Jake Roberts Discusses Vince McMahon’s Broken Promise To Bad News Brown

During a recent episode of “The Snake Pit with Jake Roberts” podcast, the WWE Hall of Famer reflected on Bad News Brown’s tenure in WWE, Vince McMahon’s unfulfilled promise of a WWE Title run, and more.

Jake Roberts discussed his working relationship with Bad News Brown, noting that contrary to rumors, they got along well, and he was devastated when he heard about Brown’s passing. He said,

“He was a super guy, we got along really well… I had heard that he was hard to get along with. I heard that he could be as you say, prickly. But it never came came out. It never came out, man. And you know, we just went out there and did what we were supposed to do, and had a good time doing it. You know, I was devastated when I heard of his death, man. Just shocked that something — you could die like that, having an operation, it’s just so simple.”

Roberts mentioned that despite Brown’s limitations in the ring, he adapted his wrestling style to accommodate him, ensuring a great performance while not exposing his weakness.

“It was [a struggle], but I knew what to do and what not to do. The thing with him was, he had a hard time getting back up if he went down. So what do you do? You don’t knock him down. Or if you do, you knock him down near the rope so he can grab the ropes and pull himself up, you know? Much the same way I worked with Andre [The Giant]… I saw his problem. And I didn’t ever confront him with it. I didn’t want to make him feel bad about it, because he’s a proud man. And I just went ahead and just did this sensible thing, you know? You never expose your opponent’s weakness. That doesn’t doesn’t do you any good in the ring. If you’ve got somebody that can’t get up and get down, for god’s sake, don’t knock them down, unless you knock them down, like I said, near the ropes so they can get back up. I want him to be a monster. That way if I somehow squeak out a win over him, then I’ve beaten a monster.”

Roberts also delved into Vince McMahon’s unfulfilled promise to Brown for a WWF Title run with Hulk Hogan, expressing his belief that it could have worked given Brown’s background and abilities. He said,

“I think that he believed in what he believed in, man. He had been promised a lot coming to the WWF. And for reasons unbeknownst to me, but I’m sure it has something to do with his inability to get up and down, him and Hogan never had their run. I had heard that he’d been promised a long run with Hogan if he would ditch his contract with Japan and come to WWF… It could have been done [Bad News as WWE Champion]. It would’ve taken a lot of work. And the people that worked with him would’ve had to have done the same thing I did. You know, take care of it. But it could have worked… He would’ve been the guy to do it with because he had the background to back it up. He’d been a badass, you know?”

Sharing his perspective on Vince McMahon allegedly burying Bad News at the end of his WWE run, Roberts stated that it was typical of Vince to handle situations like that.

“You’re not overthinking it. Typical Vince. Vince does it [bury people]. [Brown and Vince] had had way too many problems.”

Roberts recalled feeling sympathy for Bad News during the end of his WWE run and mentioned that their SummerSlam match ending in a disqualification had no reason given, speculating that it might have been a result of a feud between Bad News and Vince McMahon.

“I was sympathizing with him. And I knew something was up, cause I kept beating him every night. How in the hell do you work an angle three times around, and you haven’t lost to the guy yet?”

When asked if there was a reason given for their five-minute SummerSlam match ending in a disqualification, Roberts bluntly responded,

“F**k no. I’m sure Bad News had something to say about that. No, I think it was just a thing between him and Vince. ‘F**k you, I’m done.’”

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