Editing Jake Roberts (section)

===World Wrestling Federation (1986–1992)===
====Debut and championship pursuits (1986–1990)====
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 (wrestler)|George Wells]] at [[WrestleMania 2]]. During the match, Roberts made Wells foam from the mouth when he wrapped his snake Damien around Wells' head;<ref>{{cite web |last=Powell |first=John |title=WrestleMania 2: Caged Heat |publisher=Slam Wrestling |url=http://slam.canoe.com/Slam/Wrestling/Wrestlemania20/WrestleMania2.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150429201521/http://slam.canoe.com/Slam/Wrestling/Wrestlemania20/WrestleMania2.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 29, 2015 |access-date=July 12, 2016}}</ref> however, contrary to popular belief, he had been using the "Snake" nickname before his WWF debut, including while in Georgia Championship Wrestling.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WikQbnqAk0g</ref><ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9-MdpDZJlk</ref>

[[File:Jake Roberts snake Damien on Ricky steamboat 1986.png|thumb|Jake Roberts (left) puts his snake, Damien, on top of Ricky Steamboat (right), circa 1986]]
Roberts' first major feud was against [[Ricky Steamboat|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 (wrestler)|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.<ref name=WWF6389Book>{{cite book |last=Cawthon |first=Graham |year=2013 |title=the History of Professional Wrestling Vol 1: WWF 1963 – 1989 |publisher=CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform |isbn=978-1492825975}}</ref> 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]])<ref name=WWF6389Book/> until the final segment aired in July 1987.<ref name=Encyclopedia281>{{cite book |last1=Shields |first1=Brian |last2=Sullivan |first2=Kevin |year=2009 |title=WWE Encyclopedia |title-link=WWE Encyclopedia |publisher=[[Dorling Kindersley]] |isbn=978-0-7566-4190-0 |page=[https://archive.org/details/wweencyclopediad0000shie/page/281 281]}}</ref> [[File:Jake "The Snake" Roberts.jpg|thumb|right|Many of Roberts' storylines revolved around the use of his snake, Damien, seen here in the middle of the ring (March 7, 1989)]]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 [[WWE Intercontinental Championship|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 Ventura|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 [[WWE Championship|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.

He officially turned face when he feuded with [[The Honky Tonk Man]], an [[Elvis impersonator]], who attacked Roberts<ref>{{cite web |title=Honky Tonk man|website=WrestlingGoneWrong.com|url=http://www.wrestlinggonewrong.com/video/igw_jtsr.html  |access-date=December 19, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061109205735/http://www.wrestlinggonewrong.com/video/igw_jtsr.html |archive-date=9 November 2006 |url-status=usurped}}</ref> with a guitar during his interview segment ''The Snake Pit''. The Honky Tonk Man's guitar shot actually injured Roberts' neck, as at the time guitars were not prepared to break easily.<ref name=mf228>{{cite book |last=Foley |first=Mick |year=1999 |title=Have A Nice Day: A Tale of Blood and Sweatsocks |publisher=[[ReganBooks]] |isbn=978-0-06-039299-4 |page=288 |url=https://archive.org/details/mankindhaveniced00fole/page/228 |url-access=registration}}</ref> The Honky Tonk Man denies that he purposefully injured Roberts, although Honky's manager [[Jimmy Hart]], as well as a video of the incident (seen on the ''Pick Your Poison'' DVD) suggests otherwise with Roberts later claiming that he was picking pieces of wood out of his back for weeks after. The attack led to their match at WrestleMania III in which Roberts had [[Detroit]] native [[Alice Cooper]] (a known lover of snakes) in his corner. After Honky Tonk won the Intercontinental Championship from Ricky Steamboat, Roberts unsuccessfully challenged him for the Championship several times throughout the rest of 1987. The initial plan was for Roberts to win the Intercontinental Championship shortly after The Honky Tonk Man's win over Steamboat and begin an angle with [[Ted DiBiase|"the Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase]], but because of the injuries from the guitar shot, the decision was made to keep the belt with The Honky Tonk Man.<ref>{{cite web |date=January 9, 2014 |title=WWE: 10 Things You Need To Know About Jake 'The Snake' Roberts |website=WhatCulture.com |url=https://whatculture.com/wwe/wwe-10-things-need-know-jake-snake-roberts?page=7 |access-date=April 3, 2016}}</ref>

