Henry Godwinn Opens Up About Tense History with WWE Legend Jake “The Snake” Roberts
In a revealing and emotional interview with WSI – Wrestling Shoot Interviews, former WWE Tag Team Champion Henry Godwinn delved right into a rocky chapter from the late Nineteen Nineties, supplying a raw and private account of his time on the road with WWE Hall of Famer Jake “The Snake” Roberts. This candid revelation takes wrestling lovers behind the curtain, showing the often chaotic and unpredictable facet of existence as a expert wrestler, specially whilst a person is scuffling with personal demons.
The Struggle Behind the Scenes: A Failed Attempt to Help
The story Henry Godwinn, whose real name is Mark Canterbury, shared began in early 1997, a time when Jake Roberts turned into struggling with nicely-documented substance abuse troubles. Roberts, one of the maximum iconic names in wrestling records, become going via a dark length. WWE management, trying to stabilize Roberts, made a calculated decision: they assigned him to travel with Godwinn and his tag group companion Phineas. Their assignment? To assist maintain Roberts on track as they traveled to numerous WWE events across the united states of america. However, what changed into intended as a help system fast spiraled into chaos.
“Everybody knows he had a bad drug problem back then,” Godwinn stated, painting a vivid picture of Roberts’ troubled state. “They put him with us to get him to the towns and keep an eye on him. He rode with us for about a week and the first couple of days were okay.”
But as fast as it started, the calm dissipated. Godwinn’s tone sharpened as he acknowledged the ordeal, detailing how what seemed viable at the beginning quickly have become an unsustainable burden. Roberts, unpredictable and increasingly erratic, began to cause friction, turning their travel preparations right into a nightmare.
“Then it was like banging on the door for an hour and calling him. He was freaking out in his room, and now we’re all starting to be late for TV,” Godwinn recalled. The frustration in his voice was palpable as he remembered trying to keep the volatile situation under control, yet seeing it unravel day by day.
Chaos in the Hotel Room and Rental Car: Roberts’ Spiraling Behavior
The state of affairs escalated even in addition whilst Roberts commenced to misuse the sources of his touring partners. According to Godwinn, Roberts took gain of both Godwinn’s inn room and Phineas’ rental car, utilizing them for his own unsavory purposes.
“He was down in the hood and doing all the crazy stuff,” Godwinn described, referring to Roberts’ actions that further strained the relationship. These incidents only added fuel to the fire, as Godwinn and Phineas found themselves not only responsible for Roberts but also being dragged into situations they wanted no part of.
It turned into clear via this point that things have been now not going to get higher. Roberts’ behavior turned into setting them at threat professionally, as they struggled to make it to TV tapings on time, and for my part, as they confronted increasingly unstable and uncomfortable situations.
A Line within the Sand: Godwinn Confronts WWE Management
Finally, after days of escalating anxiety, Henry Godwinn determined he’d had enough. The breaking point came while Roberts’ reckless behavior threatened both their safety and their standing in the business enterprise. Godwinn, anger boiling over, took motion.
“I called the office and said this is bulls**t. Either you can reimburse us or he can, or we’re gonna take it out of his ass when we get to TV,” Godwinn recounted, making it clear he and Phineas were no longer willing to tolerate the situation.
The ultimatum worked, and shortly thereafter, Roberts become released from the employer. While this marked the give up of a tumultuous chapter, Godwinn’s reflection on Roberts’ conduct changed into tinged with a mixture of frustration and understanding.
“He was just unpredictable back then,” Godwinn admitted, acknowledging the larger issues that Roberts was battling at the time. It was a situation that no one could fully control, and while the outcome was unfortunate, it was perhaps inevitable given the circumstances.
Savio Vega’s Prank on The Kliq: Light Amidst the Darkness
In a lighter moment in the course of the equal interview, Godwinn mentioned a prank related to some other WWE celebrity, Savio Vega. This time, the target become none aside from the infamous Kliq, a collection of wrestlers known for wielding sizeable behind the curtain strength. According to Godwinn, Vega became the sufferer of certainly one of their jokes at some stage in an distant places flight, however in preference to backing down, Vega struck again with a prank of his very own.
While the information of the prank weren’t fully discovered, the story served as a reminder of the camaraderie and humor that regularly balanced out the in any other case grueling and tense nature of lifestyles on the road within the wrestling commercial enterprise.
h/t to TJR Wrestling.
