Former WWE star Aurelian Smith (Jake "the Snake" Roberts) talked openly and candidly about how his life turned around during an exclusive interview on Friday's PWTorch Livecast.

In his opening remarks to PWTorch editor Wade Keller at the start of the interview, Roberts detailed why multiple rehab stints did not work for him.

"I went to rehab and it didn't work," Roberts said. "The hard thing about rehab is we're not stupid. We know it's 'Don't drink, don't drug, go to meetings.' That's not what cures you, though. That's simple. It takes a lot more than that. You come out of rehab and you've been in rehab for four months - I'm very thankful that Vince McMahon and WWE placed me in a couple of rehabs - but when you come out of that rehab, you have to go back into that real world.

"The real world is full of people who don't want to see you succeed, plus you've been in rehab for four months and when you come out, you have four months of child support and rent waiting for you. You're flat broke and you got all these people calling you. You're getting pressured and you're not ready for the real world. So, that's a pretty good set-up for failure.

"All I can tell you is I've been sober and clean for 105 days. It's been documented. Why did I put it on YouTube and all that? Because I want the people to know that I'm trying my damnedest to save my life. I want my children to know, the fans to know it, and most of all me to know it. I want it documented that way there isn't that guy on the corner going, 'Oh, you're that guy that's still using.' 'No, brother, I'm not.' And, somehow putting it out there and exposing it to the light takes some of the power of the power of that drug away from you. The drug's not as tough on you now because you're being wide-open about it.

"I go to my AA meetings, thanks again to WWE, I'm getting some side stuff done. We all have things in our heads sometimes that are hard to deal with. And, brother, I had a boatload and a lot of them I created myself. I'm just thankful that I've got the right people around me with a positive attitude in a positive situation. Ya know, I'm going to beat this thing and that will be the greatest victory of my life because I will have a life again."

Later in the interview, Roberts detailed why he believes rehab similarly failed for Scott Hall, who has now joined Roberts at Diamond Dallas Page's "Accountability Crib."

"I got Scott Hall here now. I'm so excited for Scott and so excited for me because I need Scott here. The reason being that there are a lot of things that happen in a junkie's or drunk's minds that don't happen in a normal human being's minds. Him and I will have moments where there's a rough spot happening. There are still issues to work around. And he understands it.

"I'll tell you something about Scott. It's respect and you know Scott and I do have a relationship. We were at rehab before together and unfortunately I got there quite a bit before him. And, I was leaving, but before I could leave, he just bolted and took off. The counselors came to me like, 'It's your fault.' I'm like, 'Wait a minute, it's not my fault.' But, that's not what they meant. They meant the reason why he left was because I wasn't going to be there for him and with him."

Roberts continued: "Here's what's different (than rehab). I've been rehab before and they said to me, 'You can't go work out. Because, when you work out, you're isolating and that's not good.' Okay, I've been a professional athlete all my life and now I can't work out. When you're 305 pounds and can't get off the couch or can't get up, you're not going to feel decent about yourself or your appearance. So, with Dallas, he's got me on an eating program that I've worked on and stayed on, and working out. Man, this guy has changed everything about me.

"He (DDP) said to me, 'You've tried to own your life for 56 years. You have all the talent in the world, you're a great guy, but for some reason, you just screw it up. So, why don't you let me drive for a while and you just sit back there and keep your mouth shut and let's see if we can't change some things about you.'"

Roberts concluded: "The healing comes when you start helping somebody else. We (Roberts and Hall) go to our AA meetings and help each other and help other people. We're human beings and we have soft spots. We might put a snake around our necks or put a toothpick in our mouths, but we can hurt, too. I'm not ashamed to cry again or talk about my feelings anymore. I'm Aurelian Smith, man. Jake Roberts was a product that I tried to hold up in the air for everyone to look at it, and it damn near killed me. It was my own problem. I just want everyone to know that all's well at the 'Credibility Crib."

[ LISTEN: Roberts's entire 60-minute interview can be heard exclusively at PWTorchLivecast.com at this link - http://bit.ly/XkydKD .]

[Torch photo credit Wade Keller (c) PWTorch.com]

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