He has since beaten the “personal demons” that had shortened a brilliant professional wrestling career, but WWE Hall of Famer Jake “The Snake” Roberts remains confined in a Las Vegas hospital, two days after falling into a coma while flying to attend a friend’s wrestling show.
According to reports, the 59-year-old Roberts was flying Wednesday to Las Vegas to attend an event featuring his friend and fellow wrestler Sinn Bodhi (Nick Cvnetkovich in real life, formerly “Kizarny” in WWE). Unfortunately, Roberts lost consciousness on the plane, and was transported to a nearby hospital in Las Vegas when the plane touched down. As of last night, Bodhi tweeted that he was in the hospital with Roberts and “making sure he is comfortable.” Reports claim Roberts is suffering from a double pneumonia and that a mass was found in his brain.
An hour after Bodhi’s tweet, former WWE and WCW star Diamond Dallas Page provided his own update via Twitter, tweeting that he had spoken to Roberts’ girlfriend, and that Roberts is “now conscious but still fading in and out.”
Known for carrying a live python named “Damien” into the ring and wrapping it around defeated opponents, Roberts enjoyed his biggest success in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s in the WWE, gaining fame as both a face (good guy) and heel (bad guy) character. He had recently made an appearance on Monday Night Raw’s “Old School” episode, not long after he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame this spring.