Jake Roberts Criticises Celebrity WWE Pay Check For 1990 Event

WWE Hall of Famer Jake Roberts has shared his frustration over a celebrity appearance at a major show in 1990, calling out the large sum paid for minimal effort.

Speaking on his podcast The Snake Pit, Jake Roberts reflected on the Main Event III show held on 23 February 1990, where Hulk Hogan faced ‘Macho Man’ Randy Savage for the WWF Championship. Boxer James “Buster” Douglas appeared as the special guest referee, having recently gained fame for knocking out Mike Tyson.

Roberts, who wrestled Ted DiBiase in a dark match that evening, expressed how he and other wrestlers felt about Douglas’ sizeable earnings.

“It sucks man, because here we are beating up and down the road seven days a week, twice on Saturday and twice on Sunday for 50-60 days at a time, and this bozo comes in for one night’s work,” Roberts said. “‘Work,’ wow, I don’t think he broke a sweat, and he gets 100 grand. It’s just a slap in the face.”

Originally, Mike Tyson had been planned as the guest referee, but after Douglas’ shocking victory over Tyson in Japan, WWE decided to take advantage of Douglas’ sudden rise to fame.

Although Tyson missed out on Main Event III, he eventually made his WWE debut in 1998, serving as the enforcer for the WrestleMania XIV match between Shawn Michaels and Steve Austin. Tyson’s payday for that appearance was reportedly around $3 million, far eclipsing what Douglas had been paid eight years earlier.

What Backstage Role Did Jake Roberts Say He Would Have Been Bad At?

Jake Roberts spoke about how he thinks he would have made a bad WWE match agent as he said that he thinks that he wouldn’t have been able to focus on just the wrestlers and the matches he’d been assigned that night, and would have to interject his opinion on every wrestler that had a match that night.

H/t to ITRWrestling.com