{"id":79882,"date":"2019-05-16T17:59:45","date_gmt":"2019-05-16T22:59:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/?p=79882"},"modified":"2019-05-16T18:01:32","modified_gmt":"2019-05-16T23:01:32","slug":"interview-highlights-jake-roberts-talks-about-aew-weakness-in-wwe-developmental-cookie-cutter-wrestlers-the-dark-side-of-the-ring-documentary-series-hes-been-part-of","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2019\/05\/16\/interview-highlights-jake-roberts-talks-about-aew-weakness-in-wwe-developmental-cookie-cutter-wrestlers-the-dark-side-of-the-ring-documentary-series-hes-been-part-of\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview Highlights: Jake Roberts talks about AEW, weakness in WWE developmental, cookie-cutter wrestlers, the &#8220;Dark Side of the Ring&#8221; documentary series he&#8217;s been part of"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pwtor-2537230469\" class=\"pwtor-before-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><hr \/><b>SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)... <\/b>\r\n\r\n<iframe src=\"https:\/\/widget.spreaker.com\/player?show_id=3076978&theme=light&playlist=false&playlist-continuous=false&autoplay=false&live-autoplay=false&chapters-image=true&episode_image_position=right&hide-logo=false&hide-likes=false&hide-comments=false&hide-sharing=false&hide-download=true\" width=\"100%\" height=\"140px\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe>\r\n<hr \/><\/div><p><em>The following interview highlights were provided to PWTorch.com by the producers of Interactive Wrestling Radio.<\/em><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Show: Interactive Wrestling Radio<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Guest: Jake \u201cThe Snake\u201d Roberts<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Date: May 13, 2019<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Your Host: James Walsh<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Jake \u201cThe Snake\u201d Roberts is on a tour that is bringing delight and laughter to all the fans of classic 80\u2019s and 90\u2019s wrestling with his \u201cDirty Details\u201d tour. Promoting an evening of entertainment Jake jokes you will have to \u201cwash your ears out after hearing\u201d, the WWE Hall of Famer stopped by the Wrestling Epicenter to discuss the tour, his 7 years of sobriety, the Dark Side of the Ring documentary series he has been a part of, the birth of AEW, and the hunger for wrestling nostalgia.<\/p>\n<p>Jake \u201cThe Snake\u201d Roberts rolls into Mesa, Arizona at Club Red on Tuesday night, May 21st for his \u201cDirty Details\u201d show. Jake promises a meet and greet signing for those who turn up early where he will sign your classic \u201cSnake Man\u201d memorabilia.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"gmail-style7\">To listen, visit\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.wrestlingepicenter.com\/\">www.WrestlingEpicenter.com<\/a>\u00a0and download the MP3 and find it on YouTube!\u00a0<\/span>Follow us on Twitter\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.twitter.com\/wepicenter\">@wepicenter<\/a>\u00a0and on\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/wrestlingepicenter\">Facebook<\/a>!<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>\u2022On deciding to do the Dirty Details tour:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cI just wanted to have fun, man. Get out there, see the fans. Rub elbows with them. See if I can\u2019t help some people on sobriety\u2019s road. This is how I\u2019m doing it, man. I went and saw Mick Foley\u2019s show and I said \u201cI know I\u2019m funnier than that! Why don\u2019t I start me a show?\u201d And then I said, \u201cWell, heck. Instead of writing new comedy, why not go over the things that happened in the past!\u201d Lord knows I\u2019ve got plenty of that to go over. I have wrestled for 37 years. So, I\u2019ve got 37 years of material to go over. I\u2019ll be busy for a while!\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u2022On the popularity of classic wrestling stars:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cI think with VInce putting it out there all the itme with the (WWE) Network, it creates new fans of that era. I go to Comic Cons all the time and there are kids there that are 8 and 9 years old and they want my autograph and I say, \u201cWait a minute, you weren\u2019t even born yet when I was wrestling.\u201d They\u2019re like, \u201cYeah, but we watched you do this and you on that.\u201d I\u2019m really grateful for it (The Network) man. It\u2019s given me another career.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u2022On comparing himself in 2003 when we last interviewed him to now:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cI was miserable. I was still drinking and using drugs. Those were dark times for me, man. I\u2019m very fortunate that I made it through it. By all rights, I shouldn\u2019t have because I was a mess. I didn\u2019t even want to live anymore. Really dark times. But, I came through it. It took a lot of hard work but I\u2019ve been clean now 7 years. Things are beautiful.\u201d<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-3238643342\" class=\"pwtor-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p><strong>\u2022On how much DDP is to credit for his sobriety:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cWell, I\u2019ll tell ya the real truth on that thing, man. DDP opened his doors and gave me a safe place. But, I had to do the work. He didn\u2019t go to meetings with mme. I did. I went to meetings every day. He facilitated the thing is what he did. He didn\u2019t actually take part in it. As far as me traveling, he gave me rules like, \u201cOk, you\u2019ve got to go with somebody.\u201d I had to pay somebody to go with me. I was never alone. But, he was seldom a part of it. But, facilitating it, yes. In facilitating it, he was a big part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u2022On his current relationship with DDP:<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cPretty good. Pretty good. We talk nearly every day. He\u2019s doing a lot and so am I. We kind of went our separate ways there. I\u2019m busy on the road all the time. He doesn\u2019t want to be on the road. So, there you go.