DDP gives positive update on Jake ‘The Snake’ Roberts’ sobriety

At this point, Diamond Dallas Page no longer even has to worry about Jake “The Snake” Roberts relapsing and returning to his old demons.

Page, speaking on Wrestling Life with Ben Veal, said we’re now coming up on 14 years of Roberts being sober. He spent a few years worrying that Roberts’ sobriety wouldn’t stick, but now it’s not even an issue. You could drink around Roberts and he wouldn’t be tempted to join you.

“There’s certain guys you wonder, ‘Oh God, I hope he doesn’t go back again.’ And I felt like that about Jake for about five years. But now we’re coming up on the 14th year of Jake being sober, and I don’t even think about it anymore,” Page said. “Like, I could have a drink around him or whatever. He don’t care.

“He used to say, ‘I’m a man. I deserve three beers. I could have three beers.’ And at some point I said, when you’re really a man, it’ll be, ‘I don’t need three beers. I don’t want three beers. Because I know what comes after that, and it’s never any good.’ You know? He’s doing so good.”

DDP worked with Roberts on his sobriety journey, showcasing the process in the 2015 documentary “The Resurrection of Jake The Snake.” Roberts was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2014 after getting sober.

One of the biggest benefits for Roberts has been getting back together with his wife Cheryl.

“The fact that him and Cheryl are back, and anybody who’s an 80s fan who watched Jake and anything, you know, his wife was involved,” Page said. “His gorgeous wife was involved with the storyline with him and Rick Rude. And so now they’re doing signings together, Jake and Cheryl Roberts.”

DDP has produced a new YouTube series “Change or Die” where he works with people going through different types of struggles. Former WCW wrestler Buff Bagwell — who is now three years sober — is among the cast members. Bagwell is recovering from a leg amputation that he underwent in 2025 due to injuries from a past car accident.

Jake Roberts grateful for sobriety: It took ‘a lot of damn work’

Jake “The Snake” Roberts is grateful for his sobriety and remains confident that he’ll never go down the road of addiction again.

A new episode of Insight with Chris Van Vliet with Roberts as the guest was uploaded on Thursday. During their conversation, Roberts said he has “no fear” that his past struggles with addiction will resurface. The smell of alcohol makes Roberts sick at this point.

“You know, for me, the smell of alcohol turns my stomach,” he said. “I can walk through an airport blindfolded and I could tell you where the bars are at, because I can tell that smell, you know? And it upsets my stomach now. And I’m glad. That’s the last damn thing I need is to go down that road again. And I have no fear at all — maybe that’s not healthy, not having a fear of it — but I just feel so strongly that that’s something I’ll never do again.”

Roberts told Van Vliet that it took “a lot of damn work” to get to this point. It also required patience and the help of some good friends like Diamond Dallas Page. Without DDP helping him, Roberts is certain that he would have been dead long ago.

“A lot of damn work. It took a lot of work, and a lot of patience, and some good friends,” Roberts said. “No doubt in my mind, I’d have been dead several years ago [without DDP]. Several years ago. That’s just where I was going, man. And I was going fast, too.”

Roberts said everything he went through with drug and alcohol addiction has given him a greater appreciation for the life he has now. He’s battling COPD and emphysema but is able to stay busy and enjoy his hobbies like a 1965 Cadillac hot-rod that he owns.

The legendary Roberts remains part of AEW, signing a one-year contract extension with the promotion this March. He will turn 70 years old in 2025.

When Van Vliet asked the three things Roberts is most grateful for, he listed his sobriety, his children, and being able to have a second chance with his wife after they were separated for 24 years.