Like DiBiase and Savage and so many other Superstars, Roberts was born into the wrestling business. The son of NWA/AWA/WWA grappler Grizzly Smith, Jake entered the ring in the Louisiana territory of the early 1970s. He moved on to Mid-South, where he was mentored by the legendary Mr. Wrestling II. From there, he went to Georgia Championship Wrestling and joined “Precious” Paul Ellering’s original Legion of Doom stable alongside King Kong Bundy, Buzz Sawyer, the Spoiler, and of course, the Road Warriors Hawk & Animal.
Roberts then joined NWA, where he had an intense NWA World Television Championship feud with the great Ronnie Garvin and perfected his trademark finishing move, the DDT. Jake returned to Mid-South for a television title feud with Dick Slater, but was soon invited up to New York to become a featured World Wrestling Federation wrestler.
He shocked Federation fans by nailing a DDT against his former NWA tag partner, Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat, on the concrete floor outside the ring. Before long, Roberts found himself drawing more cheers than heat and turned babyface. He hosted his own segment, The Snake Pit, which saw him unleashing streams of darkly philosophical consciousness while interviewing his fellow superstars.
André’s entanglement with Roberts began at SummerSlam, when André’s fellow Heenan Family member, “Ravishing” Rick Rude, came to the ring wearing tights airbrushed with a painting of Jake’s wife, Cheryl. Later, Rude wore the offending garb to another match, prompting Roberts to run in and remove them, leaving Rude nude. The Giant officially entered the picture on the October 1988 installment of Saturday Night’s Main Event.
October 25, 1988: Baltimore Arena, Baltimore, MD
SATURDAY NIGHT’S MAIN EVENT: “RAVISHING” RICK RUDE (W/BOBBY HEENAN) VS. JAKE “THE SNAKE” ROBERTS
Bobby Heenan and Rick Rude enter the ring, with the Ravishing One wearing the provocative ring attire that kickstarted this rivalry. Backstage, Mr. and Mrs. “The Snake” (accompanied by Damien, of course) are interviewed by Mean Gene. First and foremost on Okerlund’s mind are Rude’s “insulting tights.”
“The whole Heenan Family are just like flies,” Jake hisses, “flies buzzin’ around our garden. And I’ve got the DDT.”
Roberts comes to the ring with wife and snake in tow. Rude taunts them with his patented pelvis-pumping and hip-thrusting. Jake seems cool but finally reaches his limit. He grits his teeth in anger and attacks Rude. They tie up, and soon Rude has the advantage, shoulderblocking Jake in the corner. Roberts counters with a forearm to the back and soon has Rude dancing around the ring in a wristlock. Rude counters by sending Jake into the ropes.
Roberts slingshots over Rude, off the ropes again, Rude leapfrogs, turns around, and gets a right to the belly. A DDT is attempted, and Rude slips out of the ring to confer with Heenan. Roberts reaches down and pulls Rude up by his hair. On the apron, Rick rakes the Snake’s eyes. Roberts tries the wristlock and short-arm clothesline, misses, and receives a short arm from Rude. Forearm smash sends Jake into the corner; Rude smashes his face into the buckle. Roberts misses a roundhouse right, but Rude connects. Jake swings wildly, but Rude lands another. Roberts goes down, Rude drops an elbow.
As Jake sells, Rick visits Cheryl in the corner. Roberts gets up, but Rude is there with a kidney punch and whips him into the opposite buckle. Rude returns to Cheryl and gives her a bit of the pelvic thrust.
“She’s loving every minute of it,” says Jesse Ventura.
Rude drives another fist into the small of Jake’s back, turning him into a forearm smash. Whip to the far side. Rude turns to Cheryl, not seeing Jake’s quick return, and spins around into a clothesline. A series of lefts followed by a right to the throat knocks Rude to the mat, his head hitting the canvas hard. An inverted atomic drop is followed by a face plant onto the mat. Jake puts Rick’s neck on the bottom rope and pulls his arms back, giving Cheryl the opportunity to slap him.
“That is sickening, McMahon!” fumes Ventura. “She is acting as a manager and is interfering in the match!”
Heenan agrees and demands Cheryl be barred from ringside. Roberts argues with the ref, but Cheryl is sent back.
After the break, Jake and Rude are battling outside. Rick sends Roberts into the post. He takes Jake’s wrist and pulls him face-first into the pole, not once but twice, then gets back into the ring, beating the count. Jake is outside as Rude does his happy dance.
