Jake Roberts Net Worth

What is Jake Roberts's Net Worth?

Jake "The Snake" Roberts is an American actor, podcaster, and retired professional wrestler who has a net worth of $500 thousand. As a wrestler, Jake Roberts is best known for his pair of stints in the WWF between 1986 and 1992 and between 1996 and 1997. Among his many other activities, he acted in the films "The Bet" and "The Peanut Butter Falcon" and launched the podcast "DDP Snakepit" with Diamond Dallas Page and Conrad Thompson.

Early Life

Jake Roberts, whose real name is Aurelian Smith Jr., was born on May 30, 1955 in Gainesville, Texas. His father, Aurelian "Grizzly" Smith, was a professional wrestler. Roberts lived with his grandmother until she passed away in 1966, at which point he moved in with his father and stepmother. Both parents abused him and his siblings, often sexually. His half-brother Michael and half-sister Robin both became wrestlers.

Professional Wrestling Career

After working as a wrestling referee in Louisiana in 1974, Roberts made his debut as a wrestler in 1975. He made a name for himself wrestling in such promotions as Mid-South Wrestling, Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling, and Georgia Championship Wrestling. In the late 1970s, Roberts went to Canada and appeared for Stampede Wrestling. He went on to debut in World Class Championship Wrestling in 1984, and won both the WCCW Television title and the 6-Man Tag Team title. In March of 1986, Roberts debuted in the World Wrestling Federation. His first major WWF feud was with Ricky "the Dragon" Steamboat. In late 1986, Roberts was given his own talk segment called "The Snake Pit," in which he interviewed wrestlers and managers. The segment lasted until mid-1987. Roberts officially turned face when he began feuding with the Honky Tonk Man. He subsequently had feuds with "Ravishing" Rick Rude and his manager Bobby "the Brain" Heenan, and then with André the Giant, Ted DiBiase, Bad News Brown, and Rick "the Model" Martel. Roberts's final feuds during his first WWF stint were with Earthquake, the Undertaker, and Randy Savage. He left the promotion in 1992 after WWF chairman Vince McMahon declined to give him a position on the writing staff despite an earlier promise.

After leaving the WWF, Roberts appeared alongside his father in World Championship Wrestling. His sole WCW pay-per-view match was against Sting at Halloween Havoc, a top-seller in 1992. In early 1993, Roberts left WCW and began wrestling in promotions around the globe. On March 4, he won the American Wrestling Federation Heavyweight Championship, and in April he debuted in the Mexican promotion Asistencia Asesoría y Administración. Roberts soon joined Smoky Mountain Wrestling in the United States and won the SMW Heavyweight Championship. In September of 1993, he appeared on tour with New Japan Pro-Wrestling. After spending 1995 and part of 1996 on hiatus, Roberts returned to the WWF at the 1996 Royal Rumble. He adopted a new gimmick as a Bible-thumping preacher with an albino Burmese python named Revelations. During his second, much briefer stint in the WWF, Roberts feuded with Stone Cold Steve Austin and Jerry "the King" Lawler. He was let go in March of 1997 on account of being out of shape and difficult to deal with.

In the summer of 1997, Roberts made his debut in Extreme Championship Wrestling. He appeared for the promotion through 1998, and after that went to the independent circuit. In 2001, Roberts moved to the United Kingdom and began appearing in All Star Wrestling. He subsequently joined the World Association of Wrestling, and in 2002 became the NWA UK Hammerlock Heavyweight Champion. Roberts also had his own, short-lived promotion in the UK called Real Stars of Wrestling. Over the ensuing years, back in the United States, he appeared in such independent promotions as Pro Wrestling Alliance, Juggalo Championship Wrestling, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, First State Championship Wrestling, and Reborn Wrestling. Roberts also made WWE appearances in 2005 and 2014 and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling appearances in 2006 and 2008. In 2019, he made his debut in All Elite Wrestling, and went on to manage Lance Archer. Roberts became a special advisor for AEW's community outreach program, AEW Together, in 2023. The next year, he managed the stable La Facción Ingobernable.

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Other Appearances

Roberts has been featured in some documentary films, including "Beyond the Mat" (1999) and "The Resurrection of Jake the Snake" (2015). He and others criticized the former for allegedly showing him in a misleadingly negative light. Beyond wrestling-related media, Roberts guest-starred in a 1996 episode of the television sitcom "Boy Meets World" and had brief roles in the films "The Bet" (2016) and "The Peanut Butter Falcon" (2019). In early 2022, he launched the podcast "DDP Snakepit" with Diamond Dallas Page and Conrad Thompson.

Personal Life and Health

Roberts has been married and divorced multiple times. He wed his first wife, Karen Rauschuber, in 1973; they divorced in 1982. Roberts was next married to Cheryl Hagood from 1984 until their divorce in 1997. He married his third wife, Judy Lynn, in 2006, and they divorced in 2011. Roberts later reunited with Cheryl and remarried her. He has eight children in total.

Having struggled with substance addiction, Roberts entered a voluntary rehabilitation program paid for by WWE in late 2007. He relapsed in 2012, and to get back on the right track moved in with former wrestler Diamond Dallas Page in Atlanta, Georgia. Roberts struggled with obesity during this time. Later, in 2014, he successfully fought muscular cancer below his knee. In late 2020, Roberts was diagnosed with COPD, and in 2025 he had heart ablation surgery.

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