I thought it'd be cool to have a thread where we can all take some time and write up some of our favorite angles/periods of time in wrestling. Either as nostalgia or to just introduce it to others that missed out. You know, walk us through from start to end on something that just made you love watching at the time.



I'll start mine in the next post.

I stopped watching wrestling around Summerslam 2004. I think the exact moment was when HHH just cleanly beat Orton right after Orton beat Benoit and I realized I was in for more of the stuff I wasn't enjoying and just found other things to do. I would tune in now and again throughout the years but never stuck around for long. Royal Rumble time in 2011 seemed like any other quick turn in, but I found myself hooked after Wrestlemania. No, not with Raw. With Smackdown. Looking back now I can safely point to 2011's Smackdown as the reason I got back into wrestling. Why? Because it was the year of the World Heavyweight Championship.



This will be in three big parts covering the 3 main feuds for the WHC over this time period. I'll use non-wwenetwork whenever available. Take your time. Relive it with me.





Origin

Edge - the current WHC - successfully defends the title at Wrestlemania and then announces his retirement the next night on Raw.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCX92s4VU0Q


The title is vacated. At Extreme Rules, Edge's best friend Christian defeats Alberto del Rio to claim his first ever World Title in the WWE and the two celebrate in the middle of the ring.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2m...pionship_sport









The Cinderella Story is Over

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xil...-11_shortfilms

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xil...-11_shortfilms



On the following Smackdown, Christian gave an emotional speech about his feeling after waiting seventeen years to win the title only to be interrupted by the newest member of the Smackdown brand - recently drafted Randy Orton. It was actually a few people, but the result of typical "everyone claims they should get a shot" promo was a match that night between Christian and Randy Orton. This face vs face matchup for a World Title was a rarity for television and the crowd was into it. The result was a clean win for Randy Orton with an RKO after Christian jumped off the top rope. After spending seventeen years scratching and clawing his way to the top, Christian's title reign lasted five days.

The ending of this episode drove the moment home as the announce team went silent and we spent around 3-5 minutes watching Christian walk towards the back dejected and confused.








The Rematch

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x38...l-length_sport


The next week Christian came out and invoked his rematch clause at Over the Limit. He praised Orton's ability, thanked the fans for their support, and promised he wouldn't get caught in the same spot again.

At Over the Limit, the two engaged in a great bout that built on their Smackdown match. A notable spot occurs where Christian pump fakes jumping off the ropes in the same way that cost him the Smackdown match, Orton jumps for an RKO and whiffs, and Christian hits a sunset flip from the top rope for a near two count. The announce team puts this moment over as well.

The main story told is Chistian throwing everything he has at Orton in a 100% clean and fair manner and barely coming up short while earning the respect of Orton + the announce team. The match ends in a solid segment of finisher reversals into an RKO. Orton celebrates, the announcers put over both faces, and Christian is dejected. Orton helps him up to shake his hand, Christian pushes him away angrily, then takes a deep breath, nods, and shakes Orton's hand.









The Heel Turn

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnQ3c4YU_2s


Christian came out the following week wanting a third match for the title due to poor officiating in the OTL match. Acting GM Teddy Long disagreed and told Christian that the next title shot would not go to him, but rather Sheamus. The exact segment is unavailable, but somehow Christian is placed as the special guest referee in that match on Smackdown. When Sheamus has Orton beat, Christian refuses to count Orton out. Once Orton wins, Christian goes to give the title to Orton and hits him with it instead. The feud was just getting started.









The Justification

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olYwhk63mlo


The following Smackdown saw Christian come out out and justify himself for his actions, claiming how he was screwed for the title 5 days after winning it, screwed again at OTL, and screwed over for the #1 contender two weeks ago.

It was decided that Christian would get one more match at Capitol Punishment for the World Heavyweight Championship.


Here's a promo package for that match: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EefjCG9ncdA


Sadly I cannot find a video of this outside the WWE Network. This one ended with another controversy, as Christian's foot was under the ropes while the ref counted three.








One. More. Match.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2t...dy-orton_sport



Christian was irate the following week on Smackdown and continued to rail about the screwjobs he's endured since winning the World Heavyweight Championship at Extreme Rules. First after getting a surprise match 5 days after winning it, poor officiating at OTL, the #1 contender pass over, and now these new photos on the big screen with his foot clearly under the rope and demanded ONE. MORE. MATCH. A match was booked for Money in the Bank where the title could change hands via DQ and/or "Bad Officiating".

The match focused on Christian attempting to get Orton DQ'd rather than beat him normally. He started with a chair and gave it to Orton to try and goad him into getting DQ'd. After multiple failed attempts Christian finally succeeded by spitting in Orton's face, causing Orton to blatantly kick Christian in the balls to get DQ'd and lose the WHC.










The Blowoff


http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x45...lam-2011_sport


The feud would be blown off at Summerslam in a no DQ match. Christian - fresh off of his title win by getting kicked in the dick - defended his title against an irate Orton. The idea was that with this set up there would be no ref blunders, no wins via DQ, and no doubt left in anybody's mind who the WHC should be. It was a great match (personally my favorite of theirs) and ended with Orton giving Christian an RKO on the steel steps after the same leap off of the turnbuckle that started this whole thing. A nice circular ending.







And so concluded the saga of Christian and Orton fighting over the World Heavyweight Championship. Christian never really found that groove again after this feud and Orton hasn't really either (though to a lesser degree), but for a few months in the Spring/Summer of 2011 both of them just clicked. You could tell Orton was having more fun than he'd been having in ages and the two just had the right chemistry. And while this was amazing, it's somehow probably only the third best thing about the WHC that year.

Looking forward to your write ups

Nice idea, Jim. Brings another angle to mind that I think I'll enjoy writing up.

I loved that Christian/Orton feud. I wasn't a fan of either but they really brought it and made some great entertainment.

note: I initially said 3 parts. Think it'll be four instead. Additionally, thanks to LKJ for showing me how to get the gifs done.


Leading up to 2011's Wrestlemania, Mark Henry was toiling around the undercard of Raw as a rather unimpressive enhancement talent. Being a happy go lucky face in a lovable loser role didn't really fit him very well but that's where he found his career at as he jobbed to the likes of Ted DiBiase Jr, Primo, and Zack Ryder in various dark matches and C shows. Wrestlemania came and went with Henry's only appearance being a member of a preshow battle royal in which he lost. His career had been hovering around this area for a while and there was no reason to predict the incredible journey he'd take us on throughout the rest of 2011.