Jake gets in and drives a fist into Rude’s breadbasket. A hard right drops Rude. Roberts signals for the DDT, hooks it, but Rude reverses into a back bodydrop and elbows to the chest. Rude goes up top, tries to drive a fist into Roberts’s head, but Jake slithers away. Still, Rude covers for two. He rises and shakes his package over the prone Roberts.
Rick lifts Roberts and sets up the Rude Awakening, but Jake breaks it by biting Rick’s wrist. He sends Roberts to the ropes, telegraphs a back bodydrop, but Jake catches the top rope and catches Rick with a fast DDT.
Heenan gets up on the ringpost and signals to the back for help as Roberts tries to pull the tights off the fallen Rude. The Brain comes from behind, kicking at Jake’s back—the bell rings at 6:06.
André lumbers out as Heenan continues to kick away on Roberts. Jake catches the Brain’s ankle, but André is there. He hammers at Jake’s back, and then grabs the hair for a crushing headbutt that sends Jake rolling out of the ring to the floor. André and Bobby tend to Rude. Jake brings the sack holding Damien to the apron, then takes the snake out of the bag. Heenan slides out of the ring, leaving André to face Roberts and his pet. They stare each other down, André seemingly frozen. Jake points Damien’s head at André, who holds out a hand, backing away. He turns to Heenan—“I don’t like that at all! Bobby!”—yelling for help as he backs around the ropes.
“I didn’t think the Giant was afraid of anything,” Vince says.
André shakes his head, terrified, as Jake taunts him with the snake. Finally, Roberts tosses the python onto the Giant. André goes down, leaving the snake slung over the top rope. Jake quickly reaches out and pulls Damien off, dropping him onto André, who clutches his chest. The snake slithers off, but Jake returns him to his place atop André. Damien slithers around what McMahon refers to as the now-unconscious Giant’s “crotch area.”
Jake takes Damien and stands over the horizontal Giant, holding the snake over his head in triumph. He leaves, and Heenan rushes to André’s aid. He rips open André’s sport shirt and tries to resuscitate, pounding on his chest.
André’s heart-stopping—literally!—fear of snakes was revealed as his only weakness, the key to beating the hitherto invulnerable Giant. Over the months, Roberts used his snake to gain the edge over the ophidiophobic André, effectively nullifying the size and strength advantage.
The Giant’s ophidiophobia is revealed on Saturday Night’s Main Event.
January 1989
“BATTLE OF THE TITANS: JAKE ‘THE SNAKE’ ROBERTS DESTROYS ‘RAVISHING’ RICK RUDE AND EXPOSES ANDRÉ’S HIDDEN FEAR; THE HEENAN FAMILY IN TURMOIL”
Colossus toppled. André the Giant, the awesome man-mountain who fears no man, fell to pieces at the touch of Jake’s python, Damien. Wrapped in the coils of Damien, André crashed to the canvas in a faint so dead that a news bulletin declared he had suffered a heart attack. . . . The news was out. There is a chink in André’s armor of invincibility. The Eighth Wonder of the World is deathly afraid of snakes. . . . André has always been Heenan’s ultimate weapon, not just because of his immense size and strength but because of his reputation as a man without fear. Now the world knows that André quakes over serpents—which makes him very vulnerable to one Jake “The Snake” Roberts.
Every man, even André, has his own personal devil.
JAKE ROBERTS: “I’d met André years before, and driven him around Louisiana. He was bigger than life, no doubt.
“First time I wrestled him, it was in Los Angeles and it was an ugly, ugly day. ’Cause he tested me. André had a way, sometimes he did that. If you didn’t respond to the test, he was gonna
make your life a miserable hell.
“To be in the ring with him, to me, that was probably one of my greatest moments. Even in the old days, whenever he toured different territories, your top guy got André. Well, to me, that was saying, ‘Jake, you might be a top guy now.’
“There was a lot of great times out there with him. To me that was one of my crowning moments. A fine, fine man.”
TED DIBIASE: “André wasn’t bosom buddies with Jake, but André respected his ability. One night they were wrestling, Jake’s lying down in the corner, selling it, and André walks over and steps on his long hair. Then he reaches down, grabs him, and starts to pull him up. Jake’s going, ‘Ahhhh!’ ‘Get up,’ André says, ‘Get up.’ ‘Ahhhhhh! My hair!’ André stepped off Jake’s hair and goes, ‘Oh, excuse me.’ I was outside on the apron, just laughing.”
