Biography

Jake Roberts

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Aurelian Smith Jr. better known by the ring name Jake "The Snake" Roberts, is an American professional wrestler and actor signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) where he performs as manager to Lance Archer. He is best known for his two stints in the World Wrestling Federation (later called WWE); the first between 1986 and 1992, and the second between 1996 and 1997. He wrestled in the National Wrestling Alliance in 1983, World Championship Wrestling in 1992, and the Mexico-based Asistencia Asesoría y Administración between 1993 and 1994 and again in 1997. He appeared in Extreme Championship Wrestling during the summer of 1997 and made appearances for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling from 2006 through 2008.

Throughout his career, Roberts was known for his intense and cerebral promos, dark charisma, extensive use of psychology in his matches, and innovative use of the DDT finishing move (which was later named the "coolest" maneuver of all time by WWE). He often brought snakes into the ring, most famously a python. He was one of the subjects of the 1999 documentary film Beyond the Mat. In 2012, he moved in with fellow wrestler Diamond Dallas Page to seek help in getting his life back on track following years of alcohol and drug addiction, a period covered in the 2015 documentary The Resurrection of Jake the Snake. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame on April 5, 2014, and the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum in 2020.
- IMDb mini biography by: Bonitao

His King Cobra actually bit the "Macho Man" Randy Savage. The snake had been de-venomised, though.
Wound up on a painkiller addiction due to a legitimate neck and back injury when Wayne Farris (aka "The Honky Tonk Man") hit him with an un-gimmicked guitar on his interview show "The Snake Pit". Because Roberts couldn't take the time off immediately to get it repaired, he spent about 18 months taking a load of painkillers and muscle relaxers to get to sleep, then taking something else after he woke up to get him ready for a match.
His signature move, the DDT, was invented by accident. Once during a match in his National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) days, Roberts had his opponent, Lynn Denton (aka "The Grappler"), in a front face-lock, but was tripped. His opponent fell on his head, actually knocking him out.
WWE Hall of Famer.
Credited with training Diamond Dallas Page and Raven.

[describing how he handled dealing with his neck and back injury from the guitar shot he took on The Snake Pit from Wayne Farris, aka The Honky Tonk Man] I took so many downers, muscle relaxers and painkillers to kill the pain that I had to have something to get me up for the show.
I'm not happy about where I've been, but I'm truly excited about where I'm going.

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