In May 2017, I sat down with a man whose voice is as legendary as his psychological warfare in the ring: Jake “The Snake” Roberts. During our session on Scoop B Radio, we dug into one of the most intriguing “what ifs” of the 1980s wrestling boom: the scrapped main-event program between Jake and the face of the company, Hulk Hogan.
Today, in 2025—with Jake enjoying a “buttoned-up” career renaissance as a mentor and manager—his reflections on why that feud was cut short provide a fascinating look at the politics of the “Golden Era” of the WWF.
The “Snake” vs. The “Hulkster”: The Reaction Heard ‘Round the World
The story goes that in 1986, Jake and Hogan began testing the waters for a feud. During a segment of “The Snake Pit,” Jake laid Hogan out with a DDT. The problem? The fans didn’t boo Jake; they cheered. In the black-and-white world of 80s wrestling, a “villain” being cheered over the “hero” was a cardinal sin.
“The fans started chanting ‘DDT, DDT,’” Jake told me. “The office didn’t like that. They didn’t want anyone being more popular than their golden boy. If I was getting cheered for taking out Hulk Hogan, that meant the ‘Hulkamania’ train was in trouble.”
In 2025, we call this being a “cool heel,” but in 1986, it was a death sentence for a main-event run. Jake’s 2017 reflection highlights the marketability vs. reality conflict—the fans wanted the darkness of the Snake, but the WWF machine wanted the neon yellow of the Hulkster.
The Psychological Advantage
Jake was always a “buttoned-up” storyteller in the ring. He didn’t need to scream to be terrifying; he whispered. He believed that a feud with Hogan would have been a masterclass in psychological storytelling, as Hogan had never faced an opponent who lived inside his head.
“I didn’t have to be bigger than him; I just had to be smarter,” Jake remarked. “I would have taken him to places he didn’t want to go. But at the end of the day, it’s a business, and they protected their investment.”
Looking back from 2025, Jake’s influence is everywhere. Modern stars like Bray Wyatt or MJF owe their “psychology-first” approach to the blueprint Jake built. His 2017 session on Scoop B Radio reminded us that the “unseen” elements of wrestling—the mind games—are often more powerful than the physical moves.
The Legacy of the DDT
During our talk, Jake took immense pride in the fact that his finisher, the DDT, was considered the most dangerous move in the world at that time. He noted that the move’s popularity was actually what “scared” the higher-ups during the Hogan test run.
“The DDT was final. It was the end. And the fans knew it. When they started chanting for it while I was in the ring with Hulk, the writing was on the wall.”
2025 Retrospective: The Master of the Mind
Today, Jake “The Snake” Roberts is celebrated as one of the greatest minds in the history of the business. His 2017 interview served as a definitive account of why he never needed the world title to be the most memorable man on the card.
As Jake told me:
“I didn’t need a belt to be the champion of the fans’ minds.”
In the age of 2025, where we appreciate complex characters and “shades of gray,” the Jake vs. Hogan feud would have been the biggest story in the industry. But as Jake proved on Scoop B Radio, his legacy isn’t defined by what “would have happened,” but by the indelible mark he left on everyone who ever watched him walk to the ring with that bag over his shoulder.