April 25: Raw Is War

Henry was accomplishing little on Raw and had reached the end of his use on that program. It was decided to let him get a fresh start during the draft episode and send him to the Smackdown brand. His draft pick garnered little fanfare. He was placed in the main event in a six-man tag match with other Smackdown faces Cena and Christian against The Miz, Del Rio, and CM Punk from Raw where the winning team got the last draft pick.

The match was a typical irrelevant six-man tag match until Mark Henry came in and ran through Cena before throwing Christian on top of the stairs and walking out on his team. His heel turn also garnered little fanfare except for the result of Raw winning the pick and drafting Cena back over.





Late April - Early June: Smackdown

At the smackdown after Extreme Rules, there were a bunch of superstars that came out to throw their hat in the ring for Christian's newly won World Heavyweight Championship. Henry was one of them. The fans voted in Orton instead leading to the wonderful feud discussed in part I. That left Henry to fight a fair amount of Tag matches with Sheamus against Orton and Christian for a bit and then fighting in a #1 contender match vs Sheamus and Christian, which Sheamus won (eventually leading to Sheamus getting punted in the head and being out of action for a bit, discussed in part I briefly).

While Henry was in a much better spot both on the card and as a character after his move to Smackdown, he still was hovering a bit with no major moments to speak of. For the first couple of months on the roster he never really had a huge impact. With Christian and Orton taking up the title picture, Henry needed something to give him purpose. Something to legitimize him after years of being enhancement talent. It turned out that something was the Big Show (no, seriously).




June 17: Smackdown


Big Show was in the midst of a feud with Alberto Del Rio which saw him run over by a car. This smackdown saw an emotional, flustered, beside himself Big Show trying - and struggling - to control his rage. He was booked in a match against Henry despite protesting. As Henry came to the ring, Show begged and pleaded with Henry not to come down there. That Show wasn't in the right state of mind.

Henry came down anyways and Show jumped him before knocking him out.





Finally Henry had that spark he needed. That purpose. He did nothing wrong and got knocked off for just going to compete like he was supposed to. He vowed revenge on Show and promised a fire we'd never seen before from him.





Capitol Punishment

Show had a match scheduled to blow off the extremely personal feud with Del Rio. Show - continuing his face ways - jumps Del Rio on the entrance and begins beating Del Rio down. He's in complete control of this beatdown until Mark Henry emerges through the crowd and destroys Show with a World's Strongest Slam through the table.







July 1st: Smackdown
Link


Henry is given a match against the World's Heavyweight Champion Randy Orton on Smackdown. With Henry dominating the action spills to the outside. That's when Big Show's music hits. Henry turns around to the entrance ramp and starts yelling for the Big Show to come on down. He's ready for him. Show never appears and Henry gets an RKO out of nowhere to get counted out and lose the match.

Henry is FURIOUS. He storms to the side of the stage and finds the audio technician. "I COULDA WON THAT" he screams as he destroys the equipment. He continues berating the guy for distracting him when Show didn't even come out, tells him that "YOU AINT GOIN NOWHERE", picks him up, and THROWS him many feet across the room in a fit of rage.





The slam on Show at Capitol Punishment was the first real part of the heel run, but this was the first real part of the monster run. This was something so different than normal and really gave off an aura of Henry being someone people shouldn't **** with.




Money in the Bank

Henry and Show finally have a match booked for this event. Henry goes over in a six minute squash. A total beatdown. Not content with his decisive win, Henry wraps a chair around Show's ankle, climbs the middle rope, and drops a splash on it. Show has a kayfabe broken ankle and misses months of time.





This is the first induction into Mark Henry's Hall of Pain.





Late July - August: Smackdown

Over the next few weeks, Henry continues his squashing ways in matches on Smackdown. He beats the **** out of people. He **** talks them as he beats the **** out of them. Then after beating the **** out of them he grabs a chair, wraps it around their ankle, and inducts them into the Hall of Pain.


Kane? Inducted into the Hall of Pain.





The Great Khali? Inducted into the Hall of Pain.





Kozlov? Oh, he too was an inductee.





Finally, GM Teddy Long comes out and declares that Henry is unable to compete on Smackdown anymore. Not because he is suspended, but because the other superstars refuse to face him in a match and risk getting injured. Henry is now this unstoppable force nobody wants to face. Nobody that is except for the returning (as a face!) Sheamus. A match is booked for the two at Summerslam.






Summerslam

The two brawl for a while eventually spilling to the outside. After a bit of back and forth that really makes both of them look great in the context of everything that's happened lately, Henry picks up Sheamus and bulldozes him through the barricade. Henry gets back in the ring and Sheamus is counted out.





The announce team puts over both men in a great way after the match (for 2011 standards). They praise Sheamus' heart while recognizing that Mark Henry cannot be stopped.


- cole

- booker t





August 19th: Smackdown

With the Summerslam ending of the Orton/Christian feud the time is ripe to decide a new #1 contender for the World Heavyweight Championship. On Smackdown they have a battle royal to decide and Henry wins easily. A match is scheduled for Night of Champions between Henry and Orton.





Night of Champions

The build to the match focused on Henry's monster status and the question of if Orton could RKO him. The announce team recognized that an RKO would be an Orton win, but they speculated on Orton's inability to hit an RKO on a focused Henry due to Henry's power. It was the perfect follow up for Orton's feud with Christian. Sure he was able to overcome the cowardly heel, but how would he fair against a monster?

The match was on the longer side and saw Henry control most of the action. It quickly became apparent that Orton was going to have to hit an RKO to win as he couldn't outwrestle or overpower Henry. Multiple attempts were made. Multiple attempts were unsuccessful. Henry rolled away from some and simply shoved Orton away from others. Eventually Henry hit the WSS and became the World Heavyweight Champion in dominant fashion.





Mark Henry had gone from happy go lucky jobber to an unstoppable monster. Nobody could stand in his path of destruction. And in one of my favorite Cole calls he sums up what's happened:

Awesome write up Jim! I loved that period and enjoyed reading.

Oh good now I don't have to

The thing about that Mark Henry run is that it really shows how important simple booking and story line stuff is. Taking a guy who was around basically FOREVER and was kind of a joke and turning him into an awesome unstoppable force that people wanted to see just shows how a bit of foresight and investment in story is so so important.

