Jake “The Snake” Roberts was rarely seen in a wrestling environment without his trusty snake. The animal was designed to provoke feelings of fear and terror in his opponents. Indeed, a wrestler’s worst nightmare would not only be to lose the match to Jake, and be knocked out with a DDT, but to then have the python draped over their fallen body. Fans slapped it up, since there was very little danger involved.
However, an incident involving Jake, and the snake, in late 1991 increased the levels of danger to, erm, a dangerous level. And, instead of lapping the moment up, fans were horrified.
To rewind a bit: Macho Man Randy Savage lost a Career match to the Ultimate Warrior at WrestleMania VII, and reunited with his old manager Elizabeth afterwards. They eventually married at SummerSlam 1991, but their wedding reception was ruined by Jake, Paul Bearer and The Undertaker.
Savage, then working as a commentator, demanded his reinstatement, so he could fight Jake. In the meantime, Roberts continued antagonising Savage, until just a few days before Survivor Series, when Savage finally lost it.
Jake continued taunting Savage, and Macho ran to the ring, only to be attacked by the Snake man. Then, Roberts attached Savage to the ropes, and walked towards him with a venomous king cobra.
Then the snake bit Savage.
Not just bit him, but chewed on his arm for a good length of time.
The incident was unlike any other. At the time, a huge “X” and Censored bar crossed the screen during the bite. Commentators Vince McMahon and Rowdy Roddy Piper were horrified. Fans in the audience were shocked; several people, including young kids, were in tears.
Savage was released, but couldn’t stand under his own power. He was soon carted away on a stretcher, with Elizabeth
It was the only time ever that the snake was set on a particular individual (well, besides the time in WCW in 1992 when Jake aimed to use it on Sting, but would try to pretend that the snake had bitten him instead, only for the creature to bite him for real by accident). Even during the anything-goes Attitude Era, nothing measured up, in terms of shock value and realism, to this moment.
As a result, Randy Savage was reinstated as a result, and went on to beat Jake at This Tuesday In Texas, as well as other televised and non-televised bouts.
It’s fitting, I suppose, that Jake’s most infamous moment was when the snake finally attacked somebody. He didn’t win any titles in WWE, nor did he main event WrestleMania. But Jake Roberts was one of the most memorable characters in WWF/WWE history, and unlike most events in the 1980s and early 1990s, the snake bite still stands up as a downright jaw-dropping occurrence today, which underlines its status as one of the most memorable moments, if not for all the right reasons, in WWE history.
