Jake Roberts Defied Vince McMahon & Went Off-Script In Legendary WWE Moment

WWE Hall of Famer Jake ‘The Snake’ Roberts has been part of the AEW since 2020. Before that, Roberts established himself as a huge name in WWE. His cerebral style of promos struck fear into the hearts of his opponents. However, it seems he once went off-script and defied Vince McMahon’s orders in his feud with Rick Rude.

Jake Roberts worked in WWE for many years and knows how Vince McMahon functions. Roberts even blasted Vince McMahon previously for humiliating people in WWE. That being said, Roberts has many interesting stories to tell fans from his days as a pro wrestler.

Jake “The Snake” Roberts recounted how he had gone against Vince McMahon’s instructions and deviated from the planned script when Rick Rude insulted his wife.

In 1988, Roberts engaged in a feud with Rick Rude, who had made advances towards his real-life spouse, Cheryl Hagood. Following a victory against Tommy Angel, the ex-Intercontinental Champion unexpectedly tore his tights off to unveil another pair beneath with Cheryl’s image on his crotch.

Despite cautioning Rick Rude previously not to wear those tights, Jake Roberts charged into the ring and ripped them off. While speaking with Cafe de Rene, Roberts revealed that ripping Rude’s tights was not part of the script.

Jake Roberts said that he had a conversation with Rick Rude before the show, where Rude showed off his new tights with Cheryl’s image on them. Roberts immediately objected, telling Rude that he cannot wear them because it was disrespectful to his wife. Rude insisted on wearing them, but Roberts warned him that he would rip them off if he did, which is what happened.

However, Vince McMahon instructed Jake Roberts not to interfere and let the show go on as planned. But Roberts felt strongly that he had to defend his wife’s honor and disobeyed McMahon’s orders. McMahon tried to convince Roberts not to go, but Roberts stood his ground and went to the ring to confront Rude.

“We did the thing up there where he came to the show and asked Vince ‘what do you think about these new tights I’ve got?’ And of course it had Cheryl on his… When I walked up and seen that sh*t I said, ‘you’re not wearing that f*cking sh*t out there.’ [Rude said] ‘Why not?’ [Roberts replied] ‘This is my f*cking wife man.’ He goes, ‘I will wear them.’ I said, ‘if you wear them out there, I’m gonna hit the f*cking ring and rip them off of you. [That’s what you did] You’re f*cking right.

Vince argued with me as, ‘why do you feel so strongly about that?’ I said, ‘Vince, if I don’t go out there I’m a f*cking douchbag.’ You know, and he didn’t understand that. ‘F*ck that Vince, you’re not talking me out of it. As soon as he gets in the ring I’m going out.’ And he’s like, ‘no, you’re not. You’re not gonna… No, you will not do that.’ Shoo there I went.”

Jake Roberts also believes modern pro wrestling took out big tradition that used to be the norm back in the day. Roberts will continue to share more bizarre stories about his larger-than-life experiences and fans can’t wait to hear them.