[1991-04-06-WWF-Superstars] Jake Roberts and Earthquake

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Savage, Piper and Vince are having WAY too much fun at the broadcast booth. Jake is finishing a squash and Earthquake is headed out for his match when we learn that he's terrified of snakes. Quake sacrifices Jimmy Hart and then runs like hell after selling huge fear for a few minutes. This is great and all, but why didn't Jake just chase him away with the snake when he was attacking Hogan the year before?

[shoe]

I never understood why they made some of their monsters look like pussy's being afraid of the snake. I guess it's called moving down the card. Quake don't bump into Andre, and BadNews down there.

[PeteF3]

"Short clothesline right there! The exact opposite of a long clothesline!" That made me chuckle. Seems that few people remember that Savage remained a heel, or quasi-heel, in the booth for awhile, until the wedding talk really started getting pushed.

 

I definitely remember thinking "big bad heel cowers from the snake" was getting to be a tiresome angle at this point.

[Kevin Ridge]

Savage is talking about Roberts having an attitude problem and the Damien should be outlawed in WWF. Savage taking pot shots at Jake. Maybe he is still somewhat heel. Roberts stays ringside with Earthquake heads to ring. Quake is scared of snakes and ends up running off backstage.

[soup23]

Damian is one of the most feared members of the WWF locker room. I think the snake fearing stuff was such a crutch to start an issue that they kept going back to the well. I admit that it still worked for me as hokey as it is because Jake had an edge to him that most babyfaces in the WWF didn't this time where he would use the psychological advantage of his friend Damian.

[garretta]

Yeah, this was a rerun of the Andre angle minus the heart attack bit on SNME. I can understand how this setup would create feuds with an instant hook- can whoever get revenge on Jake for making them look like a coward while avoiding a replay of their nightmare with Damien?- but doing it three times in the exact same fashion (Andre, Bad News, Quake) is a little much. Of course, this version has a few other little twists and turns that would make it stand out, but we didn't know that at the time.

 

I like how Piper and Savage, who were both babyfaces by now (after watching Mania, I consider Savage a face, occasional heelish comments aside), didn't agree with how Jake used Damien after matches. That might have been an interesting way to turn Jake heel; have him take exception to Piper's comments and escalate things from there. I remember the Jake/Warrior stuff, but I would have much preferred a Jake/Piper feud for the promo battle alone. Of course, having anyone with the possible exception of DiBiase in two distinct feuds at one time totally went against the Little Hulkamaniacs Booking Handbook, although if anyone else could have done it, Piper would have been it.

 

Poor Jimmy Hart; he was legitimately scared to death of snakes, if I remember correctly. That's why he had to be held by Alice Cooper when Jake put Damien on him after Honky beat Jake at Mania III. The idea of being sacrificed by Quake so Damien didn't land on him had to give Jimmy the creeps, even if nothing actually happened.

[dawho5]

I suppose one of the reasons they always go back to this is that most people are at least a little creeped out by snakes, if not outright afraid of them. It is something Jake really takes advantage of, face or heel.