On a recent episode of his weekly ‘The Snake Pit’ podcast, WWE Hall of Famer Jake ‘The Snake’ Roberts recalled an incident where fellow WWF Legend André The Giant was shooting on Big John Studd back in the day.
Here’s what Jake Roberts had to say about John Studd and André:
“We called him Big John Dud. He was thick, you know. I love the guy, don’t get me wrong. I loved the guy, I had no problems with him.
He made a big mistake whenever he said what he did about Andre being a freak. He did an interview where he said Andre wasn’t a giant, he was a freak.
And Andre took offense to that, and that was it. The sh*t hit the fan. And every time Andre got around him, he just beat the f**king sh*t out of him.
It was horrible, man. Hell, when we did that damn match in Atlantic City (WrestleMania V), and he was the referee.
God damn, I was hoping I didn’t get hurt, because Andre hit him so hard his body exploded and one of his body parts hit me or something.
You know, Jake Roberts killed by a kidney, you know?
It’s not good to be on Andre’s bad side. I mean, Iron Sheik experienced that. Randy Savage experienced that. Randy was scared to the death of Andre, and rightly so.
Jesus Christ, man. You know, I had an experience with Andre that wasn’t good. We had just done the thing where he was scared of the snake, and our first match was in LA and we got in the ring, and he absolutely guzzled me.
He hammered me, he guzzled me, didn’t give me a f**king thing, man. 15 Minutes of me getting my a$$ kicked.
Well, it was so bad that when I got to the back, the agents were standing there going ‘Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy’. Looking at me, and I’m f**king mad as sh*t going ‘F**k this sh*t. I’m not playing this f**king sh*t. I’m not doing it’.
I said ‘Where the f**k is he?’. And they said ‘Well, he’s in his dressing room. You’re not going in there, are you?’. ‘You’re f**king right I am!’.
So I f**king went in there, and I was so angry. I said ‘Andre, what have I done to you? My God, I’m hoping that we can actually draw some money with this thing that we’re doing. And you set it up perfectly, and then we go out, and you do that? You just ate me from head to toe. Chewed me up, spit me out. The f**king people are are feeling sorry for me, just for being in the ring with you’.
I said ‘We can’t do that. I’m not gonna do that. If that’s the way it’s going to be, f**k it. I’m not doing it’.
And he looked at me and just said ‘Okay, boss, we’re good’. It was a test. He was testing me to see, if I’d f**king stand up for myself.
Oh brother, you have no idea man! I’d go to throw a punch and he’d catch my punch in his fist like a baseball mitt, you know? And it f**king hurt too, you know?
I figured I could outrun him. And I already made up my mind that if we were gonna continue like that, I wasn’t f**king doing it.
I’ll just get outta the f**king ring and walk away, because we’re not giving them a show. We’re giving ’em sh*t.
And that was my whole thing that, ‘Hey, those people weren’t f**king entertained. They’re disgusted’.”
Jake was then asked if Big John Studd could’ve confronted André as well, to clear things between the two of them.
Here’s what Roberts replied:
“Sure. I think if he’d have gone to a man to man, you know, and said ‘Yo, straight up. Hey, I said something really f**king stupid Andre, and I’m really sorry’.
You had to earn his respect. If you earned his respect, you were okay.”
Jake Roberts wrestled for the World Wrestling Federation from 1986 until 1992, then went to Ted Turner’s World Championship Wrestling for a few months in 1992, but eventually returned to the WWF for another run from 1996 until 1997.
WATCH: Former WWE Diva Nidia Strips Torrie Wilson:
