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Speaking on his podcast, The Snake Pit, Roberts revealed how he turned to steroids to keep up with the demands of the job.
Jake ‘The Snake’ Roberts. (X)
WWE legend Jake ‘The Snake’ Roberts has opened up on how taking steroids affected him in his career. One of the company’s greatest icons, Roberts had an illustrious in-ring career. He has competed under the banner of several top wrestling promotions including AEW, WWF and WWE. He won several titles in his professional career, eventually being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.
Speaking on his podcast, The Snake Pit, Roberts revealed how he turned to steroids to keep up with the demands of the job. “It [steroids] turns you into an animal, it really does. You hunger for lifting. That’s all you want to do is lift,” he said, as per The Sun.
Back in the 1980s and 1990s, wrestling was regarded as a big man’s sport. All the professionals competing in the business were buffed which put a lot of pressure on other stars. Everyone wanted to get buffed as quickly as possible. This led to many of the wrestlers resorting to the use of performance-enhancing drugs to keep up with the competition. During the podcast, Roberts spoke extensively about the circumstances under which he used these performance enhancers.
Roberts revealed he used steroids for a short period after a neck surgery. Roberts turned to steroids to enhance his recovery after the surgery. “I went on it for a short period, especially after my neck surgery cause I wanted to heal quicker, but in the WWF at the time we were working so hard, seven days a week, twice on Saturday, twice on Sunday. You needed a little bit of steroids to help with the healing process,” he said.
Talking about the darker side of steroid use, Roberts also talked about how some wrestlers started abusing these performance enhancers. He claimed wrestling legends such as Randy Savage, the Road Warriors and Mr Perfect used steroids excessively in their careers.
“Now some guys took that and went completely off the charts with it, but that was their choice and you know, so many of those guys are gone now and I’m sure that had something to do with it, whether that was Randy [Savage] or The Road Warriors or Mr. Perfect, right on down the line, man,” he said.
In the current scenario, promotions like the WWE have a wellness policy. It prohibits the contracted professionals from indulging in drug use to enhance their physique.