I loved the post-match interview he did, defusing the cheers he was starting to get with "I ain't sharing this with none of you!" What a great heel he was.

He doesn't even have devastating offence, he always appears very careful not to hurt his opponents. During that run the World's Strongest Slam was incredibly over, a move where he gently places his opponent on the floor. His big splash always leaves at least a foot of clearance.

That's not a knock on him, that run was one of the most enjoyable in recent memory. Just shows how much simple booking can do.

Looking forward to part 3 and

Great stuff Jim. Enjoyed reliving both sequences.

JAKE "THE SNAKE" ROBERTS' LEGENDARY HEEL RUN

Part 1: History

A Memorable WrestleMania Debut

Jake "The Snake" Roberts first arrived in the WWF in 1986. He was a heel. Jake carried a snake to the ring for his matches, and became known right away for two things: his finisher, the DDT, and the fact that he would take the snake out of its bag upon defeating his opponent, and would place the snake on top of his fallen opponent and let it slither around for a bit. I can't quickly calculate how much money you would have to pay me in order to endure this from the jobber side. Hell, you would have to pay me a ton to endure it from the snake-handling side.

Jake debuted with a jobber squash that was televised on March 22. Just over two weeks later, Jake was wrestling at WrestleMania 2. He took on a journeyman named George Wells in a glorified enhancement match. It was a quick affair, with Jake planting Wells into the mat with a DDT and recording the pin at 3:15. Wells put him over big on this night, not so much with eating the DDT and laying down for the three-count, but by adding a special touch to the usual post-match shenanigans. The moment Roberts recorded the pinfall, he crawled over to the bag in his corner, opened it up, released the python, and began going to work strangling Wells with it. In a moment that permanently stuck with me and I'm sure others, a close-up shot revealed, rather grossly, that Wells was foaming from the mouth.



A twisted heel star was born.

Little-Known Fact: Dragons Are Allergic to DDT

Less than a month later, Roberts had moved up the ladder to a more credible opponent, in the person of Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat. The two were slated to face off on the May 3, 1986 edition of Saturday Night's Main Event. During Steamboat's entrance, Jake ambushed him with a couple of clotheslines before Steamboat could get all the way into the ring. He then followed the Dragon out to the floor, and showed the world just how much he means business.



With a sickening thud, Steamboat's head hit the floor. The behind-the-curtain story on this situation seems to be agreed upon on all sides: Jake did not want to do the spot on the concrete floor, because he felt that it was too dangerous. Steamboat insisted that he could protect himself, and convinced Jake to do the spot. Jake was right; Steamboat was legitimately rendered unconscious and concussed. Still, he picked up the lifeless Dragon, rolled him into the ring, and gave him the snake treatment. Officials who tried to step in were scared off as Jake threatened them with the snake as well. While it obviously wasn't a good thing that Steamboat got legit knocked the **** out, the segment was very effective in putting Roberts over even further.

Sorry Jake, But You Just Heel Too Well

While this effect was not nearly as consistent in 1986 as it is today, it was still a thing: if you're strong enough at being a heel, some part of the crowd is going to start cheering for you, and then more and more of the rest of the crowd will begin to follow. It's no surprise that it happened with Jake Roberts.

On the November 29, 1986 Saturday Night's Main Event, Jake got a title shot at reigning Intercontinental Champion Randy Savage in a rare heel vs. heel match. Roberts got the overwhelming majority of the crowd, as they cheered him and chanted DDT. Okay, so they cheered him over a heel. So what? They were hot and they wanted to take a side. You really can't read a lot into that.

But there was a far better litmus test. Jake, who had begun to host a talk show segment called the Snake Pit, taped a couple of segments where he had Hulk Hogan as a guest. There was some contentiousness between them, but nothing that turned into physicality. They seemed to be planting seeds of a possible feud between the two, but that possibility was quietly dropped, and Jake only got a small handful of shots at the Hulkster on the house show circuit. According to the Wrestling Observer, there was another Snake Pit segment featuring Hulk Hogan that was taped and never made it to air. Per this story, Jake hit a DDT on Hogan, and much to the horror of Hogan and Vince McMahon, the crowd cheered Jake when he did this. As the story goes, the plug was pulled on that segment and on that burgeoning feud, and Jake was pointed in another direction.



On a Snake Pit that aired on February 21, 1987, the Honky Tonk Man smashed Roberts over the head with a guitar. Less than a year after Jake's glorious debut as a twisted heel, he had been turned face. I have no answers for why the hell his shirt was tied off at the bottom like that.

The Babyface Years (1987-1991)

Now let me be clear: when I speak of the tragic loss of heel Jake Roberts, and when I mostly gloss past the babyface years, it is not to say that he was a bad babyface. In fact, he was great. He was far better than most. He didn't become a pandering fool. He toned down the evil, but he remained dark, brooding, and creepy, and continued to cut great promos. The biggest change was simply that he feuded with heels. Face announcers suddenly found it endearing when he terrorized people with his snake, Damien. Sure, he participated in one of the worst matches in the history of the world when he faced Rick Rude at WrestleMania IV, but that wasn't owing to his affiliation as a face.

If Jake had never turned back, then we all could have lived in blissful ignorance with regard to the fact that they had possibly the best heel in the history of the business on the roster and that they just didn't use him as a heel for the majority of the time that he was around. But thankfully he did turn back, and at least we got treated to eight months of unmitigated eliteness.

In the first half of 1991, Jake polished off a feud with Rick Martel at WrestleMania VII and then had a program with Earthquake that carried him through to the end of June. After Jake won the blowoff over Quake at an MSG house show, it was time for a change.



[To Be Continued]

JAKE "THE SNAKE" ROBERTS' LEGENDARY HEEL RUN

Part 2: The Turn

A Seemingly Unrelated Matter…

The Undertaker debuted at Survivor Series 1990 as the mystery partner of Ted DiBiase. He was an evil, chilling heel who no-sold everything and seemed to be indestructible. On an April 1991 edition of his manager Paul Bearer's talk show, The Funeral Parlor, the Ultimate Warrior was the guest. Bearer baited and riled Warrior a bit. When Warrior had finally had enough, he put his hands on Bearer…but danger awaited inside of what seemed like a perfect innocuous part of the set.







