Back in 2014, Jake Roberts returned to WWE RAW ahead of what he told us had been a planned Royal Rumble appearance with the aim of another run in the ring. Upon his RAW comeback, The Snake would hit Dean Ambrose, now AEW star Jon Moxley, with a DDT and lay a snake on him – but the man then known as ‘The Lunatic Fringe’ would lay with a visible smile on his face as he was supposed to be unconscious!
So, was the grin intentional? Was Moxley just delighted to work with Jake Roberts? Or was there something else at play?
Inside The Ropes‘ Lead Writer Gary Cassidy spoke to both Jon Moxley and Jake Roberts about that iconic moment. Former AEW and WWE Champion Jon Moxley recalled that it “seems like it was a million years ago” – but laid out the story as if it were yesterday, detailing how CM Punk was to blame for his smile.
“I haven’t talked to him [Jake] about that. That seems like it was like a million years ago. I remember that I was like trying to play dead and that snake is like tickling my face, so I’m trying real hard to not sell that he’s tickling my face. CM Punk was in a ring and he just goes, “That snake s*** on your face!” So I started laughing and I was supposed to be knocked out from the DDT, and I was laughing at him yelling that the snake s*** in my face, which it didn’t – it did not shit on my face, I don’t think.”
Jake Roberts would say how he was angling for a Royal Rumble appearance, before corroborating Moxley’s story about the iconic segment.
“Yeah. Well, at the time, I was trying to get in line for the Rumble, but that didn’t happen. It’s probably a good thing it didn’t. But that’s done. But at the time, actually, Moxley… It really wasn’t Moxley’s fault because CM Punk, who was right there, told Moxley, “Oh, my God, the snake s*** on your chest,” so that’s why Moxley couldn’t stop laughing.”
You can read our full interview with Jon Moxley here, and our interview with Jake ‘The Snake’ Roberts here.