Jake Roberts Recalls Hall Of Famer Quitting Due to Travel Schedule

Jake Roberts has revealed that a fellow WWE Hall Of Famer left the company due to the hectic travel schedule.

Wrestling is renowned for its unforgiving journeys from town to town and ‘The Snake’ believes it led to the end of the late Harley Race’s WWE career.

The legendary eight time former NWA World Heavyweight Champion joined WWE in May 1986 and swiftly made an impact despite being in the latter stages of his in-ring career; winning the second annual King Of The Ring tournament just two months after his debut.

Race carried the ‘King’ moniker onto WWE television and through feuds with the likes of Hulk Hogan and ‘Hacksaw’ Jim Duggan, as well as a marquee bout at WrestleMania 3 where he defeated Junkyard Dog.

A legitimate abdominal injury sustained in a match with Hogan kept Race sidelined for several months, by which time his crown at been passed to Haku. The pair battled for the right to carry forward the ‘King’ name with Race losing the match at Royal Rumble 1989 and departing the company soon after.

In a recent episode of ‘The Snake Pit‘, Jake Roberts revealed that it was ultimately the travel schedule that proved the deciding factor in Race’s departure:

“I think that, just the travel got to him. Because he wasn’t used to working seven days a week. He worked seven days a week, twice on Saturday, twice on Sunday.

And that’s what got Harley. He’d go into a territory and work two or three dates in that territory, so there wasn’t much travel. You drove by car, it was easy. Easy peasy.”

Jake Roberts Reveals ‘Brutal’ Nature Of WWE Travel

Roberts, who was inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame in 2014, would go on to elaborate about the tough nature of travel during his WWE heydey:

“It was brutal, man. I mean, you woke up in a different city every day, man.

You know, the first thing you did when you woke up was get your ass to the airport, then you’d fly somewhere. And I swear to God, I think they did the booking [through] the dartboard.

Just, you know, San Diego to Miami; Miami to Portland, Oregon; Portland, Oregon to Portland, Maine; Portland, Maine is Houston. You know, what the f**k, man?”

Roberts moved to WCW in 1992, ending his initial WWE run with a defeat to The Undertaker at WrestleMania 8.

Things didn’t go as planned for ‘The Snake’, however, as he endured a difficult time in his new company including a bout he recently described as one of his worst in-ring experiences.

H/T: 411Mania for the above transcription