Jake 'The Snake' Roberts Has A Familial Connection To Another Wrestler That May Surprise Casual Fans
Skulking around the ring with a Burmese python named Damien stuffed in a burlap sack, Jake "The Snake" Roberts earned international fame in the late 1980s WWF by terrorizing babyfaces like Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat and "Macho Man" Randy Savage. But casual fans at the time may have been surprised to learn that Roberts was related to two other members of the WWF locker room — his half-sister Rockin' Robin and half-brother Sam Houston.
The trio was never acknowledged as siblings on-screen, but all three were the children of the infamous Grizzly Smith. And while Roberts and Rockin' Robin both achieved success in WWF — Robin held the WWF Women's Championship for 502 days — Houston's WWF career never quite got off the ground despite a sterling pedigree and a successful run in the territories prior.
Born Michael Smith, he was Grizzly's youngest son and second-youngest child. He took to wrestling early, getting into the ring for the first time in just the second grade and traveling on the road with his dad throughout most of high school. Some regarded Michael as the best in-ring worker in his family. His father put in a word with Dusty Rhodes — at the time the booker of Championship Wrestling from Florida, — to get Michael his first job in pro wrestling. It was in CWF where Rhodes would give Michael the moniker and gimmick that would follow him for the rest of his career: Sam Houston, the cowboy from Waco, Texas.
A student of Dusty Rhodes and Magnum TA
Sam Houston followed up a stint in the CWF with a run for Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling, where he was promoted as the protégé of Dusty Rhodes and Magnum TA. Naturally, that led to a feud with Mid-Atlantic's top heels, The Four Horsemen. He would also hold the NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship while there.
He bounced around the territories for the next several years, including a brief stint in the UWF. After being fired from UWF, older brother Jake Roberts made the connection that helped Houston land in the WWF. Houston spent four mostly unremarkable years in the WWF between 1987 and 1991. He wrestled on house shows for six months before finally making his TV debut in an October episode of "WWF Superstars." He did manage to share the ring with Roberts once in the 1988 Royal Rumble. But he ultimately never rose above undercard status, mostly competing as part of random tag teams, on the house show circuit, and in TV dark matches.
After leaving the WWF, Houston spent the next decade making stops in WCW and a number of independent promotions, but, like his siblings, his struggles with addiction began to impact his life.
Struggles, redemption and reunion with Jake the Snake
Sam Houston was convicted of multiple DUIs through the '90s and early 2000s, eventually resulting in a 10-year prison sentence in August 2005. He said he attempted suicide while behind bars, but, in a 2014 interview, credited the prison rehab program for finally helping him get clean. He has even been able to return to the ring, most recently wrestling in October 2022.
The siblings have been estranged for most of their lives, but as of 2016, Houston claimed to have reconciled with Jake Roberts, even attending his brother's 2014 induction into the WWE Hall of Fame. "Now, our relationship is great," he said in an interview around that time. "He's sober, I'm sober, so it is a pretty cool thing and we are really finally getting to know each other."
Roberts, Houston, and Rockin' Robin took part in a 2021 episode of Vice's "Dark Side of The Ring" that explored their father's dark past, which included accusations that Grizzly Smith physically, emotionally, and sexually abused his own children, in particular Robin. The episode also hinted at the possibility of a family reunion, but that has yet to materialize; Rockin' Robin seemed particularly unsure about reconciling with Houston.
"I'm just, it is a tough one," she said about her youngest brother. "I wish I could go into a little more detail. The only thing I will really say is I wish him just the very best that he can get out of life."
If you or anyone you know needs help with addiction issues, help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).
If you or someone you know may be the victim of child abuse, please contact the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child (1-800-422-4453) or contact their live chat services.