New York Comic Con returns October 6-9. Once again, I will be "On the Beat" meeting celebrities and creators of all sorts. I'm guessing, NYCC 2022 will once again have a solid wrestling presence. Last year, Jake "The Snake" Roberts appeared at Michael Kingston's Headlocked Comic booth. I don't know if Roberts will be back, but I know Michael will be there and he will have some awesome wrestling legends with him.
I probably got interested in wrestling later than most. I watched it a bit in my youth, but I really started following it in my late teens.
Because we didn't have cable, my wrestling viewing consisted of the WWF and syndicated wrestling from Texas. That limited my exposure to certain wrestlers. I usually learned of them if/when they appeared on WWF television.
When Jake "The Snake" Roberts and his snake Damien arrived on the WWF scene, I was highly intrigued. I didn't know much about his earlier days. He was so charismatic, yet menacing. He was so good at being bad, the WWF had to turn him into a good guy. Fans cheered him so much, his popularity started to rival Hulk Hogan's.
Of course, in the pre-internet days, nobody knew much about the personal lives of wrestlers. I certainly didn't know of the tragic life Roberts endured, nor the demons he battled. All of that probably helped his character formation, but also hurt his overall career.
His time in the WWF was relatively short. He went to WCW and then back to the WWF, but by then his career was basically done.
In recent years, a lot of his struggles became known. With the help of Diamond Dallas Page, Roberts started to clean up his life. Roberts credits DDP with saving his life.
Roberts is currently signed with All Elite Wrestling as a manager. It's a great role for him. Known for his ring psychology, the AEW wrestlers can learn a lot from him.
Go to HeadlockedComic.com for more info on Michael's latest projects. Also go to AllEliteWrestling.com for more info on Roberts and the rest of the AEW talent. Check NewYorkComicCon.com for updates and scheduling on NYCC.
Jake Roberts and me in New York, NY-October 2021
No comments:
Post a Comment