Editing Jake Roberts (section)

===Early career (1974–1986)===
[[File:Jake Roberts with Paul Orndorff in a sleeperhold, 1981.png|thumb|Roberts in a 1981 match against [[Paul Orndorff]]]]
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 [[Universal Wrestling Federation (Bill Watts)|Mid-South Wrestling]], [[Jim Crockett Promotions|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 the [[Junkyard Dog]].<ref>{{cite AV media |date=February 20, 2015 |title=Jim Ross Interviews 'Jake the Snake – Roberts' |work=YouTube |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6CbXzEgzZ0}}{{cbignore}}{{Dead Youtube links|date=February 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite AV media |date=December 10, 2012 |title=Jake Roberts vs. Big Daddy Ritter – Ladder Match: Stampede, July, 1979 |work=YouTube |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKxy6GJTTBQ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211222/KKxy6GJTTBQ |archive-date=December 22, 2021}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

It was in Georgia Championship Wrestling during 1983 that Roberts became part of [[Paul Ellering]]'s [[List of professional wrestling terms#S|stable]], the [[The Road Warriors#History|Legion of Doom]], and began a [[feud (professional wrestling)|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 [[Chris Adams (wrestler)|"Gentleman" Chris Adams]] and [[Gino Hernandez]] in their feud against the [[Von Erich family|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 that he was not considered a top talent even though he was getting the biggest crowd reactions.