Busted Open Satellite radio interviewed WWE legend Jake “The Snake” Roberts yesterday, here are some highlights from the program.<\/p>\n
On being proud of his Old School RAW return and dealing with sobriety:<\/b> “Big time. Big time. You gotta deal with each moment; that\u2019s part of sobriety. Is taking the hard stuff in the face and\u00a0 laying it out in front of you. And saying okay, here\u2019s where I go from there. Before it was just an F that and got drunk, got high. And woke up three days later with more problems. That\u2019s the funny thing about drugs and alcohol. There\u2019s no problem that gets better when you get high. It will be back.”<\/p>\n
On having to overcome changes in his life and heading in the right direction:<\/b> “Yeah, man. Oh god brother, it\u2019s–life is so wonderful, man. I mean it\u2019s great to wake up in the morning and remember what you did the night before. It\u2019s also great to wake up knowing that you have kids that love you and grandchildren that love you and they\u2019re not ashamed of you anymore. And they don\u2019t have to check in with you to make sure that you are in the visiting mode. Because there were a lot of days, man that I wouldn\u2019t answer the phone. A lot of days that I didn\u2019t want to talk to anybody. And a lot of days you didn\u2019t want to see me. It was just a point for me where it got to; I took down all the mirrors in my house cause I didn\u2019t want to look at my stupid ass. And what I became. But having said that; I\u2019ve been to a lot of rehabs. Compliments of WWE. But I\u2019ve also been to a few jails, but I never met anybody in a place who said you know what, Jake? When I was a kid, my dream was to grow up and become a drug addict or an alcoholic. Nobody dreams of that. Nobody wants that. But that\u2019s the animal you invite into your house man, if you start doing the wrong thing. People often say, \u201cWell Jake, why did you do drugs?\u201d Cause I liked that stuff! I liked it! It was cool for a while. A short while. But at some point, it no longer became a choice to do that drug or drink. It was a necessity. And as soon as it became a necessity, it takes the life away from you and it owns your life. So guys and girls out there, don\u2019t be a stupid snake and do that stuff. Because sooner or later, you\u2019re gonna pay the piper. If you do the dance, somebody\u2019s gonna pay the fiddler, okay? And that\u2019s that. Okay, now let\u2019s move on to happy shit.”<\/p>\n
On if he ever thought he’d be walking down the aisle in WWE again:<\/b> “No, god no. No, I\u2019d already given up on that man. That was one of the hardest things about getting sober was looking at the carnage I\u2019d created. And remembering some of these statements–oh my god! I must\u2019ve been so F upped. But you know what a drug addict or an alcoholic can justify any sin. I can justify murder when I\u2019m high. I can justify rape when I\u2019m high. I can justify anything when I\u2019m wanting my dope. And that\u2019s the sickness. And some of the stuff I said about WWE and McMahon and anybody else up there, was just me lashing out because of my hate for myself. That\u2019s not an excuse to do it. It shows me how big they are; not only to pay for rehab for an asshole that\u2019s going out here and blasting the hell out of them, but they also–for them to open the door and say \u201cDude, come back.\u201d And it\u2019s like are you serious? Cause I had given up on that. I\u2019d truly given up on them–I gave up on the Hall Of Fame, I gave up on everything.\u00a0 Like you know, what the hell man; Koko B. Ware\u2019s there and I\u2019m not? Are you serious? Geez. Warrior? Christ, man. That really hurts.”<\/p>\n
On Ultimate Warrior’s Hall Of Fame induction and how he and Warrior’s careers can’t be compared:<\/b> “I know, man! I know that. But maybe they\u2019re taking in assholes and not great talent. I don\u2019t know.”<\/p>\n
On WrestleMania XXX being in New Orleans and wanting to get into the Hall Of Fame:<\/b> “I know. If I was writing a book and I wanted a perfect ending; which I did write a book. About my life. It\u2019ll be coming out about April 1st, man. Because of my career and life; it\u2019s a trilogy. The first book is about the first 15-20 years of my life and career before I got to the WWE. And it\u2019s the most interesting part, I think. And it\u2019ll be coming out. There\u2019s also a movie Diamond Dallas Page has been working on since I started this process; this resurrection if you will. It\u2019ll be coming out soon. And I\u2019ve got so many great things happening in my life right now that to be honest with you, I don\u2019t know if I could fit that in! It\u2019s fun to say no. Of course I wouldn\u2019t say no (on being inducted to the HOF). Are you serious? I love wrestling, okay? I don\u2019t love wrestlers cause there are a lot of them–just cause they have tights, don\u2019t mean they\u2019re wrestlers, okay? But there are a lot of assholes–they can