Undertaker emerged from a standing wooden coffin, behind Warrior, and attacked. He placed Warrior in a casket and, despite Warrior's struggles, succeeded in closing the lid on him. Bearer sealed it shut and walked off, with the announcers left horrified that Warrior couldn't breathe in there. Officials poured in out of the back and desperately attempted to open the casket, but it took several minutes and a series of tools to break in and finally open the lid. Warrior seemed to be unconscious inside, but after a moment he broke into a coughing fit, showing that he had survived the ordeal. A feud between Warrior and Taker was born.

Jake Vows to Assist the Warrior

In an interview that aired on July 28, 1991, Jake Roberts was the guest on The Funeral Parlor. Jake's previous snake, Damien, was kayfabe killed by Earthquake, and Jake had moved on to an even bigger snake that he named Lucifer. In this interview, Roberts tells Paul Bearer, "But if death should ever come looking for me, and knock upon my door, I will jerk that door open, look into his eyes, and I will spit. Because I have something that rests upon my shoulders that will not let me fear death." Bearer asked if what rests upon his shoulders was his snake, Lucifer. Roberts replies, "No. I'm talking about Lucifer himself, the same one who rests upon your shoulders." Like I said, even when Jake went face, he didn't exactly go classic white meat babyface.



Jake gives a knowing sideways glance at Bearer as Bearer says, "Ohhh, I've always had my suspicions about you. But you know and I know that every man on his final walk to his resting place must face The Undertaker. Even you, Jake Roberts." Jake says that as far as he can see, The Undertaker has his hands full right now. Bearer laughs that off, saying that if he's talking about the Ultimate Warrior, The Undertaker is just stringing him along until he can drop him in his final resting place.

Finally, Jake levels a threat. "Then let me ask you this: how would you feel, and how would The Undertaker feel, if I shared the secrets of the darkness, and if I shared the secrets of this cold, black heart, and if I shared the secrets of The Undertaker himself with the Ultimate Warrior?" Bearer panics at this prospect, asking for reassurance that Jake wouldn't do that.



Jake: "Would I? Yes I would. And all that the Ultimate Warrior must do to understand the darkness and the cold is to release, release all those fears of death, and secondly he must do something that neither you or The Undertaker could ever do…and that's simply, trust me. Trust me, Warrior." Bearer flips out as Jake exits stage right.

Jake Shows the Warrior the Dark Side

As promised, Jake takes the Warrior on a journey.

Reliving the Casket

First he takes Warrior to a dimly-lit place with a casket and convinces Warrior to lay down in it. As Warrior resists, Jake pulls the puppet strings perfectly, and says, "I'm not gonna fight you for this. If you don't want to know, brother, I've got something else to do. … If you want to learn, you'll lay down, relax, and accept it. … Trust me. Lay down. Trust me."



Warrior turns docile, accepts the situation, and lays down, as Jake violently slams the lid shut and seals it as Paul Bearer did. Through the lid, Jake tells him to just settle down and let the cold wash over him. Once Warrior has silently laid there in the casket for maybe 30 seconds, Jake opens the lid and, with a start, declares that Warrior has that look of The Undertaker in his eyes. Warrior sits up in the casket like Taker would be known to do, and stares into the camera.

Fun at the Cemetery

Next up is a gravesite. At Jake's behest, Warrior digs himself into a grave, pulls a human skull out of it, and upon request declares, "I trusted you before, Snake man. Before my gods I trust you again. Bury me alive, Snake man! Bury me!" It's like an alternate cut from the HHH and Friends segment. Jake buries Warrior up to his neck and walks off.



Never Trust a Snake

Jake leads Warrior to the entrance of a dark room. "In this room is a coffin, and Lucifer sits waiting for you. Reach in there, grab him by the throat, and let him give you the answer." Warrior replies, "The trust I had before did me no wrong. The Ultimate Warrior has no fear. Let me in." Warrior opens the door and enters. Jake closes the door and boards it shut. He says, "I'll shed a little light on the subject for you, big guy." He turns on a light in the room, revealing that the room is full of snakes. Warrior is shook by the snakes, but Jake encourages him. "They're just snakes. Just a little skin prick, nothing that will hurt you." Warrior kicks a few of the snakes aside. Jake urges him, "Trust me. Go to the center of the room. Open the coffin." Warrior forges ahead and slowly opens the coffin.



A cobra rises up and lunges at Warrior, biting him. Jake darkly says, "Ah, not what you expected! Not what the doctor ordered, is it? No!" He urges Warrior to relax. "It's part of it. The venom racing through your body." Warrior begs Jake to let him out. Jake coldly watches him fade and drop to the floor.



Roberts turns, smirking, and says, "Ah! The man in black. Why don't you come and see how the devil's work is done?" Warrior manages to break the door down, collapsing through it. Barely breathing, Warrior reaches out for a black boot in front of him. The camera, playing Warrior's point of view, pans up to show The Undertaker and Paul Bearer standing over him.



He turns to the right, sees Jake Roberts, and reaches desperately for help. Jake says, "Yeah, reach out for me. I'm a snake. Never trust a snake." Warrior's vision blurs before he passes out.



The Biggest, Dumbest Rabbit I've Ever Seen

Obviously no heel turn is complete until we get an explanation. For that, we go to the promo room.



[To Be Continued]

Really enjoying this Jake stuff. Was before my time so I'm getting it for the first time.

I always wanted to pay tribute to Jake's heel work or mic work or something, but he was never a good candidate for a full tribute thread because, at least in his WWF years, he simply wasn't all that good in the ring, and there isn't a single Jake match I would describe as great. I didn't want to sit and dissect his in-ring work without anything all that good to say.

From what I gather, that guitar shot from Honky legitimately ****ed him up badly and made him a significantly worse worker going forward than he had been before it. I have little reference to work from on that though.

Anyway, this thread is perfect for giving me a chance to include a Jake tribute over the course of 4-5 posts. I highly recommend actually watching the promos that I link to. I plan to do some transcribing, but nothing recaptures a Jake promo like actually hearing him deliver it.

I will certainly keep clicking the links. There's something to be said about the ability to really draw people in just by lowering your voice like he does there. Definitely a bit of a lost art in delivery in todays wwe where everything is loud and sing songy instead.

Speaking of lost art, I really enjoy a lot of these segments that take place elsewhere besides the ring or in a backstage interview. That one with Warrior going to different places for Jake to teach him about the darkness is pretty sweet.

