"I should have had two" - Retired star gets honest on never winning the WWE Championship
The WWE Championship has eluded some massive names, and most fans wouldn't argue against Jake Roberts being on the list of deserving stars. The WWE legend astonishingly never won the world title in the company and recently revealed that he could have captured the championship from Hulk Hogan had they had their feud.
Roberts and Hogan competed in a live event match in January 1992 and seemed destined to have a long-term feud on WWE programming.
Despite being the heel, Jake 'The Snake' Roberts got huge cheers from the house show audience, forcing Vince McMahon to change his mind about having him face the company's top babyface, Hulk Hogan. WWE canceled the storyline between the veterans and missed out on possibly having an all-time rivalry that could have also featured Roberts' first world title victory.
Jake Roberts believes a program with Hulk Hogan could have set him up for world championship glory, as he revealed below on The Snake Pit show:
"As far as what could have been? A lot of things could have been. Hell, I could have beaten Hogan for the belt. That could have happened. But it didn't." [33:39 - 33:53]
For all his exploits in the ring, Roberts doesn't have any WWE titles to show for his tenure and feels he should have had at least two reigns with the most prestigious belt in wrestling.
"I think I should have had two (world title runs), but I didn't. But that's okay, man." [34:00 -34:10]
It's criminal that Jake Roberts never became a WWE World Champion, even though he was one of the finest performers of his generation. Roberts was not just an in-ring genius but also came to be known for his exceptional work on the microphone that perfectly complimented his intimidating character.
Jake Roberts on why Hulk Hogan was unhappy with their WWE match
As noted above, Jake Roberts and Hulk Hogan first competed in a live event bout for 4,500 fans in Springfield, Massachusetts in 1992.
Roberts went into the match intending to showcase his technical skills, which apparently worked against Hulk Hogan's modus operandi. The Hulkster's matches followed a particular pattern and Jake Roberts wasn't aware that he wasn't supposed to overshadow his popular rival.
The AEW veteran lost the contest but got a loud "DDT" chant from the crowd, which probably didn't go down well with both Vince McMahon and Hulk Hogan. Jake Roberts revealed that he could have avoided all the issues had he spoken to Hulk Hogan backstage before they walked out to the ring.
"I know that he just wasn't happy with the match because I didn't do the same old sh**. And, again, I think if we had talked for five or 10 minutes before the match, all those things could have been covered. There wouldn't have been any damn problems, and I would have went out there and done the same old sh** because, in hindsight, that cost me a lot of damn money." [34:34 - 35:06]
Should Jake 'The Snake' Roberts have been a multi-time world champion in WWE? Sound off in the comments section below.
If you use any of the above quotes, please credit The Snake Pit with Jake Roberts and H/T Sportskeeda for the transcription.