WWE legend thinks he could have headlined WrestleMania
Hulk Hogan dominated the early years of WWE's annual WrestleMania event. Jake Roberts, another prominent WWE name at the time, believes he was worthy of headlining at least one WrestleMania at the height of his stardom.
Hogan competed in the last match on the card at eight of the first nine WrestleMania events between 1985 and 1993. Roberts, by contrast, never wrestled in a show-closing bout in any of his eight appearances on The Grandest Stage of Them All.
On his podcast, The Snake Pit, Roberts gave his take on whether he could have main-evented in the Hogan era:
"It's not only about the money either. It's who had the best opportunity to do it. There's a lot of us that never got that opportunity to do it, to be in the main event. I was in a few main events but never one at WrestleMania, and I think I certainly could have carried it." [26:50 – 27:12]
Hogan faced several high-profile names during his WrestleMania main-event run, from Andre the Giant and King Kong Bundy to Randy Savage and The Ultimate Warrior. He never went one-on-one with Roberts in a televised match.
Jake Roberts' WWE WrestleMania history
In 1986, Jake Roberts recorded his first victory at The Show of Shows over George Wells at WrestleMania 2. His only other wins at WWE's biggest show of the year came against Andre the Giant and Rick Martel at WrestleMania 5 and WrestleMania 7, respectively.
Between 1987 and 1992, Roberts lost three WrestleMania singles matches against The Honky Tonk Man, Ted DiBiase, and The Undertaker. He also drew a 15-minute contest with Rick Rude in the World Heavyweight Championship tournament at WrestleMania 4.
Amazing shot of Jake Roberts vs. Rick Rude from WrestleMania 4! https://t.co/LkdMc6VZYj
Roberts' final match at the event ended in defeat at WrestleMania 12. He teamed up with Ahmed Johnson and Yokozuna in a losing effort against The British Bulldog, Owen Hart, and Vader.
Do you think Jake Roberts should have main-evented WrestleMania? Let us know in the comments section below.
Please credit The Snake Pit and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.