JAKE "THE SNAKE" ROBERTS' LEGENDARY HEEL RUN

Part 3: The Snake Takes Aim at the Madness

The Self-Destruction of the Biggest, Dumbest Rabbit

So, about that Ultimate Warrior thing: about a week after Jake turned on him, at SummerSlam '91, the Warrior infamously held the main event hostage by demanding additional money from Vince McMahon under threat of not going on. McMahon coughed up the money, Warrior participated in the main event as advertised, and then Vince fired his ass. I would prefer to think that Warrior just self-sabotaged out of the sheer terror that comes with Jake Roberts eviscerating you on the mic over the course of a feud.

In any case, the Warrior found his way out of the picture, and the big program that was just set up for Jake was gone. Thankfully, they had an amazing Plan B.

The Match Made in Heaven; The Reception Made in Hell

At WrestleMania VII, Randy Savage lost a retirement match to the Ultimate Warrior and then tearfully reunited with Miss Elizabeth in one of the great WrestleMania moments of all time.





Savage, forced by the stipulation of the match he lost, retired to the commentary booth on WWF Superstars. He transitioned into a full babyface over the course of a few months, and eventually went to the ring one week to say "Elizabett…Elizabett…" to propose to his IRL wife and kayfabe love interest.



Their on-screen wedding at SummerSlam, labeled "The Match Made in Heaven" as the counterpart to "The Match Made in Hell" (the very same match that Warrior ended up holding hostage), was unlike many wrestling weddings in that it went off without a hitch.



However, Warrior being gone suddenly put WWE down a top-level babyface and also down a program for the newly-turned Jake the Snake, so it was time to solve two problems in one step. They filmed a wedding reception segment for Randy and Liz, and this is where the on-screen couple finally encountered trouble.



Liz opened a wedding gift and discovered a cobra inside, understandably causing her to scream and flail backwards. Jake Roberts and The Undertaker then ambushed Randy Savage, and Jake openly threatened Liz with the snake before being chased off by white knight Sid Justice.



The gauntlet had been thrown down. Jake Roberts and his ally The Undertaker had wrecked the feel-good moment of the summer and had declared war on Randy Savage and his (kayfabe) new bride.

Randy Savage Wants His Wrestling License Back

Not So Fast, My Friend

The small problem, of course, is that Jake had declared war on a forcibly retired wrestler. If this happened today then Randy Savage would be reinstated by the third hour of the same episode, but this was 1991, and President Jack Tunney was not simply going to reinstate the loser of a retirement match unless he was absolutely forced to. On the September 14, 1991 edition of Superstars, it is announced that Savage would meet with Tunney to petition for reinstatement. The following week, on the September 21, 1991 episode, Tunney announces his decision…a firm, decisive JohnnyAceNo.gif. Tunney was just a neutral authority figure who said, "Well, no, you lost a retirement match. Of course you can't suddenly start wrestling again." Savage trashed Tunney's office, furious at being denied.

Heel Jake Hits the Promo Circuit

Jake, now entering to a more sinister entrance theme that starts with him saying "Trust Me," does the Funeral Parlor again, with things a lot more openly friendly with Paul Bearer now, and he announced that he would be carrying a cobra with him to the ring at all times, and that he would be bringing a black glove to wear when he handled the snake, for his own safety. I don't know to any level of certainty whether the snake-handler's glove was actually a necessary safety precaution or not, but man did it add something. It really made all the snake stuff feel legitimately dangerous. An edict came down from Jack Tunney's office, saying that Jake will only be allowed to bring a snake to the ring with him if it has been devenomized.

A week or two after doing the Funeral Parlor, Jake does an interview with Mean Gene Okerlund, who had not been shy about criticizing Jake up to this point. Jake first addresses Randy Savage. "As far as Elizabeth goes…I've had my fun. As far as the Macho Man goes, he was conveniently knocked out. Convenient for him, because after all Okerlund, if he had not been knocked out, tell me just what he could have done. Nothing." He calls Savage "the luckiest man alive" for being barred from wrestling right now. He turns his attention to Sid Justice. "Chivalry is dead, my good man. This is 1991, not 1521. You're not King Arthur, and there's no round table. So if you want to ride the stallion into the castle and play with the snake, then you've got to be ready to pay a heavy price. … Don't turn your back, Sid Justice. Randy Savage is making a fool out of you. He's letting you pick up the lance that he can't carry himself."

And now Jake speaks pointedly at his interviewer. "Now something else. Fair warning. Fair warning to every WWF star or to people like you. Be careful what you say to me, because I'm not playing any more stinkin' games. And if you don't like what I'm doing, then you'd better keep your mouth shut and take a couple of steps back. Because if you don't, you just never know…trust me, Gene Okerlund. Trust me." With those words, Jake departs the interview platform. Okerlund, apparently having more guts than brains, starts wrapping the segment by saying that someday somebody is going to do something about Jake Roberts. Jake is only a few feet away at this point, and calmly unstrings his bag, releases the cobra, and aggressively tries to attack Gene with it.



Papa Shango black goo curses notwithstanding, I can't remember another time when a wrestler got that physical with Gene. Can't say Jake didn't warn him. By the way, this became a staple of his snake-handling at the time also…he would openly taunt his own cobra to make it act more aggressive. It was an awesome touch.



A Garden-Variety Squash Match Takes a Twist

On the October 19, 1991 edition of Superstars, Sid Justice was set for what seemed like a regular enhancement match against a masked man named El Diablo. Diablo gets the jobber entrance, Sid comes to the ring for the match, and right after the opening bell, The Undertaker's gong hits. Taker and Paul Bearer come to the ring, Bearer summons Diablo out to ringside, offers him a briefcase, and Diablo accepts it and leaves, clearing the path for Undertaker and Sid Justice to have a go.



As Taker and Justice choke each other, the masked man comes running back to the ring, ripping off his mask and revealing himself to be Jake Roberts, and he and Undertaker double-team Sid together. I love how easily Jake was just able to wolf in broad daylight. As a babyface he speaks sincerely on the Funeral Parlor about his relationship with Lucifer, then just says "trust me" and Warrior trusts him. Later he goes undercover as "The Devil." He wasn't really running any particularly elaborate deceptions here. As Taker and Roberts beat Sid down, Randy Savage is at the commentary booth, but his hands are tied; he can't get involved. He openly agonizes over that fact. Paul Bearer wheels a casket down to ringside.



