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#3 - Jake Roberts Nominated by: Snake the Snake Roberts

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Perhaps no other move during the WrestleMania era has been as feared as the DDT. Its creator was equally intimidating. Jake The Snake Roberts had something. Paul Heyman called it an intangible. Jake The Snake Roberts completely changed the way that wrestlers did interviews. Rather than scream and holler at the camera and make threats, the way the majority of wrestling promos worked for decades, Jake spoke in a very calm and monotone matter and delivered cerebral and at times, frightening, promos. Backed by a strangely nightmarish, yet invigorating, charisma, Jake put a stranglehold on the audiences mind like no other. Jake had free rein to create his own promos and fill them with imagery and symbolism that he felt fit his character, and that made a world of difference. Consequently, the greatest promo in the history of wrestling is Jake Roberts.

Jakes WWF run was filled with some of wrestlings most brutal moments. His first feud with Ricky The Dragon Steamboat took a dangerous turn when Jake DDTd Ricky on the concrete floor and cracked his head like a coconut. Jake legitimately knocked Ricky out cold. Then a short while later, Honky Tonk Man cracked Jake in the side of the head with a guitar to build up a match for Wrestlemania III. The plan was for Honky to hit Jake with a worked trick guitar, but somebody wound up making a mistake and replacing it with a real guitar, causing a concussion in Roberts head that led to his pain pill addiction. After this, Jake became a wildly popular babyface and began to battle heels such as Ted Dibiase, Bad News Brown, and an awesome feud with Ravishing Rick Rude after Rude hit on Jakes real life wife Cheryl who was in the front row.

All of these feuds had a visceral, real quality to them. They went further than other feuds in the Fed and gave Jake an air of legitimacy. Fans always had latched onto Jake thanks to his intangible charisma, but his midcard storylines really helped propel an era anchored on one or two big stars even further. When your entire card from top to bottom is compelling, it makes a world of difference.

It's always been interesting to me, and a testament to the star quality of Jake in his prime, that he ruined his own chances at a main event push. How? In 1988, Jake was being primed for a run against Hulk Hogan. However, on house shows, Jake could not stop getting cheered against Hogan, and Vince dropped the angle after seeing the crowd split. Hogan couldn't keep the crowd on his side against Jake, and that says a lot for Jake. At the height of one of the biggest wrestling star's popularity, Jake was leeching the crowd away from said star. If that doesn't demonstrate the innate charisma of Roberts, I don't know what does.

Even though his personal demons eventually ended the prominence of his career, Jake is still fondly regarded by many as the most fantastic character in a universe inhabited by fantastic characters.
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