take that stuff off, put it in a big pile and moving forward; their boots, burn it and never come back to wrestling. You\u2019d be doing wrestling a favor. But no, I have a true passion for it. I\u2019ve got a lot that I want to offer now. Will it ever happen on the level that I want it? I doubt it. Cause I\u2019d certainly love to contribute to the product today. I would love to teach. I don\u2019t know if there\u2019s enough hours in the day to teach all the people I think I need to teach. But I would certainly try. I just love wrestling, man. Nobody understands it unless you\u2019ve been there. I\u2019m not talking about walking out and getting in the ring. I\u2019m talking about being a guy that–wrestling is the only lover I never cheated on, okay? I screwed around on my wife but when it came to wrestling brother, I was there. If I was f\u2019d up, I\u2019d go to the ring and put in twice the time. If I was sick–to me, that\u2019s the mark of a true professional. A true professional is somebody that at there physical and mental worst, they will go out and raise the bar and go above that bar. Because I felt guilty about if I got f\u2019d up the night before oh man, you jerk! How dare you cheat these fans? And I\u2019d go out and put in twice the time.”<\/p>\n
On being deserving of a Hall Of Fame induction:<\/b> “Well, whether you deserve it or not is not up to me man. And my life isn\u2019t dependent upon that. If it doesn\u2019t happen this year, maybe it\u2019ll happen next year. I can only hope. I\u2019m not going to let that take me down, man. Where as before, I could think of any reason to get high. \u2018I didn\u2019t get this; I didn\u2019t get that; they screwed me over this; they screwed me over that.\u2019 Yeah, yeah, yeah. I can fabricate any bullshit. But right now I\u2019m just stating what\u2019s the truth. The truth is I\u2019m not in there and that\u2019s okay. That\u2019s okay. Look, I came back to Raw, brother! And I stole the f\u2019ing show.”<\/p>\n
On Diamond Dallas Page:<\/b> “It\u2019s real simple. That guy saved my life man. That guy is changing millions of people\u2019s lives right now. If you don\u2019t do his program, you\u2019re an idiot. Bottom line. You\u2019re a fricking idiot. And it\u2019s fixed to get even grander and grander. Cause there\u2019s more things in the works, and once they get sprung on the public man; it\u2019s gonna blow your minds, man. I couldn\u2019t be more proud to be associated with him. Not only because what he did for me but more so for what he\u2019s done for all these other people. I mean it\u2019s crazy the number of people he has effected. The number of people he has brought back to real life. The number of effected people who have dropped a 100 lbs; a 125 lbs; 200 lbs! We have a guy that\u2019s dropped over 200 lbs and he\u2019s still 400 lbs. And this guy is doing it! I don\u2019t know how–he saves lives man. He is a constant; constantly on the move. Shaking and baking and meeting; talking. Everybody that buys his damn DVD; he calls them! Are you serious? This resurrection, this life is so good man. If you\u2019re not happy with your life, it\u2019s pretty simple: change it! Change it. If you\u2019re not happy with your woman, toss her. If you\u2019re not happy with your wife, divorce that and move on to the next one. It\u2019s your choice. You can lay in that sh*t and live, if you want to call it that. That\u2019s not living man; it\u2019s existence. Or you can start making changes. I\u2019ve dropped 75 lbs. I can get up and down. I can move now. I can wrestle again. When I retired two years ago, it left a big hole in my heart! I\u2019m 58 years old and I\u2019m in the best shape of the last 25-30 years. I\u2019m so pissed off at myself. Why didn\u2019t I do this sooner? Why didn\u2019t I do this sooner? Because the program is not that hard. It is not hard. I\u2019ll tell ya it is not hard to do. Anybody can do it. There\u2019s adjustments you can make and modifications you can make in this program. There\u2019s no–in a fricking wheelchair you can do this! So what\u2019s your excuse? If Jake Roberts can be clean and sober, lose 75 lbs, return to wrestling and be victorious in his resurrection; what the F is your excuse? That\u2019s all I got to say.”<\/p>\n
On where he ranks the Old School RAW moment in his career:<\/b> “I don\u2019t know man cause it hasn\u2019t really sunk in. I still keep waking up thinking, okay it didn\u2019t really happen. Okay, that did not happen. I don\u2019t know man. It was so surreal. It just hasn\u2019t sunk in. It hasn\u2019t sunk in. All this grandiosity and all that stuff man, it has not got into my bones yet. Because I denied it for so long. You understand? I said it wasn\u2019t going to happen for so long even though it has happened, I don\u2019t believe it. And maybe that\u2019s a good thing. Maybe I\u2019ll keep striving in the right direction. Having said that; they can\u2019t take it away from me, so f— them! (Laughing)”<\/p>\n