Jake Roberts Talks Being Sober, DDP's Influence

WWE Hall of Famer Jake "The Snake" Roberts made a special appearance last Saturday at an alumni picnic for A Forever Recovery, a rehabilitation facility in Battle Creek, Michigan. Roberts, who was the last to speak on Saturday, noted that it took 12 stints in rehab and the help of "Diamond" Dallas Page to finally overcome his addiction and get his life back on track.

"I had completely given up," Roberts said. "But I finally reached that point. I'd gotten out of the ring because I was just so bad physically, I couldn't get out of a chair, much less get in a ring. So it was over and I was waiting to die.

"Then my buddy (Page) reached out. He said, 'I'll take care of your bills. You don't have to pay rent. I'm going to feed you the best food on the planet. I'm going to help you lose 75 pounds,' … and I'd already lost 10 pounds when he hit me with that. I jumped on that. For me to lose 10 pounds, it was a miracle. It was the first positive thing that had happened to me in 10 years."

One of the key messages Roberts delivered is that sobriety is a forever journey that is worth the fight. After 59 years, Roberts says drugs and alcohol tempt him once a month at most. Now, instead of craving alcohol, he is driven to stay sober thanks to renewed relationships with his children and the fact that he finally likes the guy in the mirror.

"I look in the mirror now and I don't hate myself anymore," he said. "It really sucked when it got so bad that I took the mirrors down in the house because I hated myself to the point that every time I looked at them, I wanted to punch the mirror. Self-hate is (hard), especially when it's coupled with shame. It didn't happen for me until like four months ago that I finally said, 'You know what, dude, I think you're a pretty cool cat. I kinda like you.'"

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