Jake Roberts On Key Differences Between Tony Khan And Vince McMahon Backstage
Jake "The Snake" Roberts is entering his third year as a regular performer in AEW. But he admits he didn't know much about the promotion before he was brought in.
"It's kind of way too good to be true," Roberts said on the DDP Snake Pit podcast. "You know, at that time, I wasn't too closely connected to watching anything, so I had no idea. I knew that Cody Rhodes was there. I don't think Dustin (Rhodes) was even working for them at the time when I first started hearing about it. But, you know, how many times have we heard the story, 'Oh there's this promotion, it's really cool. We'll make millions of dollars.' Yeah, yeah, yeah. See ya."
Jake Roberts says he didn't even meet Tony Khan until the first time he was brought in for his first appearance on Dynamite. Roberts was introduced as the manager of Lance Archer starting in March 2020.
"I met him at the first TV I went to," Roberts recalled. "Just a sweetheart, man. I thought he was just some, some jabroni that carried papers around. I didn't know who the hell he was because he doesn't come across as a Vince McMahon, you know, 'stare you down' type. He's very personable, he's very nice, he's very nice to be around. Yeah, and I love the energy he has. It's incredible, the energy. And his appreciation of what the talent is doing out there. It's incredible. I've seen him leave his position and sprint to halfway across the building to tell someone, 'What a great match'. You know, I've never seen Vince do that.
"I appreciate everything that they do, everything including birthday cakes for guys on their birthdays too, to the way they handle everything, you know? The hotels that they put us in, the flights, to just all of it, man. It's a class organization, you know? And I see what's happened. He's taken what he's been doing for years with football people and the soccer people in England because he owns a club over there, and he's given that same type of love, that's what I call it, to wrestlers. And it's absolutely wonderful."
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit the DDP Snake Pit podcast with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.