned without Roberts. In July 2026, Roberts confirmed that he was no longer under contract with AEW.

Professional wrestling persona

Roberts derived his nickname for seeming snake-like and untrustworthy. On the Pick Your Poison DVD, he claimed he got his nickname by copying Oakland Raiders quarterback Ken "The Snake" Stabler (of whom he was a fan). To accentuate this, he often slid ("slithered") into and out of the ring on his belly under the bottom rope. His ring name "Jake Roberts" was extrapolated from the initials of J. R. Ewing, the similarly backhanded character from the TV series Dallas. Once he reached the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in March 1986, he would bring a Burmese python (most were named "Damien") to ringside in a canvas bag. Other types used were a reticulated python named Lucifer, an unnamed devenomized cobra, and an albino Burmese python named Revelations (during Roberts's Christian conversion gimmick in 1996). After executing a DDT for the pin, he would place a python on the opponent, to various reactions.

In later time, Roberts, who in real life was actually extremely paranoid of snakes, acknowledged that he actually came with the idea for the Snake gimmick during a time he was "shooting my mouth off" while stoned.

Roberts has been praised for his ring psychology. Jim Ross said he also stands out for his promo work. Ted DiBiase said he enjoyed working with Roberts, and Bad News Brown called him his second-best opponent. Randy Savage said he enjoyed his run with Roberts, whose work was impressive.

Spoken word career

In 2018, Roberts embarked on his a series of spoken word shows dubbed The Dirty Details Tour, subtitled "Tales From The Pit". According to social media the tour was to feature "an uncensored night of comedy, stories from the road, Q&A and more". The tour kicked off on November 6, 2018, at the Lookout Lounge in Omaha, Nebraska.

Other media

In the late 1980s, Roberts made a guest appearance on the DJ Kat Show on Fox, challenging DJ to a match after the Kat had badmouthed the profession.

In 1996, Roberts, Vader, and Brother Love appeared on the ABC sitcom Boy Meets World for one episode.

In 1999, Roberts was unflatteringly featured in the wrestling documentary Beyond the Mat. Throughout the film, he made confessions about his tragic past, including the murder of his sister by her husband's ex-wife and the collapse of his marriage. He was also shown enjoying the taste of a post match cigarette. Amongst the more disturbing moments was Roberts reportedly smoking crack in a hotel room after a reunion with his daughter Brandy, though the act is not shown on camera. In 2005, Roberts, along with others, heavily criticized the film for showing him in a negative light, complaining that the depiction of him was "not the real Jake Roberts." Roberts also stated that director Barry Blaustein and Terry Funk lied to him about the aims of the film, telling him it was a television special on the effects of drug and alcohol abuse.

From 2013 to 2015 Roberts voiced himself in 6 episodes of Lucas Bros. Moving Co.

Roberts was featured in another wrestling documentary in 2015 entitled The Resurrection of Jake the Snake, which chronicled his time living with Diamond Dallas Page beginning in October 2012.

Roberts appeared as Mr. Lucas, the owner of a gourmet condom company, in the comedy film, The Bet which also featured Dallas Page and Roddy Piper. In 2018 he lent his voice to the horror film Parts Unknown.

Roberts also made an appearance in An Almost True Story: TOXIC TUTU in 2015, as himself, in a scene with Jonny Fairplay from Survivor.

Roberts has a role in the 2019 film The Peanut Butter Falcon. That same year Roberts also voiced the Dart Playing Thug in two episodes of Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure. He played Remy in the 2022 drama thriller Out of Exile.

Personal life

Roberts is the son of wrestler Grizzly Smith. From Smith, he has two half-siblings whom are also wrestlers, Sam Houston and Rockin' Robin.

Roberts has been married three times. In 2023, Roberts resumed his romantic relationship with his ex-wife Cheryl.

Although snakes were a major part of his wrestling persona, Roberts has openly acknowledged a lifelong fear of snakes. According to Roberts, his aversion to snakes originated in his youth as venomous snakes are common in his Texas homeland. Roberts has further stated that the stress and paranoia triggered from working with snakes was a major contributor to his drug and alcohol abuse.

Animal cruelty

In 2004, during his stay in Britain, Roberts was charged with and was convicted of causing unnecessary suffering to a Burmese python that had been used in his wrestling act. Reports from the time stated that the snake was severely underfed, suffered from health problems including mouth rot, and later died after being seized by animal welfare authorities.

The python involved in that case was not the original WWF snake known as "Damien." The original Damien from Roberts' wrestling career had died years earlier. The animal in the court case was a different python that Roberts kept later in life.

Health

Roberts is known for his raspy, whispery voice. He revealed in 2023 that it was the product of an accident in the ring involving a fight with former Olympian Bob Roop in 1975, in which he dropped a knee on Roberts' throat and accidentally crushed his voice box. The injury led to Roberts speaking in a lower register.

In 2007, WWE started a policy of paying all expenses for its former performers who wanted to start drug rehabilitation programs. Roberts was placed in a 14-week voluntary rehab program by WWE in December 2007. In May 2008, Jim Ross reported that Roberts "has been doing well the past few weeks, after completing a treatment program".

In October 2012, while financially distressed and having resumed abusing alcohol and drugs, Roberts moved in with former wrestler Diamond Dallas Page in Atlanta, Georgia. This event was chronicled in the documentary The Resurrection of Jake the Snake. His weight had ballooned to over 300 lb (136 kg) and he was having trouble doing simple tasks such as walking without becoming short of breath. During filming, Roberts had shoulder surgery which was financed through crowdfunding. After 18 months, he had lost over 50 lb (22 kg) and improved his mobility attributed in part to Page's yoga program.

In February 2014, TMZ reported that Roberts had muscular cancer below his knee and was scheduled for surgery. In a response to the article, Roberts was quoted as saying, "If the devil can't defeat me, cancer doesn't stand a chance in hell! Pray for sick children who face this horrible disease 'cause The Snake will be just fine." In July 2014, he announced that he was cancer-free after various surgeries.

In August 2014, Roberts fell ill during a flight from Atlanta to Las Vegas, where he was scheduled to attend a birthday event for fellow wrestler Nick Cvjetkovich. First reports indicated that Roberts had fallen unconscious, but his manager/lawyer, Kyle P. Magee, confirmed that Roberts was alert and awake during the flight and notified the flight attendant of his pain and shortness of breath. Magee said Roberts was medically induced to a "coma-like" state in order to treat pneumonia. He was diagnosed with the flu two weeks earlier and ignored doctors' advice of rest and continued to travel to events. Upon arrival at the ICU in Las Vegas, he was diagnosed with double pneumonia. Doctors also found an abnormality on his brain which they felt could be a result of all the bumps Roberts took over his long career.

Championships and accomplishments

All-Star Wrestling Network (Georgia)

AWN World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

Americas Wrestling Federation (Puerto Rico)

AWF Puerto Rico Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

Bad Boys of Wrestling

BBOW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

Cauliflower Alley Club

Men's Wrestling Award (2013)

Georgia Championship Wrestling

NWA National Television Championship (1 time)

NWA World Television Championship (Georgia version) (2 times)

One Night Tournament (1984)

Mid-South Wrestling Association

Mid-South Louisiana Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

Mid-South North American Heavyweight Championship (2 times)

Mid-South Television Championship (1 time)

Mid-South Television Championship Tournament (1986)

Pro Wrestling Federation

PWF Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Mike Blade