He then had a feud with [[Rick Rude|"Ravishing" Rick Rude]] and his manager [[Bobby Heenan|Bobby "the Brain" Heenan]], who began a gimmick of selecting a woman from the crowd to kiss after each match. On the April 23, 1988 edition of ''WWF Superstars of Wrestling'', Rude chose Roberts' real-life wife Cheryl, who refused the kiss and revealed that she was in fact the wife of Jake "the Snake".<ref name=history699>{{cite book |last=Cawthon |first=Graham |year=2013 |title=The History of Professional Wrestling: The Results WWF 1963–1989 |publisher=CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform |isbn=978-1-4928-2597-5 |pages=699}}</ref> After Rude began insulting Roberts, Cheryl slapped him, angering Rude before Roberts ran out for the save.<ref name=history699/> This began a heated feud throughout the summer of 1988, which escalated after Rude began wearing a pair of tights emblazoned with a visage of Mrs. Roberts, which an irate Roberts tore off.

[[File:Jake Roberts and Andre.jpg|thumb|[[André the Giant]] feuded with Roberts based on André's fear of snakes (pictured March 7, 1989)]]
Roberts moved from the feud with Rude into a feud with [[André the Giant]] who was also managed by Bobby Heenan. On the March 11, 1989, episode of ''[[Saturday Night's Main Event XX]]'', André got involved in a match between Rick Rude and [[Brutus Beefcake|Brutus "the Barber" Beefcake]], siding with fellow [[The Heenan Family|Heenan Family]] member Rude. Roberts came to the ring to help Beefcake, who eventually won by disqualification.<ref>{{cite book |last=Krugman |first=Michael |year=2009 |title=Andre the Giant: A Legendary Life |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=978-1439188132 |page=279}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Cawthon |first=Graham |title=Saturday Night's Main Event |publisher=The History of WWE |url=http://www.thehistoryofwwe.com/snme.htm |access-date=July 5, 2016}}</ref> Roberts used his snake Damien to scare Andre into an eventual "[[heart attack]]".<!--This appears to have been in January--the SNME interference was taped in February and broadcast in March--> Although the subsequent feud on the house show circuit saw André victorious after most of those matches, Roberts can claim a victory via disqualification over André after The Giant attacked special guest referee and former foe [[Big John Studd]] at [[WrestleMania V]].

During the first match of their feud in [[Los Angeles Sports Arena|Los Angeles]], André treated it like Jake was a jobber out there for an old fashioned squash match, giving Roberts virtually no offence and not selling anything Jake did to him. After the match, an angry Roberts physically confronted André in the locker room and told him that he had to give Jake something out there or the program just wouldn't work. The Giant simply answered "We're OK Boss. We're good now" and they went on from there. Jake later learned it had been a test from André to see if he went running to complain to management, or if he had the guts to confront him man to man. From then on André had no problem selling Jake's offence in the ring.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UdVOVu7Aaw Jake The Snake Roberts on Standing Up To Andre The Giant]</ref>

