In August 2012, wrestling legend Diamond Dallas Page drove to Gainesville, Texas, to check on an old friend. What he found was a shell of the man fans once feared in the ring: Jake "The Snake" Roberts, over 300 pounds, drinking daily, and struggling to walk across a room.

A Fellow Wrestler Steps In

Page, a three-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion, had crossed paths with Roberts throughout their careers. What he saw in Texas convinced him his old friend would not survive much longer living alone.

In October 2012, Page moved Roberts into his own house in Atlanta. He gave the place a nickname: the Accountability Crib.

Yoga, Discipline, and Showing Up

Inside the Accountability Crib, Page put Roberts through his own low-impact yoga and calisthenics program every single day. Progress came slowly. Roberts later said he could barely last two minutes before he was winded.

The two men also leaned on their community. When Roberts needed shoulder surgery for an old wrestling injury, he and Page raised $9,200 through crowdfunding in just two days.

Another Old Friend Joins the House

Fifteen weeks into Roberts' recovery, another former wrestler moved into the Accountability Crib. In 2013, Scott Hall joined the program, working through his own recovery and a hip replacement under the same daily discipline Page had set for Roberts.

The rebuild was documented for two years and later became the 2015 film The Resurrection of Jake the Snake.

The Hall of Fame Moment

By early 2014, Roberts had made enough progress to return to WWE. On April 5, 2014, he stood on stage at the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony while Diamond Dallas Page, the friend who had taken him in, delivered his induction speech.

"It wasn't at all what I expected," Roberts said of the night. "It was more about healing" between himself and his family.

Jake 'The Snake' Roberts at a wrestling convention in 2016, healthy and smiling — Roberts now travels the country meeting fans at wrestling conventions.

Still Standing Today

The recovery was never a straight line. Roberts faced setbacks along the way, and the rebuild took years, not months.

But according to Page, Roberts is now closing in on his 14th year of sobriety. He still travels to conventions across the country, sitting at autograph tables and meeting fans who grew up watching him wrestle.

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