Jake Roberts in-depth interview – scary concussion test results, high-risk style of today’s wrestlers, wanting to work with WWE roster, why Bray Wyatt is being “held down,” more

WWE Hall of Famer Jake “the Snake” Roberts revealed scary concussion results from a recent test on his brain from years of hard falls and bumps in the wrestling ring.

“I went and did all the tests because I am having issues. We did all the tests and stuff and it did not come out good. It come out there’s some spots on my brain that don’t look good and shouldn’t be there,” Roberts revealed to Donald Wood of Ring Rust Radio.

“It came down to how many concussions do I think I had, and I thought I had maybe two or three year. It’s a very low number when really I think it was more like eight or ten. So let’s say two or three, but I wrestled for 40 years, that’s 120 now. So I am going to have problems, and I’m already having problems.”

Roberts said he’s glad that Daniel Bryan was able to walk away, even though that’s a “huge loss” and “WWE needs him desperately” following his concussion scare. “I’m very proud of him that he is smart enough to get out after being injured. Most of us weren’t,” Roberts said.

But, Roberts said he is concerned for the next generation of WWE wrestlers who he believes are compensating for a lack of in-ring skills or character development from WWE’s writing staff by wrestling a high-risk style on a regular basis.

“I don’t like the thought that these writers are doing this, but then again I don’t like the thought that they have writers writing a wrestling show who never wrestled. There’s a lot wrong with that and the business has changed so much. This young talent is not getting the chance to actually learn their trade,” Roberts said.

“They come in and in two years they are on television and then they are under the gun and you better do something to keep your job. So they’re going out there and they’re hurting themselves doing stupid stuff, high-impact stuff and dangerous things. The reason being is they don’t know what the hell they’re doing, and that’s the bottom line. They don’t know the art of wrestling. They know the physicality of it and they know how to do these fancy damn moves, but it doesn’t take a great wrestler to jump off the top of the cage. It takes an idiot; bottom line.”

Roberts said he would like to consult with WWE or other promotions to help the next generation of wrestlers “learn their craft,” as he put it.

“I would love to come in for those special moments, and I would love to be an advisor; where they give me a guy and they fly him into Vegas to spend a couple of days with me to do what it takes and talk to him. I think it could turn some people like the ones that really want to learn, I can help them there,” Roberts said.

One act he sees a lot of himself in is Bray Wyatt, but he does not think Bray will ever be presented as a main-eventer in his current form because he’s too good as a character and the audience likes him too much as a heel.

“I think they’re holding him down,” Roberts said. I think he could do a lot more, and I would like to see them turn him loose, but I don’t think they’re going to. He would be something hard for WWE to ram something down his chute because his character is so strong. So they keep him beaten down and I think it’s a shame because he is very unique.

“He will never be a top heel because people are infatuated by him. Just like the way they were with me. Whenever I wrestled (Hulk) Hogan they cheered me, with (Randy) Savage it was split. People are funny man. When you’re doing your job really well, and you’re different and unique and you have this edge, that’s very special. People dig that, they respect that and they want to be with that. If they are scared of your character like they were of me and Bray, they want to be on the winning team, so they will want to cheer for you regardless.”