[[File:Jake Roberts vs. Rick Martel - 1991-01-27 - 01.jpg|thumb|Jake Roberts vs. [[Rick Martel]] at a WWF Live Event House Show in Omaha, Nebraska 1991]]
Shortly after his feud with André had ended, Roberts entered into a feud with Ted DiBiase. Instead of fighting for the Intercontinental Championship, the prize of the feud was DiBiase's own [[Million Dollar Championship]]. It was at this time that Roberts' problems with the discs in his back were publicly acknowledged, as DiBiase attacked Roberts after a victory over his bodyguard [[Mike Jones (wrestler)|Virgil]] on ''[[WWF Superstars of Wrestling]]''. In the attack, Roberts was (storyline) injured by DiBiase and needed time off to have surgery to repair the damage. Roberts returned and feuded with DiBiase throughout the end of 1989 into 1990, including a point where Roberts stole DiBiase's Million Dollar Belt, daring him or Virgil to reach into the canvas sack where Damien was to retrieve it. The culmination of their feud took place at [[WrestleMania VI]] at the [[Skydome]] in Toronto, wherein a match where the Million Dollar Belt was on the line, DiBiase gained a count-out victory over Roberts, thus regaining his non-sanctioned title. After the match, Roberts mounted an offensive against DiBiase and Virgil and then began giving away DiBiase's "money" including giving some money to actress [[Mary Tyler Moore]] who was seated at ringside.

Following a brief feud with [[Allen Coage|Bad News Brown]] in the summer of 1990, Roberts also feuded with [[Rick Martel|Rick "the Model" Martel]] throughout late 1990 into early 1991, after Martel ([[kayfabe]]) blinded Roberts by spraying his cologne "Arrogance" into his eyes. Roberts went so far as to wear white contact lenses to "prove" his blindness. After several months, the feud culminated in a match at [[WrestleMania VII]], in which both contestants were blindfolded (though both Roberts and Martel did later confess to having some limited vision due to mesh holes in the masks - these were briefly visible due to Jake putting his hand inside the mask after donning it shortly before the start of the match). The bout ended after Roberts was able to "locate" Martel and deliver a DDT.

====Final feuds and departure (1991–1992)====
In early to mid-1991, Roberts engaged in a feud with [[John Tenta|Earthquake]] who "squashed" Damien with a pair of [[professional wrestling attacks#Senton|Earthquake splashes]] during their match on the April 27 (taped March 26) edition of ''WWF Superstars of Wrestling''.<ref>{{cite web |last=Cawthon |first=Graham |title=Ring Results: 1991 |publisher=The History of WWE |url=http://www.thehistoryofwwe.com/91.htm |access-date=July 7, 2016}}</ref> In reality, Roberts' bag contained hamburger meat intended to look like a snake and a small mechanical device to depict movement, Roberts said in several shoot interviews that he wanted to be tied up in the ring ropes while Earthquake squashed Damien, because the original plan was for Roberts to be knocked out of the ring and not let him see it.<ref>{{cite web |last=Henry |first=Justin |date=January 2, 2015 |title=The Dominance of a Natural Disaster |publisher=The History of WWE |url=http://www.thehistoryofwwe.com/henry6.htm |access-date=July 7, 2016 |archive-date=February 16, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170216103231/http://www.thehistoryofwwe.com/henry6.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> The feud was advanced when, several weeks later, Earthquake appeared on ''WWF Prime Time Wrestling'' and served "Quakeburgers" to co-host [[Alfred Hayes (wrestler)|Lord Alfred Hayes]] and [[Vince McMahon]], later claiming that the meat was ground from Damien's carcass, which prompted McMahon to angrily knock the burger tray out of Earthquake's hands.<ref name=Wrestlecrap>{{cite book |last1=Reynolds |first1=RD |author1-link=RD Reynolds |last2=Baer |first2=Randy |year=2003 |title=Wrestlecrap – the very worst of pro wrestling |publisher=ECW Press |isbn=1-55022-584-7 |url=https://archive.org/details/wrestlecrapveryw00rdre}}</ref> Roberts later introduced a new snake, Damien's "big brother" Lucifer.<ref>{{cite web |last=Moore |first=Michael |date=August 14, 2012 |title=Collectible News: Action Figure Spotlight - 40-inch 'Damien' snake |publisher=Pro Wrestling Torch |url=http://www.pwtorch.com/artman2/publish/The_Specialists_34/article_64264.shtml#.V4Anl7grLIV |access-date=July 8, 2016}}</ref> Roberts and Earthquake feuded throughout most of late-spring and into the summer. Roberts defeated Earthquake on July 1, at [[Madison Square Garden]] with a DDT. The match featured André the Giant in Roberts' corner.

