26th March

It's been a while since I've written one of these regular columns, so with Wrestlemania 21 fast approaching, now seemed the right time to express some opinions on a few things.

A couple of weeks ago on Raw, we aging wrestling fans were taken back a few years, with a Rockers reunion between Marty Janetty and Shawn Michaels, and the appearance of Jake "The Snake" Roberts on Chris Jericho's Highlight Reel, as he became another of Randy Orton's victims on his Legend Killer tour.

It was the Snake Man's appearance that seemed to get everyone talking the most, and it also made me realize that a lot of people who follow the wrestling business can be rather two-faced at times.

In 2001, with his wrestling career more or less going down the toilet, Jake Roberts moved to Britain, and began making regular appearances on the British wrestling circuit, most notably for Brian Dixon's All-Star Wrestling, and, of course, for the World Association of Wrestling. This is how I came to meet Jake.

Every wrestling fan in the western world had seen Beyond The Mat by the time Jake moved to Britain, and we all knew of his reputation, of his battles with his personal demons, and it seems that a great deal of people had made up their minds about Jake after watching this infamous documentary.

I'm not denying that Jake Roberts doesn't have personal problems, but for the most part, whenever I saw Jake at a WAW show, he certainly wasn't in "no fit state to perform", as the old saying goes. If you caught Jake on a good day, you could have a damn good conversation with the guy, especially about the wrestling business. Those in the business who know me well also know that I'm a sucker for old wrestling stories, and Jake has literally thousands of these stories. In short, when he was on his game, I found Jake to be very good company.

And he also had some good matches when he worked for WAW. Those in attendance at the Guildhall in Thetford in February 2002 will never forget his classic with the Zebra Kid. Other WAW standout matches include his bouts with Bash, Ricky Knight and Johnny Phere.

I also remember the time when he attended the WAW Training Academy. Gathering the students around him, Jake had them in the palm of his hand as he spoke about his love of the wrestling business, and how hard it can be on people at times.

But at the same time, I'm not going to deny that Jake didn't have his bad moments while he lived here in Britain. Jake did put in some woeful performances in the ring, and he courted controversy outside of it as well. His last appearance for WAW saw him make a complete ass of himself. Out of the ring altercations with the likes of Alex Shane and Phil Powers made headlines, and his problems with the RSPCA, which led to his conviction for animal cruelty, saw Jake leave Britain late last year after a warrant was issued for his arrest.

During his time in Britain, the opinion of Jake and his performances on the British wrestling circuit gradually got lower and lower the longer he stayed in the country. Those who frequented Internet forums vented their spleens on an almost daily basis, making disparaging remarks about everything from his performances in the ring to his private life to his ongoing battles with his personal demons. Jake "The Snake" Roberts definitely wasn't flavour of the month.

I have to admit that as I sat in front of my television early on a Tuesday morning, fatigue starting to take over me, I couldn't believe my eyes when Chris Jericho introduced Jake Roberts as his special guest to a world-wide television audience.

Coupled with the Rockers reunion on the same show, Jake's appearance on Raw, and the opinions expressed by the Internet community, were in stark contrast to almost everything that had been said about him during his time in Britain. Everyone seemed to mark out like mad as Jake traded verbal jabs with Randy Orton. It was as if everyone had forgotten everything they'd said about the man in the past four years.

To me, it just showed how fickle wrestling fans can be at times. One minute they criticize and insult everything a wrestler does, yet when he appears on the biggest wrestling show in the world, they mark out like mad. A definite case of two-faced double standards here.

I've got nothing personal as Jake Roberts. I've watched his career for sixteen years now. I've seen some of his best matches on television and in person, and I've seen some of his howlers. Jake's gone on record as saying that he'd like to get a full-time job with the WWE again, and while I doubt that this would happen, I'd like to go on record as wishing the man the best of luck. Jake Roberts has one of the greatest minds in the history of professional wrestling. If he can finally win his battles with his personal demons, then he could certainly become a great asset to the world of professional wrestling.

I kind of feel sorry for Shelton Benjamin at the moment. It's been a year since he moved from Smackdown to Raw as a part of the draft lottery, and despite being the current Intercontinental Champion, he doesn't seem to be doing much at the moment.

At the beginning of his Raw tenure, Benjamin enjoyed great success in a program with Triple H, beating The Game two weeks in a row. Some great matches with Randy Orton followed, before the fans voted him into an Intercontinental title shot against Chris Jericho at Taboo Tuesday last October. But since he won the belt from Jericho, he doesn't seem to have done much. He's enjoyed pay-per-view title defenses against Christian and Maven, but that's about all.


If you go by who holds what title at the moment, then Shelton Benjamin is the second best wrestler on Raw right now, behind World Champion Triple H. But to those of us following his career, it doesn't seem that way.

The Intercontinental title is one of the most prestigious and important in the history of the WWE. I don't need to make a list of the great wrestlers who have held this title since it's inception in 1979. But will Shelton Benjamin go down in history as one of the greatest I-C champions of all time. I have my doubts.

The second most important championship on Raw isn't even being defended at Wrestlemania 21, the biggest event on the WWE calendar. Sure, Benjamin is on the show as part of the six way ladder match, but surely he should be defending his title.

The problem may be that if other stars are pushed in the direction of Benjamin and his title, the fans may see it as a comedown for the challengers, the "been there done that" scenario would come into play. Maven could have been a credible challenger to the title, but the way his match with Benjamin at New Year's Revolution was handled has made the first Tough Enough winner little more than a joke wrestler, and it may take Maven a while to recover from this, if he ever does.

Benjamin's recent series with Gene Snitsky shows that he can put on a good match with anyone on the roster, even a lumbering monster like Snitsky. Yet challengers for his title are few and far between at the moment. Benjamin has been the Intercontinental Champion for six months now, one of the longest title reigns in recent WWE history. But does his title reign really mean anything? I'll let you answer that question.

At least Benjamin is on the Wrestlemania 21 card. Sadly, the same can't be said for Matt Hardy. After his recent knee surgery, word is that Hardy is good to go, and was meant to be a part of the six-way ladder match, but recent events in his personal life have kept him off the card.

The world and his wife have opinions on the relationship Lita developed with Edge, but it's sad that personal politics, rather than backstage politics, or his recent injury, are keeping Hardy off the biggest show of the year. Hardy is certainly no stranger to ladder matches, and he would have been worthy of a spot in this match, but now Hardy is off the show, replaced by Kane, and looking at a possible transfer back to Smackdown.

While Lita and Edge continue to grace our television screens as part of high profile angles leading up to the big show, Hardy has been denied his chance to return to the spotlight. It's a shame that the sensai of Mattitude won't be gracing our screens on April 3rd.

Rumour has it that Randy Orton is sexually harrassing the latest crop of non-entity Divas that the WWE signed up after the awful Diva Search contest, and that's the reason the likes of Amy Webber quit recently. Have the powers-that-be finally realised that these nobodies are not wanted by the WWE faithful? Is Orton acting on the instructions of a higher power? Or is he just being a prick? Well, he hasn't been punished yet, but then again, he does have friends in high places.

Finally, the WWE have done a great job with their Wrestlemania film parody trailers. The recent Taxi Driver spoof had to be the best of the bunch. The other Big Dave again showed that he's grown a great deal as far as his promo work is concerned.

That's your lot for now.