On a recent edition of “The Snake Pit” podcast, Lance Archer discussed various topics, including his learning experiences from his mentor Jake “The Snake” Roberts.
You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
On what he’s learned from Jake Roberts: “Well for me specifically, I think the big thing that, Jake — you know, when I was coming into AEW, I was coming from Japan. I’d been in New Japan Pro Wrestling for nine years at that point. And the Japanese fans, they knew who I was. They knew who the Murderhawk Monster was. They knew who the American Psycho was before it transitioned into the Murderhawk Monster. And I think coming back into the US market, where I’ve been out of it on any kind of consistent basis. A lot of independents, a lot of short shots here and there. But I hadn’t been on US TV since my very short run with WWE, and the personality and the character and the persona that I was portraying now is nothing in comparison to what that was at that time in 2009 and 2010. So what Jake did for me, just right off the bat, was give some credibility for people who didn’t know who I was. The hardcore wrestling fans, they knew. But there’s just like a general fan that probably had no idea who I was. And they might have put two and two together after they kind of figured it out, ‘Doesn’t this guy kind of look familiar?’ And then they go, ‘Oh, my God, he was in WWE for a short moment; he was in TNA for five years before that.’ Then they go, ‘Oh my God, I remember that guy from way back then. But I don’t know who this person is now. I don’t know who the Murderhawk Monster is now.’ And to come in as Jake’s monster, as his protege in AEW, it gave me instant credibility.
“And then what he did for me, more so than anything, was helping me learn how to give a voice to the Murderhawk Monster. You know, for the few short moments that I’ve even been allowed to speak in my time, he has helped me kind of hone that skill in. When we were doing a lot of the AEW Darks in Jacksonville, there was a lot of freedom there. And after awhile I finally went to him, I said, ‘Listen, I don’t need another three minute squash match. I don’t need these matches that I get on Dark — which is fine, I’ll go and do that if that’s my job and that’s what you want me to do. I’m gonna go do it, I’m gonna try to make it as fun and interesting as possible.’ But what I needed at the time was a chance to speak. And they were more than receptive to that. And so, we created little moments that would bring Jake and I out. And you know, I would start speaking, and he would speak, and he would let me finish it off. And we would go back, he’d go, ‘I really liked the way you did this, but try to do it this way or think about it this way, or present your mindset this way. So that when you do speak, it’s not just one monotone voice, but it’s got inflection, it’s got emotion, it’s got all the different characteristics that are not just the Murderhawk Monster is the ‘Raugh!’ guy. But somebody who can speak, and who has levels and has all this stuff.’ I think that’s where I learned the most from Jake, was learning how to speak. I haven’t had the chance to speak a lot lately since then. But you know, it is what it is, and that’s just business and that’s the way things go. But he’s also helped me anytime I’ve needed. If we speak at any point, I ask him for any help or advice, he’s more than willing to. And he does — everything he gives me his good advice. I know how to be the Murderhawk Monster in the ring. But giving me that voice is one of the things that he helped me out with the most.”
On whether he has tried to talk Jake into doing another match: “I think Jake, if and when he was asked, he absolutely would. I mean, I think Jake understands his own limitations. But we as fans also always have that desire to see that one last opportunity. You know, they sold out a whole arena, to see Sting’s last match, because there’s a lot of people that are like, ‘Is this the last time we get to see Sting?’ And Jake is still here with us, he’s still — like you said, he’s very, very energetic to say the least. So the idea of having one more match, or the possibility of like, a tag team situation. Whether you’re fighting the Young Bucks, or you’re fighting just anybody. The Gunns, I can bring them up, since they had such a close relationship with Jake trying to figure themselves out. You know, I think he could, I think he would. But who knows if that’ll ever happen. You know, that’s just one of those fantasy things.”