In the summer of 1991, there were a series of televised vignettes featuring the [[Warrior (wrestler)|Ultimate Warrior]] turning to Roberts for help in his feud with [[The Undertaker]]. In the set-up, Roberts explained to Warrior that, after passing three tests, he would have the "knowledge of the dark side" to defeat Undertaker. The segments included Warrior being locked inside a coffin (a reprise of an incident that occurred on ''The Funeral Parlor'', hosted by the Undertaker's manager, [[Paul Bearer]]; earlier in the year); the Warrior being "buried alive" in dirt before being abandoned; and Warrior walking through a room full of live snakes to reach a chest containing "the answer". During the latter segment, the Warrior opened the chest, only to be immediately bitten by a [[king cobra]] (actually a rubber prop). As Warrior "weakened" from the effects of the cobra's strike, Roberts was joined by The Undertaker and Paul Bearer, revealing the three were working together all along;<ref>{{cite book |last=Reynolds |first=R.D. |year=2003 |title=Wrestlecrap: The Very Worst of Pro Wrestling |publisher=[[ECW Press]] |isbn=978-1-55022-584-6 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/wrestlecrapveryw00rdre/page/70 70–71] |url=https://archive.org/details/wrestlecrapveryw00rdre/page/70}}</ref> Roberts closed the final segment by proclaiming, ''"I'm a snake. Never trust a snake."'', turning Roberts [[Heel (professional wrestling)|heel]] for the first time since 1987.<ref>{{cite book |last=Sammond |first=Nicholas |title=Steel Chair to the Head |year=2005 |publisher=[[Duke University Press]] |isbn=978-0-8223-3438-5 |pages=47–48}}</ref> A series of matches were planned, but the feud was canceled after the Ultimate Warrior was fired by the WWF the night of [[SummerSlam (1991)|SummerSlam]].

After SummerSlam, Roberts was placed in a feud with [[Randy Savage]]. During the post-SummerSlam wedding reception of Savage and [[Miss Elizabeth]] (in reality they had been married since 1984), Elizabeth opened a gift package containing a live cobra.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Fritz |first=Brian |date=August 20, 2015 |title=Macho Man marries Elizabeth -- 1991 |magazine=Sporting News |url=http://www.sportingnews.com/wwe/list/wwe-summerslam-best-moments-randy-savage-shawn-michaels-bret-hart-john-cena-brock-lesnar/8sknr46ybywb1vfpr0c19tmw3/slide/1 |access-date=July 5, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160818160556/http://www.sportingnews.com/wwe/list/wwe-summerslam-best-moments-randy-savage-shawn-michaels-bret-hart-john-cena-brock-lesnar/8sknr46ybywb1vfpr0c19tmw3/slide/1 |archive-date=August 18, 2016}}</ref> Roberts and the Undertaker attacked Savage, until [[Sid Eudy|Sid Justice]] ran them off. A short feud with Sid ensued when Sid was scheduled to wrestle "El Diablo" and the Undertaker came out and accepted the challenge to face Sid. Paul Bearer offered "El Diablo" what appeared to be a bribe to walk away. As the match began, "El Diablo" came back to the ring and hit Sid. Then "El Diablo" unmasked revealing himself as Jake. Roberts proceeded to unleash a king cobra on Sid, until Hacksaw Jim Duggan intervened. Sid and Jake wrestled on ''Superstars'' a week later. But soon, Sid injured his biceps, which forced the feud to end.<ref name=WWF6389Book/>

