Jim Ross On Jake Roberts’ Alcohol Issues Being Used in a Storyline, Who Booked It

– Jim Ross shared his thoughts on WWE using Jake Roberts’ alcohol issues on-screen in 1996 and why he felt it was in poor taste. The feud was between Jake Roberts and Jerry Lawler following Roberts’ loss to Steve Austin in the King of the Ring tournament. Roberts was doing a “Born Again” angle that played off his real-life becoming a born-again Christian. In September of ’96, Roberts faced Austin again on Raw and lost, after which Lawler spit alcohol in Roberts’ face and Austin hit him with a Stunner. Roberts and Lawler’s feud would feature Lawler mocking Roberts’ alcoholism, something Ross said he found distasteful.

Highlights from the discussion and the full podcast are below:

On how the “reborn” angle playing off Robert’s drug abuse issues: “Poor taste. It was in poor taste, you know. Color it any way you want, rationalize any way you want … I’m not a big fan of utilizing religion or politics, or personal demons, things like that, in a storyline. In a storyline surrounding fake fighting.”

On who booked it: “It’s easy. It’s easy, Conrad. Who else would have come up with that stupid s**t? Russo came up with a lot of great ideas. And he came up with some that weren’t so great. That was one of them in my opinion. And if was edgy or different, whether we thought it would work or wouldn’t work, Vince would usually go along with it because it was different and edgy. And it took him farther away from being recognized as a pro wrestling promoter than an entertainment impresario. And that’s what he wanted to be. That’s what he is today, he’s a multimedia mogul. He is not a pro wrestling promoter.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Grilling JR with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.