VINCE MCMAHON: “André didn’t like Jake because Jake was a big-time drug user. They were in the ring, and Jake was scared to death. He just wanted to do whatever it was André called, never questioned anything.
“So Jake is on his back, André steps on Jake’s hair, and then takes Jake’s arms and pulls him up, literally pulls his entire body off the mat. Meanwhile he’s stepping on Jake’s hair, pulling it out by the roots.
“I admit, I enjoyed it. You know, no one outside of our business would ever understand what we enjoy and why, or why we behave like we do. We’re all kids. And some of that has not changed.”
November 16, 1988: Arco Arena, Sacramento, CA
GENE OKERLUND INTERVIEWS ANDRÉ AND BOBBY HEENAN
“Obviously, what we’ve seen in the past few weeks,” Mean Gene philosophizes, “no man is an island. Some men have feet of clay. That’s quite obvious to me, Mr. Heenan.”
“I beg your pardon. Repeat that.”
“Well, I’m just trying to point out that everybody’s got an Achilles’ heel. Apparently André the Giant has a phobia.”
“You’re talking about Jake ‘The Snake’ Roberts, aren’t you?” Heenan says angrily, pointing a finger in Okerlund’s face. André grabs his manager’s shoulder at the sound of Roberts’s name, seemingly shaken up by even the possibility of confronting his serpent. “Don’t use that word in the presence of this man or in the presence of me! There’s no place in the great sport of professional wrestling for something as low as Jake Roberts. Period!”
“Wait a minute. André, and Bobby Heenan, I’m just trying to point out, this man’s only human. It could happen to anybody. I’m afraid of getting in an elevator!”
“You’re trying to point out the fact that André the Giant is afraid of that thing that Jake Roberts drags around with him.”
“Damien,” Okerlund reminds the audience.
“I’m not afraid!” argues André. “I’m not afraid, and I’m proud to say it!”
The Giant turns to face the camera. “But Jake, when you come in that ring, don’t ever take that thing with you. Because you will pay for it.”
André’s eyes widen as he raises a huge, clenched fist.
“You will pay for what you take, Jake. Believe me, you think you are tough. But you should to ask to the ex-world champion . . . ask for any other wrestler that you want to, they will tell you, because I’m the only undisputed wrestler in the wrestler in the world! And put that in your mind, Jake, you’ll get it. But if you are to step in the ring with me, come on and you’re welcome anytime! [speaking softly] But don’t take that thing with you.”
“This man is obviously beside himself, Bobby Heenan,” observes Mean Gene.
“I’m gonna tell ya, very, very quiet and plain, so even your small little mind understands it. I will not be responsible for what André the Giant has in mind or what he does to Jake Roberts. And if you people keep chanting that word ‘snake,’ he’s going to pay!”
André gestures choking out Roberts, grinning hungrily. The crowd hisses “Snake! Snake! Snake!”
“Obviously we have not heard the end of this one between André the Giant and Jake ‘The Snake’ Roberts.”
André turns and menaces Mean Gene. “I told you not to say it,” Heenan growls.
“I didn’t say anything!”
“You said it!” snarls the Giant.
“No, I didn’t,” Okerlund says, backing away as the camera fades to black.
Roberts and his python began haunting the anxious André, making surprise appearances in the Giant’s matches with other wrestlers. Having uncovered André’s weakness, the Snake was determined to exploit it.
November 16, 1988: Arco Arena, Sacramento, CA
SATURDAY NIGHT’S MAIN EVENT ANDRÉ VS. RANDY “MACHO MAN” SAVAGE
André and Heenan enter the ring to huge heat. Meanwhile, “Mean” Gene Okerlund interviews Randy Savage backstage.
“André the Giant is the Eighth Wonder of the World,” Macho Man says, “and he’s the largest man ever to enter the squared circle, yeah. And to be a great champion, I’ve got to beat the Giant. Hulk Hogan was a great champion and he beat the Giant, oh yeah. And if the Hulkster—my partner in the Mega Powers—could do it, then I will do it, ooh yeah. I owe it to the fans; I owe it to the title; I owe it to Hulk Hogan; and I owe it to Elizabeth, the manager of the Mega Powers, yeah.”
