Jake Roberts returned to WWE on the January 6, 2014 episode of WWE Raw for the "Old School" episode and was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame that same year.
Though Roberts had a year to remember in 2014 when it came to his WWE appearances, he was hoping he would get the call to be in the 2014 Royal Rumble.
Speaking on his Snake Pit podcast, Roberts reflected on getting ready for the Rumble call.
"I was at DDP's [Diamond Dallas Page] crib, and I get the phone call from Hunter [Triple H]. I thought he was calling for the Royal Rumble. I had been training hard for it, and I told Dallas, 'I'm going to get this. I got it. I know I got it.' I was in the best shape I had been in, in 20 years, easily. Hunter said, 'Jake, we'd like to induct you into the Hall of Fame,' which caught me off guard. It took two or three days for it to soak in," he recalled.
Roberts then told how he broke the news to DDP that he didn't get the call for the Rumble, but did get the call for the Hall of Fame.
When asked when he knew he wanted to be part of the Rumble, Jake said, "Probably a year in. After I started having long stretches of sobriety. That first year, I think I screwed up twice, maybe three times. It was getting better, my head was clear, my workouts were starting to pick up. Not only was I doing DDP Yoga, but after that, I would go to the gym and put in another hour. I was pushing pretty hard for an old fart. It wasn't easy, but it was something that I really wanted. I always wanted that opportunity to tell the fans goodbye, especially after what they had just done for me. They had paid for my surgery to have my shoulder repaired. It is in good shape now. That blew me away when the fans came through on the IndieGoGo. We asked for a certain amount and within 24 hours it was there. That blew me away."
Jake said that he spoke to Mark Carano about wanting to be in the Royal Rumble and, "Whenever I saw Vince (McMahon), I told him I was getting ready for the Rumble. We met backstage after I did my bit (on Old School Raw)."
Roberts did not end up appearing in the 2014 Royal Rumble, but he did wrestle a handful of times throughout 2014 for independent companies.
Elsewhere during the podcast, Roberts revealed he'd like to help out more in AEW with interviews. Fans can find his full comments by clicking here.
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