Jake Roberts opens up the briefcase that purportedly contained a bribe, and inside is his snake and his snake-handler glove. While he's getting the snake out, Undertaker ties Sid up in the ropes. Jake makes like he's going to sic the snake on a tied-up Sid Justice as Savage cries, "LOOK WHAT YOU'RE DOING TO ME, TUNNEY!" Of all the ****ing people, Hacksaw Jim Duggan runs down and makes the save. He unties Sid, allowing him to escape, and both men get the **** out of there because there's a massive deadly snake in the ring.

The Campaign for Reinstatement Continues

As the weeks pass, Randy Savage continues to use his platform as part of the announce team on Superstars as a method through which to keep making the case for reinstatement. The basic arc of the announce team since WrestleMania VII was that they went with Vince McMahon, Roddy Piper, and Randy Savage as the announce crew. Despite seeming to turn face at Mania, Savage more or less starts off as the heel-leaning commentator on this crew, which was sensible enough; his love for Elizabeth doesn't mean he has to start loving all the wrestlers he was having problems with immediately before.



His relationship in the announce booth with Roddy Piper starts off as a contentious one, and then an organic bromance blossoms over the course of the year. Piper and Savage would trade barbs, but then Piper increasingly encouraged Savage to propose to Liz, moving them closer to being friends and moving Savage closer to being a full babyface. By the time this later part of the year had arrived, Piper's sympathy for Savage's reinstatement campaign grew on a weekly basis, and he started joining in and openly appealing to Tunney to come to his senses and reinstate the Macho Man, one week bringing a sign to the show in support of the cause.

Added to the mix was a legit injury that Sid Justice suffered on the house show circuit. Not publicized on TV, but Randy Savage started replacing Sid in his matches against Jake Roberts on the tour. Officially Savage had no business actually wrestling yet, but it makes sense that they did that. However, they had no choice but to acknowledge Sid's injury on TV, because he was scheduled to wrestle as part of a Survivor Series team and wouldn't be able to go. Sid publicly asked Jack Tunney to reinstate Macho Man and let him take his place at Survivor Series in a match against a team captained by Jake Roberts. Savage added his own on-screen promo asking Tunney for that chance as well. Gene Okerlund voiced his support for reinstatement from the Update desk. However, no official word came down except that Tunney would "take the matter under advisement," and the status of Sid Justice's Survivor Series spot remained up in the air.

That Snake Had BETTER Be Devenomized!

As President Jack Tunney continued to drag his feet and to hem and haw, a game-changer happened. On the episode of Superstars directly preceding the 1991 Survivor Series, Jake Roberts finished off a jobber squash in less than a minute, and then the fireworks commenced. Jake picks up a mic. "Hey. Yeah, you with the orange hat up there."



Piper and McMahon immediately begin urging Savage to take it easy. Jake: "There was a time in my life where I almost looked up to you. You were the Intercontinental Champion. You were the World Wrestling Federation Heavyweight Champion at one time. I almost envied you. But you know what? I'm looking at you, and I'm thinking to myself, 'Here's a man who used to be a real man, but obviously he's grown a little soft hiding behind the skirt of a woman.' So I tell you what, Macho Man. Why don't you see if you can borrow Piper's skirt?" Savage drops his headset and stands up, again drawing protests from his broadcast colleagues.



Savage says, "I'm just going to go get a closer look." Vince somehow sounds sincerely placated by this and says, "Just a closer look. Okay." Piper, not a huge dumbass like his boss, yells, "No! You're so close to being reinstated!" Savage has already departed though, leaving the announce table and heading down the aisle. Jake continues taunting, calling Savage a gutless coward. Savage is increasingly losing his temper, and now he runs to the ring and jumps up on the apron.



Savage spits into the ring and sheds his hat. As an official tries to hold him back, Savage is distracted by the official for long enough that Jake is able to blindside him with a clothesline. Roberts continues the attack, jumping out to the floor, ramming Savage into the post, and then rolling him inside and tying him up in the ropes. Jake unleashes the king cobra. He steps toward Savage as if he's going to attack him with the snake. So here's the thing: WWF at this time was very PG. Probably even more PG than today. It was unthinkable that the snake would actually get at Savage. It was like…you know the feeling when you're watching a movie or TV show, and a protagonist is in a tough spot, and even though you're into it you know beyond all reasonable doubt that some sort of save is coming? That's what this was, ESPECIALLY when they had Sid prone in this same spot a few weeks earlier and someone emerged from the back for the save.

So it was an intense scene, but it was pretty obvious that Savage wasn't actually going to get bitten by a snake. So who's going to make the save?



…we have just lost cabin pressure. This was among the most stunning visuals of the entire era. And yet I will say that it's a close contest as to whether or not it even turned out to be the most shocking moment of this Jake Roberts heel run. It might be #1, but it's close. Vince yells frantically, "I'll tell you, that snake had BETTER be devenomized! It'd better be!" To add to the terror of the whole thing, Jake shakes the snake and the snake clearly clamps down even harder on Savage's arm. Jake said since that he was legitimately trying to pull the snake loose at that point and the snake went into business for itself, simply reacting angrily that Jake was pulling on it.



Miss Elizabeth runs down to the ring screaming as officials hold her back. Savage gets loose and tries to get up and fight back, but he can't keep his balance and just throws an air punch that leaves him face-planting back down on the mat. Vince says that it's obvious that the snake wasn't actually devenomized, and that something has gone terribly wrong here. Liz is crying at ringside. Officials keep trying to pull Savage out of the ring, and he keeps resisting. Savage flails wildly, and Jake actually kneels in a corner away from him and laughs at his desperation. Children in the crowd openly bawl as the officials get Savage on a stretcher and break into a full sprint to try to get him to medical attention.



Jake Roberts regrets nothing, and continues laughing evilly in the ring as the segment ends.

[To Be Continued]

Enjoying the writeups. Would love to see one for the Heyman era smackdown (angle/Eddie/Rey/edge/Benoit/Bork)

i don't remember much of the early/mid-90s but for some reason all of those jake heel segments are things i remember pretty vivdly

JAKE "THE SNAKE" ROBERTS' LEGENDARY HEEL RUN

Part 4: Snakes Don't Fear Maniacs

Randy Savage is Reinstated

So Jack Tunney is obviously a big believer in the rule of law, and is a traditionalist when it comes to respecting the results of a retirement match, but it turns out he's willing to bend the rules a bit when a guy nearly gets poisoned to death.

