Autobahn
11-06-2012, 03:01 AM
www.newsday.com/sports/pro-wrestling/jake-the-snake-roberts-to-move-in-with-diamond-dallas-page-train-for-one-last-pro-wrestling-run-1.4163588
Former WCW World Heavyweight
Champion Diamond Dallas Page has
worked with several pro wrestlers on their aches and pains via his DDP Yoga
system. But Monday he begins perhaps his biggest challenge when Jake “The Snake” Roberts moves in with Page in a home Page recently bought in Atlanta.
Roberts, whose wrestling career was derailed multiple times by substance abuse issues, will train with Page while cameras roll for a planned documentary. The idea is to get Roberts, 57, back in good enough shape for one more run in the wrestling business. Page, 56, told newsday.com Sunday that
he called Roberts -- whose weight had
ballooned up to 302 pounds -- in Roberts’ hometown of Gainesville, Texas three months ago.
“And I told him, ‘If you can really do this
-- and you have to prove it to me [by
doing the program] for six or eight
weeks,” Page said. “‘I’ll freakin’ get a
place in Atlanta. I’ll bring you up, and
we’ll continue this journey.’” Roberts was filmed in Texas when he started the yoga program, which Page
developed to deal with the injuries he
suffered while in the squared circle. Page said that Roberts lost 20 pounds in the first 3 ½ weeks of training and is now
down approximately 35 pounds. “Jake does not want to be seen the way
he was seen at the end,” Page said.
Roberts’ demons have been chronicled in the 1999 Barry Blaustein documentary
“Beyond the Mat” -- which included
Roberts interviewed in a hotel room after
apparently smoking crack -- and the 2005 WWE-produced DVD “Jake ‘The Snake’ Roberts: Pick Your Poison.” Roberts’ attempts to clean up includes a 1996 return to a WWE after a three-plus year hiatus in which his real-life born-again Christian convictions were incorporated into his story lines. Along with the physical training, Page and
filmmaker Steve Yu will work on things
like getting the computer-deficient
Roberts up to date on using Facebook and Twitter. Page says the idea is to
keep Roberts busy with positive activities so he won’t backslide into past habits. “That house, I reached out to a couple of my friends, and asked, ‘What are we going to call my new crib?’ And we came up with ‘Accountability Crib,’ you’re accountable for everything.” To that end, Page and Yu said that
Roberts will be drug-tested while he’s in
the home. “If he does that [stuff] one time while he’s with me, he’s gone,” Page said. But Page is encouraged by what Roberts has already accomplished, losing as much weight as he has after having being so out of shape in his first workout he couldn’t do more than a couple of exercises without needing rest. “Bottom line is, everybody wants the
comeback story,” Page said. “Everybody
wants to see Jake look good, and feel
good, and not be a mess anymore. That
would be great. I think there are a lot of
really positive things that can come out of this if Jake really does it.”
Former WCW World Heavyweight
Champion Diamond Dallas Page has
worked with several pro wrestlers on their aches and pains via his DDP Yoga
system. But Monday he begins perhaps his biggest challenge when Jake “The Snake” Roberts moves in with Page in a home Page recently bought in Atlanta.
Roberts, whose wrestling career was derailed multiple times by substance abuse issues, will train with Page while cameras roll for a planned documentary. The idea is to get Roberts, 57, back in good enough shape for one more run in the wrestling business. Page, 56, told newsday.com Sunday that
he called Roberts -- whose weight had
ballooned up to 302 pounds -- in Roberts’ hometown of Gainesville, Texas three months ago.
“And I told him, ‘If you can really do this
-- and you have to prove it to me [by
doing the program] for six or eight
weeks,” Page said. “‘I’ll freakin’ get a
place in Atlanta. I’ll bring you up, and
we’ll continue this journey.’” Roberts was filmed in Texas when he started the yoga program, which Page
developed to deal with the injuries he
suffered while in the squared circle. Page said that Roberts lost 20 pounds in the first 3 ½ weeks of training and is now
down approximately 35 pounds. “Jake does not want to be seen the way
he was seen at the end,” Page said.
Roberts’ demons have been chronicled in the 1999 Barry Blaustein documentary
“Beyond the Mat” -- which included
Roberts interviewed in a hotel room after
apparently smoking crack -- and the 2005 WWE-produced DVD “Jake ‘The Snake’ Roberts: Pick Your Poison.” Roberts’ attempts to clean up includes a 1996 return to a WWE after a three-plus year hiatus in which his real-life born-again Christian convictions were incorporated into his story lines. Along with the physical training, Page and
filmmaker Steve Yu will work on things
like getting the computer-deficient
Roberts up to date on using Facebook and Twitter. Page says the idea is to
keep Roberts busy with positive activities so he won’t backslide into past habits. “That house, I reached out to a couple of my friends, and asked, ‘What are we going to call my new crib?’ And we came up with ‘Accountability Crib,’ you’re accountable for everything.” To that end, Page and Yu said that
Roberts will be drug-tested while he’s in
the home. “If he does that [stuff] one time while he’s with me, he’s gone,” Page said. But Page is encouraged by what Roberts has already accomplished, losing as much weight as he has after having being so out of shape in his first workout he couldn’t do more than a couple of exercises without needing rest. “Bottom line is, everybody wants the
comeback story,” Page said. “Everybody
wants to see Jake look good, and feel
good, and not be a mess anymore. That
would be great. I think there are a lot of
really positive things that can come out of this if Jake really does it.”