WWE Hall of Famer Jake "The Snake" Roberts is best-known for his character work, and for making the DDT one of the deadliest moves in pro wrestling at the time. As a veteran of the industry, Roberts has seen the rise and fall of many of the biggest stars, and according to him, character work will fall flat if a wrestler doesn't have two essential components.
During an episode of his "The Snake Pit" podcast, Roberts was asked what the best way is to developing a pro wrestler. "In-ring ability and psychology," he said, adding that it's more important than strong character work. "If you can do anything, then you should be producing some type of character already. And if you can do anything and everything right, then it means you're not screwing things up there."
Roberts was then asked whether someone being terrible at promos would negate any of their good in-ring ability and psychology. "Yeah, that's what happens whenever you see a guy with a manager," he responded. "Usually the manager is there to talk, because the guy's the s***s."
While he seemed to put less emphasis on promo work during this podcast episode, in the past, Roberts has gone at length about how much he personally enjoyed talking in his career. Roberts explained that he often got the inspiration for his character work from books, movies, and music, naming artists like Ozzy Osbourne among his main influences.
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "The Snake Pit" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