At the start of the Survivor Series 1991 event, Jack Tunney makes an announcement. Tunney accepts blame for what happened to Randy Savage on Superstars, feeling that allowing any reptile at ringside was a stupid and dangerous move. Tunney says that he is reinstating Randy Savage effective immediately. However, due to that snake attack happening just a few days prior, Randy Savage could not be medically cleared to compete on this show. In order to level the playing field, Tunney decided to hand down a suspension to Jake Roberts that also stopped him from competing at Survivor Series, leaving that scheduled 4-on-4 match as a 3-on-3 match. Savage and Roberts would be booked in a one-on-one match at the PPV shortly after Survivor Series that was named "This Tuesday in Texas."

This Tuesday in Texas

After a ton of build, it was finally time for Jake Roberts and Randy Savage to meet in a proper, sanctioned match. And the match was…okay? It has all the intensity that you would want, with Savage jumping Roberts before the bell and the two brawling viciously, but the whole thing ends rather abruptly at 6:25 after a Savage flying elbow.



My point here isn't that the match was bad. It wasn't bad. It's just that this match was an exercise in getting to the post-match segment. After Savage's hand is raised in victory, he goes outside and grabs a steel chair. An official gets it from him, so he gets the ring bell. Earl Hebner gets that away from him as well, but all of these distractions with officials have created time for Jake to recover, and he seizes an opening to plant Savage with a DDT. And another one, the second one knocking Savage out cold or nearly so.



Earl Hebner yells at Roberts to get out. Roberts puts his hands up in innocence and begins to leave, but he only gets a handful of steps up the aisle when he stops, and his look grows from serious to a wicked smile.



Jake comes back to the ring, pointing at his corner and saying, "I gave you my word, Tunney. It never was there." He pulls the ring apron up and grabs a black bag from underneath it, presumably containing the cobra. As he sits next to the fallen Macho Man, about to open the bag, Miss Elizabeth runs out to the ring. She drapes herself over Savage and screams for Jake to stop it. Jake picks Savage up, sets him in position for the DDT, and yells at Elizabeth to look him in the eyes while he does it.



He executes for the third time. Savage is out. Liz again tries to cover her man as Jake loosens the drawstring on the black bag. Roberts puts on the black snake-handling glove. He stomps Savage and then yells, "Beg. Beg. Beg. Beg, dammit. You want to save his ass, you'd better start begging now.



Up to this point, this was already an impressive display of heartless heel work. If you haven't watched the Golden Era then it's difficult to bring across just the feeling that Elizabeth evoked from the audience. She evoked a level of purity and innocence in her character that made her among the most sympathetic characters you'll ever see. Whether she was selling or just bringing out her own personality (given her WCW work, I'm certainly going with the latter), her emotions were believable and you felt for her. Jake not only no-selling her desperate cries for mercy, but actually enjoying them, was another level. That was what you felt when you watched this segment up to this point…you did NOT expect him to kick it up another notch.

After continuing to brow-beat her for a bit longer, Jake suddenly stood, up, grabbing her hair and violently pulling her up with him. That was enough to make your jaw drop and cause a, "What…" He held her hair and pointed at her as Gorilla Monsoon, on the play-by-play, yelled, "This is disgraceful! This is despicable!" Despite everything we saw from Jake up to this point, there was still a disbelief. They wouldn't actually have someone hit Miss Elizabeth…right? Sure, Hulk Hogan can atomic drop Sensational Sherri and nobody bats an eye, but Liz was special. This is reprehensible on the level of kicking a newborn puppy. And despite his character's actions over the past few months, you really didn't expect Jake to cross yet another line that was unheard of in its time.



The air goes out of the arena as Jake slaps Liz across the face. Gorilla Monsoon, channeling everyone's anger, yells, "He should be suspended for life! … He's not a man, he's an animal!" I think I would call the snakebite the most shocking moment of Jake's heel run over this one, but it's only because he broke that unbelievable barrier first, and in doing so threw up a signal that he doesn't recognize conventional boundaries.

Roberts goes to continue the segment, as if there's even more to be done here. He grabs the bag and appears to get ready to take the snake out. Jack Tunney finally shows up at the ring and yells something at him that seems to be enough to get Jake to finally be willing to leave. Jake smiles at Tunney and tries to shake his hand. Then he yells, "There's no snake in this bag!" He crosses himself and you can clearly read his lips saying, "Trust me."



Before moving on to the promo, another thought: part of the sheer horror of this segment actually is owed to the greatness of Randy Savage. Because of his maniacal, deeply intense character, when Elizabeth got slapped, it wasn't just, "Oh my God, that's awful." It was also, "Oh my God, Savage is literally going to murder this man when he wakes up." Savage's other amazing work throughout his career added a very certain something to this moment, because it really gave you the sense that: (1) this thing is going to escalate even further; and (2) how the hell much further is there to go? Gorilla gives voice to this, saying, "Wait 'til the Macho Man finds out what happened."

Backstage, Mean Gene catches up with Jake the Snake for one of the most iconic heel promos of all time.



Nobody did pure evil like Jake "The Snake" Roberts.

Savage Eliminates Roberts From Royal Rumble, Suffers Brain Malfunction in the Process

The legendary 1992 Royal Rumble featured the first time the WWF Title had been up for grabs in the Rumble match, due to a controversy where Jack Tunney vacated the belt after Undertaker won it from Hogan via cheating at Survivor Series and Hogan won it back from Undertaker via cheating at This Tuesday in Texas. Roberts and Savage were in the Rumble match. Roberts entered at #16, and was still around when Savage entered at #21. As you can imagine, Savage made a beeline for him. He hits a top-rope axhandle on Jake, then quickly eliminates him with a running knee to the back…



…and then, in a blind rage, eliminates himself by jumping over the top after him. I mean, that made total sense, but it sure didn't seem to be in the script. Savage was slated to be in the final four here for the WWF Title, so after initially acknowledging that he was eliminated, they lamely made up a rule on the spot and said that since he wasn't eliminated by anyone else, he's still in the match. He lasted until the final four as the script called for. Seems like Savage was doing the method-acting thing here and lost himself in the moment.

The Macho Man and the Snake Do Round #2 on Saturday Night's Main Event

The two combatants lined it up again for their second televised singles match. This also wasn't a long war of attrition. In fact, it was even shorter than their Tuesday in Texas matchup, as this one clocked in at 5:25. Jake connects on a DDT, but doesn't go for the pin. He showboats, then waits and squares him up for a second one. Upon finally going for the second one, Savage counters and backdrops him over the top to the floor. Savage climbs the turnbuckle and jumps off with an axhandle that knocks Jake throat-first into the steel barricade. He returns Jake inside, climbs up once again, nails the flying elbow, 1-2-3.



