Randy Savage’s early-90s feud with Jake “The Snake” Roberts was arguably the most intense of The Macho Man’s illustrious career. It kicked off when Roberts stuck his nose into Savage and Miss Elizabeth’s unforgettable “Match Made in Heaven” wedding at SummerSlam ’91 and included a lot of edgy elements fans wouldn’t be used to seeing until the Attitude era, like Randy being bitten by a cobra and Jake slapping Elizabeth. Ultimately though, Savage/Roberts didn’t last all that long, which was odd considering how heated the issue between them was. Just as the feud seemed to be hitting a climax with the dastardly Roberts threatening Elizabeth with a chair, the whole thing ended and Roberts and Savage were shuffled off to feud with The Undertaker and Ric Flair respectively. Savage and Roberts never even got to have their decisive rubber match.
Well, it turns out there was a reason for the abrupt end to the feud, and surprise surprise, it had to do with Savage’s weird family, specifically his in-laws. Turns out Savage wasn’t the only one ridiculously protective of Elizabeth – her parents were also overly defensive of their daughter, which was exacerbated by the fact that they didn’t understand the wrestling business. Jake described the situation in an interview with Wrestling Inc…
“His in-laws were not smart to the business, so they took what I did to her very personal. You know, slapping her and all that crap. They became very angry with Randy and told him not to ever come back to their house again. That he wasn’t welcomed. They were calling him and calling him a piece of shit and everything else. ‘You let this girl be treated like that? How dare you let our little girl get treated like that. You said you’d always protect her. You scumbag.’ You know, they really went off on the guy.
It should have been a much longer feud. But he had to get even with me and beat me because of what he was doing at home.”
Here’s a clip of Jake telling the story for those that prefer video…
Only a couple months after the sinking of the Jake Roberts feud, Savage and Elizabeth would separate in real life, so I guess you could say Jake won in the end. Want more crazy stories from the life and career of Randy Savage? I wrote up a few more, right here.
via Wrestling Inc.