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u2022On the birth of AEW and his take on it:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cOh, huge. They needed to create a buzz to kick it off and make a splash. They\u2019re going to do it. They\u2019re going to make that splash. How they follow it up is going to be key. If they don\u2019t follow it up with something good, then it is over. They\u2019re spending big money and the guy has got deep pockets so the hope is they\u2019ll bring wrestling back around and become competition with McMahon. That would be the best thing that could happen. But, the problem is the talent. There isn\u2019t a huge talent pool like there used to be. A lot of guys today are cookie-cutter types. They\u2019re not characters. They don\u2019t know how to do it yet. That is the bad part about Vince\u2019s machine. His machine creates new talent all the time. But, the talent never gets to grow and become something to where they\u2019re unique. They\u2019re all built at that Performance Center. The guys learn a bunch of moves and that\u2019s it. As far as doing interviews, they don\u2019t do their own interviews. It is all written and scripted stuff. When you\u2019re doing scripted stuff, the character is not there and the people see through it. They realize these guys are just reading. The fans want more. They deserve more. But, whenever Vince started this whole thing up and killed all the territories, that was the breeding ground for the talent. So, there it went. It is hard to learn how to wrestle working once or twice a week. You can\u2019t do it. You\u2019ve got to go out there five, six, and seven nights a week to polish it, to get it where it is second nature. That is what these guys are missing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u2022On the finished product of Dark Side of the Ring:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cI thought it was a pretty good job they\u2019ve done all in all. I think they did a pretty fair job and they were fair with what they did. They didn\u2019t go for jugular veins, but they were honest. They brought some things up that need to be brought up and I like it!\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u2022On if his WWE DVD was his autobiography:<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cNot at all. My book will be out within the next few months. 600 pages, I did all of it myself. It is going to blow some things out of the water. It is straight up me, all me, and the inside and out of me. It was done with a lot of hard work and love. I\u2019m very passionate about me. It has taken six, seven years to do it. Speaking from my heart and my head. There is a lot of things that will come out that I think people will understand more about wrestling, wrestlers, and life.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u2022On the content of his Dirty Details tour:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cYou\u2019re going to want to wash your ears out after my show. Nobody under 18 is allowed in. But, other than that, man. Get ready for the ride of your life. You\u2019re going to get to hear about all the things you thought you wanted to know about. After you hear about them, you\u2019re going to say, \u201cOh my God, these guys were crazy!\u201d These were the wild times, man. The &#8217;70s, &#8217;80s, and &#8217;90s. We were wild, man. We were running hard. And, the boys that ran hard played hard and we did. You\u2019re going to hear about me, the Snake, and where we went.\u201d<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>RECOMMENDED:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2019\/05\/15\/interview-highlights-vince-mcmahon-talks-to-variety-about-new-fox-tv-deal-wrestler-time-off-being-misunderstood-ted-turner-earning-respect-all-over-again\/\">Interview Highlights: Vince McMahon talks to Variety about new Fox TV deal, wrestler time off, being misunderstood, Ted Turner, earning respect all over again<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"pwtor-end-article-groups pwtor-entity-placement\" id=\"pwtor-162326756\"><div id=\"pwtor-3560463902\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\nTHANK YOU FOR VISITING<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>The following interview highlights were provided to PWTorch.com by the producers of Interactive Wrestling Radio. Show: Interactive Wrestling Radio Guest: Jake \u201cThe Snake\u201d Roberts Date: May 13, 2019 Your Host: James Walsh Jake \u201cThe Snake\u201d <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2019\/05\/16\/interview-highlights-jake-roberts-talks-about-aew-weakness-in-wwe-developmental-cookie-cutter-wrestlers-the-dark-side-of-the-ring-documentary-series-hes-been-part-of\/\" title=\"Interview Highlights: Jake Roberts talks about AEW, weakness in WWE developmental, cookie-cutter wrestlers, the &#8220;Dark Side of the Ring&#8221; documentary series he&#8217;s been part of\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":706,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6163,2,4247,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-79882","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aew-news","category-prowrestlingnews","category-interview-highlights","category-news_wwe"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/RobertsJake_WK_3x2_600.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79882","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79882"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79882\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":79884,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79882\/revisions\/79884"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/706"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79882"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79882"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79882"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}