Jake Roberts Says He Left WWE After Vince McMahon Lied To Him “One Too Many Times”

WWE Hall Of Famer Jake Roberts has opened up about leaving WWE in 1992 because he believed Vince McMahon had lied to him one too many times.

Jake Roberts made his WWE debut in 1986 and appeared at WrestleMania only a month later, wrapping his prized snake Damien around his opponent’s head.

Roberts interview skills came to the fore in his ‘Snake Pit’ segment which saw him go toe-to-toe on the microphone with some of wrestling’s biggest stars. During his feud with the hated Honky Tonk Man, Roberts become a hero for the first time in the company. The rivalry left a mark on Roberts, however, when a guitar shot from Honky Tonk Man did immeasurable damage to his neck.

Jake Roberts joined The Undertaker in a feud against Ultimate Warrior before moving on to target Randy Savage, which featured a memorable segment that saw Damien bite Savage’s arm.

Roberts was so irate after losing to Savage, that he almost attacked the ‘Macho Man’s wife, Miss Elizabeth, with a steel chair, but was toipped by his former ally The Undertaker. This led to ‘The Snake’ facing ‘The Deadman’ at WrestleMania VIII, where Roberts became the second victim of The Undertaker’s WrestleMania Streak. It was also to be Roberts’ last match in WWE until he returned in 1996.

‘Jake The Snake’ has now explained what caused him to leave the company in 1992 on his DDP Snake Pitpodcast with Diamond Dallas Page. Roberts says he was promised Pat Patterson’s role in the company but it never happened.

“Vince (McMahon) had made a promise to me that when the day came for Pat Patterson to move on, that I would have that position. I was looking forward to it.”

“There had been some things happening with Pat Patterson and Terry Garvin where some things got disclosed that got pretty ugly, and supposedly they were let go, so I was waiting for my spot. I talked to Vince about it and he said, ‘Well, out of respect for Pat, we’re not going to put anybody in that position.’ What? That’s total bullsh*t.”

“Bottom line was Pat was never gone. He was just out of the public eye. I love Pat Patterson, don’t get me wrong. I love the man to death. He was always a man to me and treated me unbelievably well. I have all the respect in the world for Pat and his legacy, but it really upset me.”

Jake Roberts went on to say he agreed to a contract with WCW before letting Vince McMahon know he was leaving WWE. However, a no-compete clause and change of management in WCW meant that Roberts’ time there was shorter than expected.

“At the time, they had somebody running WCW and he was making the contracts. We sat down and came up with a contract that had everything that I had ever thought about. It was unbelievable what they were offering me. I was over the top excited.”

“I couldn’t wait, so I gave my notice at WrestleMania. I told Vince, ‘This is it. I’m done. You lied to me one too many times and tonight’s the night.’ He said, ‘Fine, but there will be a 90 day no-compete.’”

“Well, in that 90 day period, about the 85th day, Bill Watts is hired and the other guy is gone. When I came down to write my contract with WCW, Watts looked at it, laughed at me, and tore it up in my face because he knew I wasn’t going to go back to the other guys. I just left them.”

H/T to WrestlingNews.co for the above transcription.