WWF,
Late 80's
Confession
time: We don't hate every gimmick we post at Wrestlecrap. In fact,
some of them (and arguably the majority of them) are so bad that
we find them incredibly funny. The angle with Jake "The Snake"
Roberts and Earthquake falls into that category.
Earthquake
had just come out of a high profile feud with Hulk Hogan. Jake
was really at a high point in his career as well (although saying
it was a 'high' point may not be the best choice of words). The
two were set to feud with each other, and the WWF really wanted
this one to be one for the ages.
So
they had the Quake sit on Damien, Jake's pet snake!
During
an episode of WWF Superstars (at the time the WWF's premier show),
Roberts and Quake were set to have a match. A couple of minutes
into the match, Roberts literally opened up his bag of tricks,
and let loose Damien, his monster pet snake that he would dump
on opponents after he rendered them unconscious with his finisher,
the DDT.
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Earthquake
decided he didn't like that, and bailed. In
fact, it wasn't just snakes he didn't like.
After
Roberts put the snake back in the bag, Quake attacked him
from behind and tied him in the ropes. |
| He
took Roberts' snake filled bag and placed it in the middle
of the ring. He jumped up and down, sending tremors... |

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...then
he bounced off the ropes, and jumped into the air...leading
to a most horrifying site: |
| SEAN
MOONEY!
That's
right: apparently the WWF considered the squashing too gruesome
and edited it out of the syndicated version, replacing it
with a shot of Mooney grimacing in the Event Center. |

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Of
course, what really happened was that the Quake landed on
Damien, squashing him flat. |
| Roberts
finally got untied, and looked in the bag...and couldn't
believe what he saw. |

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As
bad as that was, Quake continued to play mind games. On
an episode of Prime Time Wrestling, he demonstrated
his culinary skills.
Bedecked
in a chef's hat and apron (that looked more like a tablecloth!),
Quake prepared his specialty, "Quakeburgers",
for Vince McMahon, Lord Alfred Hayes, and Bobby Heenan. |
| Quake
and Heenan enjoyed the tasty treat, while Lord Alfred and
Vince thought they tasted kinda funny... |

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Heenan,
of course, knew
what they were made of ,
but the others didn't catch on quite so fast. |
| Eventually,
though, they figured out that they weren't Quakeburgers,
they were SNAKEbrugers! Alfred
barfed ... |

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...while
Vince got ticked and threw the tray in the air. |
So
the million dollar question: what was REALLY in the bag? We'll
let our pal John Tenta spill the beans on that
secret...
Earthquake: "Don't expect me to have any sympathy for Jake
Roberts! I hate snakes! I hate pets of all kinds!"
- Earthquake: "You know, McMahon, I'm not just a great wrestler.
I'm a great eater too, a great cook! So what I'm gonna do for
you, I'm gonna go out and make a specialty just for you. I'm gonna
make some Quakeburgers, you're gonna love 'em!"
Bobby Heenan: "You can either eat these or make a pair of
shoes out of 'em!"
Heenan: "Beautiful English manners!"
Lord
Alfred: "That's a snake! That's a snake you're alluding to!"
Heenan:
"Now you got it, Limey!"
RD: "Just out of curiousity, what was in the bag? Any idea?"
Quake:
"I know what it was, I 'm just letting everything out of
the bag here, aren't I? It was pantyhose stuffed with hamburger
meat. (laughs) It didn't feel so great, but it was a soft landing."