Roberts immediately began berating Randy Savage in a series of promos, aware that Savage – who had lost a retirement match to the Ultimate Warrior at Wrestlemania VII – was unable to exact revenge. On the November 23 (taped October 21) edition of ''WWF Superstars of Wrestling'', Roberts goaded Savage into the ring and brutally attacked him, eventually tying Savage into the ropes and got the king cobra to bite his arm; the snake was devenomized and, according to Roberts' DVD ''Pick Your Poison'', he had trouble getting the cobra to release his bite. According to Roberts, on the day the angle was shot, he had to let the cobra bite him on his leg at Savage's request to convince him that the snake had been devenomized and Savage would regularly check on Roberts to make sure he had no side effects from the bite. The segment went on longer than planned, and Savage's blood was clearly visible as it dripped from the puncture wounds. Savage stated in a shoot interview that his arm swelled and he developed a high fever afterward and had to be checked at a hospital. He also stated that the cobra died a week after the angle and he joked that the cobra must have got the venom from him.

WWF president [[Jack Tunney]] reinstated Savage as an active wrestler to get revenge for the attack. To explain the absence of the cobra, Tunney "banned" Roberts from ever bringing a snake to the ring again. Savage and Roberts feuded for the next few months. Their first match was at [[This Tuesday in Texas]] [[pay-per-view]] on December 3 in San Antonio, Texas, which saw Savage earn a victory over Roberts. Despite this, Roberts would perform the DDT on Savage 3 times after the match and things came to a head when Roberts slapped Miss Elizabeth. The feud continued through the early part of 1992 and included Savage eliminating Roberts from that year's [[Royal Rumble (1992)|Royal Rumble]] match for the vacant [[WWE Championship|WWF World Heavyweight Championship]]. The feud ended on ''[[Saturday Night's Main Event XXX]]'', with Savage getting the win. Roberts, livid at having lost to him and having received two of Savage's flying elbow drops (one of which after the match), was helped backstage. Enraged, he grabbed a steel chair and said that he was going to hit whoever came backstage first, whether it was Savage or Elizabeth. Just as Roberts was about to swing the chair, he was stopped by the Undertaker; Roberts was distracted long enough for Savage to hit him with the chair instead. That incident helped set up Roberts' feud with the Undertaker. Roberts stated in a shoot interview with Jim Ross that the feud with Savage had to end early because Elizabeth's parents were upset with Savage for not protecting Elizabeth when Roberts kayfabe slapped her.

Roberts appeared on ''The Funeral Parlor'' to demand answers from the Undertaker about why he stopped him from attacking Elizabeth. When Roberts was dissatisfied with the answers, he hit Bearer with a DDT and, after jamming Undertaker's hand in a coffin, began hitting him with a steel chair; however, Undertaker got up after each chair shot and eventually chased Roberts backstage dragging the coffin behind him. At [[WrestleMania VIII]], Roberts lost the match, [[The Streak (professional wrestling)|becoming the second man to lose to The Undertaker at WrestleMania]].<ref name=WWF6389Book/>

The WrestleMania VIII match turned out to be Roberts' last for the WWF for nearly four years. His departure came after he was upset that WWF chairman [[Vince McMahon]] did not offer him a position on the writing staff, despite being promised such previously. After [[Pat Patterson (wrestler)|Pat Patterson]] stepped down from his post on the writing staff stemming from the recent sexual harassment scandal, McMahon decided that, out of respect for Patterson, the spot would be left vacant. Roberts felt he was not only being lied to, but also being betrayed. In response, he threatened to [[List of professional wrestling terms#N|no-show]] WrestleMania if he was not given a release from his contract.<ref>Kaye, Griffin (2020-10-27). [https://prowrestlingstories.com/pro-wrestling-stories/jake-roberts-wcw/ ''Jake Roberts in WCW: Money, Grudges, and Personal Ruin'']. ''Pro Wrestling Stories''. Retrieved 2022-08-01.</ref> On his ''Pick Your Poison'' DVD, Roberts expressed his regret for his actions to get a release from his contract.