Jake Roberts on how he was paired with Lance Archer in AEW
WWE Hall of Famer Jake Roberts has seen a career resurgence in 2020 during his run with AEW. Back in March, Roberts interrupted AEW Executive Vice President Cody to reveal that he was bringing a client with him to the company.
This client would be later revealed as former IWGP United States Champion Lance Archer. Since then both Roberts and Archer have been fixtures of AEW programming.
During a recent interview with Chris Van Vliet on The Chris Van Vliet Show, Roberts was asked if he ever thought he would be associated with a major wrestling promotion in 2020. Roberts admitted that he is surprised he's actually lasted this long in the professional wrestling business:
"No. I'm surprised I've lasted this long, actually. At some point in your life, you decide you want to do things that make you happy, and I was okay with that. Sometimes, I say the wrong things because I feel that way, but I've realized that at the end of the day, I want to be able to look in the mirror and say, 'I like that guy.' And if it means that I can't work for Vince [McMahon], that's fine, I'm very good with that. I don't need to be around him and he doesn't need to be around me. It's just the way it is; so, I'm very, very happy. I feel very fortunate. I've been blessed and I got a pretty good guy [Lance Archer] to run with." (h/t Wrestling INC.)
Roberts had previously appeared for All Elite Wrestling in 2019 as part of the 'Road to All Out' vignettes where he played a blackjack dealer. However, during this current run as the manager to Archer, The Murderhawk Monster has seen great success.
Archer advanced all the way to the finals of the TNT Championship Tournament earlier this year at Double or Nothing and also won the Casino Battle Royale at the recent AEW All Out pay per view event.
Jake Roberts revealed how this partnership with Lance Archer in AEW began with a simple phone call:
"A phone call, man. [AEW] came with the idea and they asked me if I'd be interested, and I said, 'Well, sure.' They wanted me for ten weeks, and then after that ten weeks was up, they just said, 'Please stay.' 'Okay,' And it was just great timing because had the virus not been going on, I'd have been out doing my shows all the time and I wouldn't have had time to do them. So now it worked out to where I can do both, and I'm hopeful, real hopeful, that I'll be able to start my comedy shows again come November, December. And I got a book coming real soon, so yeah." (h/t Wrestling INC.)
Jake Roberts on what talent is lacking in modern professional wrestling
Roberts is seen by many as one of the greatest promos in the history of professional wrestling. When discussing the art of the promo, he suggested that it's an aspect that is lacking from today's professional wrestling.
The 65-year-old also stated that modern professional wrestlers have the ability in the ring, but lack something on the microphone:
"The talent today, they don't know how to get over. Wrestling today is all for visual. In my day, it wasn't; it was through the heart, it was emotional. I wanted to hook you up emotionally, and the thing about the difference is visual lasts a split second then the brain wants something fresh. But emotionally, if I hook you up one time, I've got you for the rest of your life because you'll always go back to that moment, so, hey man, good for me because they're [WWE] still selling s--t on me. It's kind of freaky." (h/t Wrestling INC.)
What are your thoughts on Jake Roberts' run in All Elite Wrestling so far?