Jake Roberts has made the astounding claim that he was armed with a roll of quarters to cause harm to Ultimate Warrior at the 2014 WWE Hall Of Fame.
Roberts was speaking on the documentary series Dark Side Of The Ring who had devoted an episode to exploring the life and career of the polarising Ultimate Warrior. Warrior’s widow Dana Warrior had previously objected to the episode saying it was full of ‘smut and filth.’
According to Jake ‘The Snake,’ he was was still upset at how Warrior had treated him many years ago when Roberts claimed he was set for a title win in the WWF. For Roberts to win the title though, Warrior had to agree to lose it. Roberts’ story is that when he approached Warrior about that, Warrior told him he didn’t care about him or anyone, suggesting his answer was an emphatic no. Jake Roberts was then all set to exact his revenge on the same night both men were inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame.
Roberts stated:
“I had a roll of quarters in my pocket and I was going to beat his a**. And I’m waiting on him, looking for him, of course, Warrior being Warrior they had him in a private area and security guards and all that. I had to wait and I had to wait and I had to wait and I’m boiling, I’m boiling, I’m boiling. And then all of a sudden, somebody tapped me on the back. Turned around and it was Warrior. He put his hands up and said ‘Please, just let me do this. I need to apologise to you and your family. That’s who I was then but that wasn’t me. But if it means anything, just know that I’m sorry.’ He disarmed me. Another lesson in life man, that’s what I got. A lesson.”
Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer has since sought to pour cold water on that story in his newsletter. Meltzer is dubious of the claims Roberts makes about McMahon telling him he was going to become a champion in the promotion.
For one thing, Meltzer notes that Warrior had lost the title almost a year earlier than when Roberts claims he was going to win it. The second thing Meltzer urges readers to take into consideration is that on the night in question Roberts shot an angle that propelled him to the biggest feud of his career with Macho Man Randy Savage.
As for the story Roberts tells about the roll of quarters and the WWE Hall Of Fame, Meltzer calls that “impossible to believe.”
Ultimate Warrior was inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame on the night before WrestleMania 30 in 2014. On the following Raw, he cut a memorable in-ring promo, the first time Warrior had set foot in a WWE ring in 18 years. Sadly, the very next day Warrior collapsed outside his hotel in Arizona and was later pronounced dead in hospital at the age of 54.