Jake Roberts Recalls Nearly Getting In Fight With Iron Sheik Over Misunderstanding

Jake Roberts shared a story of his time traveling with the Iron Sheik following the latter’s recent passing. Roberts was a guest on Busted Open Radio and shared the anecdote about how he was traveling with the Sheik in the 1970s when Sheik was new to America, and how they nearly got into a fight over a cultural difference in phrasing. You can see the highlights below, per Wrestling Inc:

On how the story began: “Sheik was what he was, definitely a character beyond all characters. He was something else. I know I’ve been thinking quite a bit since his passing. We were driving, this is back in 1975, and he was new to wrestling. He was also new to the English language. He didn’t understand some things. You could say something, and it’d be good even though it sounds like it’s bad. I think I called him a ‘bad son of a bitch.’ He freaking lost it. I was driving in the car and he’s like, ‘You motherf***er. I can’t believe you call Sheiky baby bad son of a bitch. Pull the car over, I’m going to teach you some respect. I’m going to f*** you in the a**.’ I’m like ‘Sheik what’s wrong? I called you a bad son of a bitch.’

On letting Sheik out and driving away from him: “I went down the road about a mile, and he came walking up. He came walking up, and I looked at him and he says, ‘Ah Jake my best friend, I can’t believe you leave the Sheiky Baby.’ With a difference in languages, you call somebody a ‘bad son of a bitch’ in their language that means they’re a piece of s**t, but in our language, it means you’re a bad motherf***er.”