Savage, not satisfied with just a win, heads up top and hits a second flying elbow. Then he goes and grabs the timekeeper's bell, but Jake is able to roll out of the ring and stagger away to safety before Savage can do even worse. Miss Elizabeth runs down and joins Savage in the ring for a celebration. As they have their feel-good moment in the ring, we are quickly reminded that there is evil in Jake Roberts that does not sleep, even after taking consecutive finishers. The camera goes back to the Gorilla position, where Jake is peering through the curtain at the celebration of Randy and Liz.



Roberts looks back at the camera and declares, "It's not over yet." Before we can find out what he means by that, Saturday Night's Main Event goes off the air…in America. But the Sky Sports feed persists, and shows what would become known the following week on Superstars. Jake continues, "I hope he got what he wanted. … It doesn't matter which one of them comes through the curtain…<indistiguishable>…I don't care which one." Part of the sentence got dropped, but the meaning is clear, as Jake prepares to strike with a steel chair. By now there's no more suspension of disbelief on what he would or wouldn't do; of course he would hit Liz with a steel chair.

Savage and Liz are coming down the aisle in a celebratory mood, blind to what's awaiting them. As they come through, Jake rares back, and…



The Undertaker seems to makes the save.

[To Be Continued]

JAKE "THE SNAKE" ROBERTS' LEGENDARY HEEL RUN

Part 5: The Man in Black Takes a Stand

Whose Side Are You On?

Jake, who had not yet given a public reaction to the events at the end of Saturday Night's Main Event, was booked as Paul Bearer's guest on the Funeral Parlor. Bearer starts the interview by saying he wants to talk about Jake's history. Bearer begins recounting all the awful stuff that Jake has done to Randy Savage and Miss Elizabeth, including the wedding reception incident that the Undertaker was very much a part of. Bearer phrases his historical recap judgingly until Jake finally breaks his silence and yells, "Shut up!" He continues, "Let me tell you something brother, I'm not here to be judged by you. Who needs to do some explaining is The Undertaker. I need to know just which side he's on."



Bearer tells Jake that he can ask Undertaker himself. The gong hits, Jake looks toward the entrance, and Undertaker emerges from the standing coffin behind him and walks up behind. Jake, startled, spins around…no harm, no foul. Jake: "You and I have a real problem. Now I'm standing here, and you need to tell me something face to face. Just who in the hell do you think you are, and whose side are you on? You tell me. Whose side are you on?" Undertaker silently looks at the urn and deliberates. Jake prods him for an answer. "Tell me. Tell me. Tell me whose side you're on." Undertaker finally speaks. "Not yours."



Jake is startled at first. Then he laughs. Then he grabs the urn from Paul Bearer. "Is this what makes you tick? Is this what you need in life?" He drops the urn into the nearby open casket. As Taker reaches in after it, Jake slams the lid on Undertaker's hand and seals it shut, trapping his hand there.



Bearer cries, "What have you done?!" Jake gives him something new to worry about, as he grabs Bearer and DDTs him on the stage. As long as he's sitting down, he kicks the urn away. Undertaker is trapped and helpless as this goes on.



Jake goes and grabs a steel chair, then lands a few shots on a prone Undertaker's back. Undertaker gets back up, Jake lands some more.



Undertaker gets back up again, and now summons the WIM to start dragging the casket with him while his hand is still trapped in the lid. Chair shots and kicks from Roberts, but Undertaker continues regrouping and stalking him, with Jake's strikes having no long-term effect.



With that, the most evil pairing in the company splits up, The Undertaker officially turns face, and Jake has his next feud. Soon after, The Undertaker vs. Jake Roberts is set for WrestleMania VIII.

Jake Does Some Elite Heeling

On the road to WrestleMania, Jake busts out another great promo. On the March 8, 1992 episode of Superstars, Mean Gene has him for an interview segment.

Also on the road to WrestleMania, Jake did a tremendous thing in a jobber squash that I sadly cannot find a clip of anywhere that I've looked. All I can give you is my personal recollection of a 24-year-old match and the result line from thehistoryofwwe.com.

I just haven't ever seen another example of this, but I remember it as vividly as I can, given how old it is. Jake was working a jobber squash, going through the motions as wrestlers do in those matches, and he started setting up his DDT. The crowd started to pop because, heel though he was, they loved that finisher of his. He noticed the crowd reacting positively, and signaled to them, "Nope. You don't get to see my finisher." He smirked hatefully at the crowd and pinned his man on a transition move, deflecting any positivity and preserving all the heat he could. Truly the master.

The Snake Passes a Very Special Torch

Jake Roberts showed up to the Hoosier Dome with a job to do. I don't know the exact circumstances of why he was leaving, but this was to be his final match in the WWF; he would turn up in WCW later in the year. He certainly put on a fine swan song for the end of his primary run with the company. In any case, he was ready to go on this night.



First, he cuts another strong pre-match promo. Maybe not transcription-worthy, but certainly strong. The match, while not a technical classic, given that Jake wasn't anything great and The Undertaker was a pretty huge stiff at this point, was psychologically sound and told a good story. I've always enjoyed this match quite a bit for what it was. It was Undertaker's coming-out party as a top babyface. Jake's role, as the resident creepy babyface of the last generation, was to pass the torch to the resident creepy babyface of the next generation.



Taker goes for a Tombstone, and Jake counters into a DDT. Bobby Heenan celebrates, yelling, "He did it! He did it!" Jake stands up, signals to the crowd, and Undertaker sits up. Jake hits a short clothesline and another DDT. Instead of going for the pin, Jake goes out after Paul Bearer. As he gets a hold of Bearer, Taker sits up again and goes out after him. He grabs Roberts, lifts him over his shoulder, delivers a Tombstone that doesn't actually connect, and rolls him inside for a three-count and a huge pop.





A legend goes out on his back, and gives a nice rub in the process.

Awesome write ups, love the JtS stuff. Amazing how simple so much of this is. Have your heel do bad things that make people want to root against them. Hire people that can cut promos and give them freedom.

To be fair it is a lot easier to get people to root against a heel when you have faces that are mega over like Steamboat, Savage/Liz, and Warrior to put him against. Have Jake bust out the snake to bite Reigns or DDT him on the floor and Jake's the biggest babyface in the company.