5 WWE Superstars who got animals to the ring
There have been multiple superstars throughout WWE history who have carried animals to the ring. Even in WCW, there were some bizarre instances. While the number of animals that accompany a superstar to the ring has reduced, they have been a part of several superstars' ring entrances through the years.
This list focuses on five former WWE superstars who got animals to the ring with them:
#5. Jake 'The Snake' Roberts - Carried a snake in his WWE run
We can't start the list without mentioning one of the great icons in WWE history - Jake "The Snake" Roberts. When looking at Jake Roberts' resume in WWE, it has zero championships and from his perspective, it didn't matter.
For Jake Roberts, championships are merely props in wrestling. Be that as it may, Roberts' time in WWE was defined by his run with "Damien" the Snake. Jake Roberts debuted at WrestleMania 2 with Damien, who made George Wells his first victim.
It was a great way to introduce Jake Roberts in 1986 and it would be a foreshadowing of his WWE career. Jake Roberts would always bring Damien to the ring and the snake would become an integral part of many of his storylines, including the ones against Ricky Steamboat, Randy Savage, and The Undertaker.
Interestingly, Jake Roberts revealed that he didn't even like snakes, to begin with:
“I hated the sons of b***hes. I’m terrified of them!" said Roberts. (H/T Prowrestlingstories)
Roberts described it as a "miserable job":
“What a miserable damn job that was, carrying my wrestling gear and clothes — and a 100-pound snake in a box! Walking around with 150 pounds of gear, that’s not healthy to do, really. Really, really brutal, man. It really tore my a** up." revealed Roberts.
Perhaps the most iconic and terrifying moment of Jake Roberts' WWE career was in late 1991 when he was feuding with the retired Randy Savage. The Macho Man had to retire earlier that year after losing a match against The Ultimate Warrior at WrestleMania.
Jake Roberts recalled his interaction with Randy Savage before the segment. The Macho Man was paranoid that there were people within WWE who wanted to "take him out" and needed to ensure that Jake Roberts wasn't one of them.
Despite Roberts assuring Savage that the snake was devenomized, Savage made sure that Roberts got bitten by it first:
"Savage came up to me before and said [Macho Man voice], ‘Your cobra’s gonna bite me – Okay, you got that? But here’s the f***ing problem, yeah… there’s a lot of people around here that’d like to TAKE the Macho Man OUT – you know what I’m sayin’? And you might be one of them…’" revealed Roberts.
The segment would play out as planned and it remains a piece of WWE history. Unfortunately, Jake Roberts was in a very dark place for a long time during and after his WWE run. Thankfully, he is in a much better place physically and mentally today.