Jake Roberts - Gimmick

Gimmick

Jake Roberts claims to have invented the DDT in a match where he had his opponent, The Grappler, in a front facelock, but when Roberts tripped over Denton's foot he fell backwards and Roberts' opponent landed on his head. From that match, Roberts claimed the move as his finisher, calling it the DDT, though instead of falling back, he stepped back before falling (which, as he explained on his DVD Pick Your Poison, was the quickest way to drive his opponent's head into the mat and also gave the move a "snap" effect). According to World Wrestling Entertainment employee Bruce Prichard, Roberts named the move after the pesticide of the same name, though Roberts himself has provided alternative explanations such as "Drop Dead Twice" or "Damian's Dinner Time".

Roberts derived his nickname for being known as "snake like" and untrustworthy. Roberts also said on the Pick Your Poison DVD that he got his nickname by copying Oakland Raiders quarterback Ken "The Snake" Stabler (of whom Roberts was a huge fan). To accentuate this, he would often slide ("slither") into and out of the ring on his belly under the bottom rope. Once he reached the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in March 1986, Roberts would bring a huge, live Burmese Python (though various snakes were used over the years, most were named "Damien") to ringside in a canvas bag. Other snakes used were a Reticulated Python named Lucifer, an unnamed (de-venomized) Cobra that bit Macho Man Randy Savage, and an albino Burmese Python named Revelations (during Roberts' Christian conversion gimmick in 1996). After executing a DDT, Roberts would coil the constrictor around the opponent's neck, and the snake would slither around on top of the fallen wrestler, sometimes appearing to strangle him.