In March 2017, I sat down with Jake “The Snake” Roberts for a candid session on Scoop B Radio Overtime. While wrestling fans have spent decades dissecting the “lost footage” of Jake DDT’ing Hulk Hogan on the Snake Pit set, Jake used our conversation to pull back the curtain on the business mechanics of the 1980s WWF. His revelation was “buttoned-up” and brutal: the feud wasn’t just cancelled because of crowd reactions—it was cancelled to protect a billion-dollar marketing machine.
Reflecting on this in 2025, Jake’s perspective highlights a pivotal moment where the “art” of wrestling storytelling was overruled by the “science” of brand management.
The “DDT” Problem: Cheering the Villain
The catalyst for the cancellation is legendary. During a taping in Providence (and allegedly Winnipeg), Jake invited the World Champion onto his talk segment. He blinded Hogan with powder and spiked him with a DDT on the concrete-hard stage set.
“Yeah, I split his skull,” Jake told me. “The fans were chanting ‘DDT, DDT’ because they believed in that maneuver… they had just seen me kill Steamboat with it.”
Vince McMahon’s reaction was immediate. Standing behind the curtain, he expected a chorus of boos for the man who just attacked the “Real American.” Instead, he heard a stadium full of people demanding more. In the black-and-white world of 1986, if the fans were cheering the guy who “killed” the hero, the hero’s value was at risk.
The “Marketing Dollars” Split
Jake’s most poignant point during our 2017 talk was about the dilution of the brand. In the 80s, Hulk Hogan wasn’t just a wrestler; he was a line of lunchboxes, vitamins, and action figures.
“They did not want the marketing dollars split with me and Hogan,” Jake explained. “They wanted to keep it all focused on Hogan and that’s the way the business is. Vince made his money in marketing, not the wrestling shows. We were on the road to spread the marketing out there.”
| Stakeholder | Perspective on the Feud | The “Bottom Line” |
| Vince McMahon | Protect the “Golden Goose.” | Prevent a split in merchandise sales. |
| Hulk Hogan | Maintain “Number 1” status. | Avoid an opponent who could out-pop him. |
| Jake Roberts | Create a “Big Money” program. | Lost out on millions in main-event pay. |
The Cost of Being “Too Good”
By 2017, Jake had made peace with the fact that he was “too popular” for his own good in that era. Because he was a heel who commanded respect rather than heat, he was a threat to the top babyface’s purity. Instead of feuding with Hogan for the title, Jake’s job became “prepping the heels”—working with guys like The Ultimate Warrior or Rick Rude to get them ready for a title shot against Hogan.
2025 Retrospective: The Legacy of the “Lost” Feud
Today, the Jake/Hogan program remains the greatest “What If” of the 80s. Jake’s 2017 session on Scoop B Radio confirmed what many insiders suspected: in the WWF of that time, your talent was your greatest asset, but your popularity could be your biggest liability if it didn’t align with the retail plan.
As Jake told me:
“It cost me a lot of money… it was a very expensive lesson to learn.”
In 2025, with WWE Vault actively searching for that lost Snake Pit footage, Jake’s story serves as a reminder that the best matches aren’t always the ones we see—they’re the ones the “office” was too afraid to let us have.