“What about Bobby ‘The Brain’ Heenan?” asks Okerlund.
“Ooh yeah, I know him. I know him to be a two-legged snake and I’d be real real real surprised if André the Giant isn’t afraid of him too. Isn’t that funny, Elizabeth? Isn’t that something? The time is now! Down that aisle yeah to beat the Giant yeah!”
The bell sounds and Savage attacks, only to receive André’s grip around his throat. André chops and headbutts the champion in the corner. Savage responds by taking it to the Giant with elbows and forearm smashes. Unperturbed, André chops Savage to the mat. He cinches his arms around him and squeezes, ramming him into the corner. A series of knees to the midsection is followed by a shoulderblock. He leans onto the champ, pushing back with his full weight, smiling wide. Savage surprises him with a knee to the back, then pounds with a double ax-handle.
André chops him away and applies a front facelock. Savage tries to maneuver André’s massive leg, but the Giant gets his singlet strap around the Macho Man’s throat. Heenan distracts referee Earl Hebner so André can choke the champ.
Huge heat from the crowd as André blocks the ref’s view of the illegal move with his massive body. Savage tries to fight his way free, but the Giant keeps the facelock and strap around his neck. He takes Savage’s arms and holds them behind his back, the leverage choking him further with the strap.
Miss Elizabeth protests, but only serves to distract Hebner from seeing André headbutting Savage from behind. Eventually, the Giant removes the strap and paintbrushes the champ, who shoulderblocks André into the corner. He survives a kneelift and continues to charge. André grabs Savage’s wrist and pulls him close, leaning his forearm onto Macho Man’s face, stretching his arm by putting his weight onto the champ. Savage reaches up for some hair, but Hebner pulls it off. A headbutt plants Savage. André goes back to the choke, pushing Macho back up against the ropes with a one hand throttle. He breaks when the referee reaches the count of four, then regains the choke. He takes hold of the top rope and pulls it forward, bouncing Savage face-first onto the canvas.
There’s massive heat from the fans. Heenan is gleeful, saying “I love it, I love it, I love it,” as André manhandles Macho. The Giant squeezes Savage’s traps. Savage fights back, but André cinches the underhook. Savage breaks it with a jawjacker, the bounce smashing the top of his head up into André’s chin. André grabs his mouth in pain, allowing Savage to double-ax-handle him into the corner. He hammers at André, which only enrages the Giant, who immediately returns to the choke. Savage breaks free and tries a double ax-handle off the ropes. The Giant reels, Savage pounds his head into the buckle and goes to the second rope for an ax-handle smash across the back of André’s head. The Giant goes down and Savage kicks away at him, reveling in the shift in
momentum.
Jake the Snake, wearing his leathers, arrives at ringside and puts his sack under the ring. André pulls away from Savage and asks Hebner, “What’s he doing here?” Hebner tries to take control by ejecting Roberts. Savage hops over the top to talk it out with Jake, who finally complies.
He returns to the ring and hits a running ax-handle on André, who was busy talking to Heenan, telling him to find the snake. André fights off Savage but is preoccupied by Damien’s presence. Savage keeps up the attack while Heenan searches for the snake, lifting up the apron, removing Finkel and Mike McGuirk from their chairs. André is distracted, but Savage fails to take him down, though one of his blows draws blood from the Giant’s brow. A headbutt puts the champ onto the mat, and André goes back to demanding Heenan find the snake.
Savage wisely rolls outside and chases Heenan. He gets up on the apron and is caught. André pulls him back onto the ropes and chops him over the top into the ring. Heenan finally finds the bag and heads to the back, but Jake returns and chases the Brain into the ring, forcing Hebner to call the double DQ at 8:42.
Savage whips Heenan into André, tying him up in the ropes. Macho continues to assault Heenan, tossing him up and over and out. Macho invites Roberts to join him in the ring. Hebner frees the terrified André just as Jake unleashes Damien and gets ready to pitch the python onto the Giant. André rolls out and escapes up the aisle. Savage and Roberts and Damien pose in the ring, as Heenan helps the Giant toward the back. André collapses halfway, but Jake merely taunts him from the ring.
February 1989
“THE GIANT’S MORTAL FEAR: ANDRÉ’S SNAKE PHOBIA
IMPACTS ON TITLE MATCH”
Andre the Giant Page 22
