Jake “The Snake” Roberts was too “out of shape” to compete at WrestleMania XIII, before he was fired from the company in 1997.
Speaking on an episode of “The Snake Pit“, Jake Roberts reveals he was 40-50lb overweight during this time, which was noticeable during his matches in this era.
“The biggest problem was I was out of shape,” Roberts said on the latest “Snake Pit” episode. “It was all on me. I was 40-50 pounds overweight.”
Roberts most famous match during this time was his King of the Ring final match against “Stone Cold” Steve Austin.
Jake Roberts was performing a Christian preacher gimmick at that time, which inspired the famous “Austin 3:16” promo that helped launch Stone Cold into superstardom.
That match was in 1996, but by 1997 Jake Roberts was even more out of shape, and was fired by the WWE in March.
This came after Jake Roberts’ last match in the WWE, when he defeated The Goon at a WWE house show on March 1st, 1997.
Roberts was reportedly frustrated by the behavior of Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart backstage, and was a part of the creative team that had to navigate their various issues to try and book a credible TV show.
He was also still in love with performing in the ring, and was dejected that Vince McMahon did not see him as the top star he thought he could be.
As well as this, substance abuse had taken over his life, giving Vince McMahon no other option than firing Jake Roberts in March 1997.
