In the latest episode of The Snake Pit with Jake Roberts, the WWE Hall of Famer shared his insights on the steel cage match, describing it as the ultimate gimmick match in professional wrestling. He elaborated on its significance and the excitement it brings to both wrestlers and fans alike.
Roberts reflected on how steel cage matches have historically been used to settle intense rivalries, allowing for a more brutal and personal form of competition. However, he also discussed the ways in which promoters have mishandled these matches in recent years, leading to a decline in their impact and effectiveness.
You can catch some highlights from the episode below:
Jake Roberts on what is the best gimmick match:
Well you know, I always like the cage match until they f**ked that up… by allowing people to escape from the cage. I mean, when the cage was first introduced to wrestling, it was a situation usually where the babyface couldn’t get his hands on the heel. The heel keeps running, getting out, you know, taking a disqualification, whatever to hold on to a title, usually. And you want to stop that, so what do you do? You want to stop all outside interference, too. If that’s the situation, then the perfect thing would be a cage. It means there must be a winner. That’s a fight to the finish. But they screwed it up by allowing yourself to escape from the cage.”
Jake Roberts on the Long Island Coliseum fans:
Yeah, the brutality the fans put on your fans. The fans were brutal there, man. They’d throw all sorts of s**t at you. Batteries, oh man those hurt… get one of those off your noggin, see how you feel.”
The cage match used to be something special.