Jake Roberts
Jake Roberts Roberts in 2013 Birth name Aurelian Smith, Jr. Born Gainesville, Texas, U.S. Resides Atlanta, Georgia Professional wrestling career Ring name(s) Fred Black Jake Roberts Jake Smith, Jr. El Diablo The Texan Billed height 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) Billed weight 249 lb (113 kg) (1955-05-30)May 30, 1955 Billed from Stone Mountain, Georgia, U.S. Trained by Buck Robley Grizzly Smith Moose Morowski Debut 1975 Aurelian Smith, Jr. (born May 30, 1955) is a semi-retired American professional wrestler, and the son of former wrestler Aurelian "Grizzly" Smith. He is best known by his ring name of Jake "The Snake" Roberts, and often brought snakes into the ring, most famously a python named Damien. Roberts is best known for his two stints in the World Wrestling Federation—the first between 1986 and 1992, and the second between 1996 and 1997. He wrestled in the National Wrestling Alliance in 1983, World Championship Wrestling in 1992, and the Mexico-based Asistencia Asesoría y Administración between 1993 and 1994 and again in 1997. He appeared in Extreme Championship Wrestling during the summer of 1997, and made appearances for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling from 2006 through 2008. Throughout his career he was known for his intense and cerebral promos, his dark charisma, his extensive use of psychology in his matches, and has been credited as inventor of the DDT maneuver, which has been named the "coolest" maneuver of all time by the WWE. Roberts was also one of the subjects of the 1999 documentary film Beyond the Mat. In 2012, Roberts moved in with fellow wrestler Diamond Dallas Page to seek help in getting his life back on track following years of alcohol and drug abuse. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame by Page on April 5, 2014.