1. "People to this day say, 'How the hell did they do that with the snake?'"
"I'm like, 'Well, Jake put the snake up close enough to bite Randy's arm and the snake bit Randy's arm.' "
"'Yeah, I know, but how did they do it?'"
"I'm just telling you, the snake BIT Randy's arm."
That was The Undertaker, on A&E's excellent series, WWE Rivals, talking about how wrestling fans to this day wanting to know how the WWE "faked" the memorable bite from 1991 when Jake "The Snake" Roberts had his cobra bite the arm of "Macho Man" Randy Savage.
I was one of those fans. I've always believed the WWE did something to rig the snake so that there would be no harm done to Savage. For 30-plus years I was wrong.
Before I get into the details, one of the reasons I'm leading with this topic today is to plug WWE Rivals and A&E's Biography: WWE Legends. New episodes of each are airing on Sunday nights and both shows are a must-watch for any old-school WWE fan.
This past Sunday's episode of Rivals covered the Jake The Snake-Macho Man feud. Obviously, the highlight of this feud was when Roberts' snake, Damian, bit Savage. One of the things that made this moment so memorable was that the WWE blurred out the actual bite, which added to the drama and intrigue.
On Rivals, several WWE superstars share the inside details of what took place during that wild scene.
"Blood started to come out and Randy's yelling, he's selling it pretty good, you know," said Roberts.
"So I grab hold of the snake and I pull, he doesn't let it go. I pull again, he doesn't let go."
The snake, which drew a significant amount of blood from Savage's arm, was devenomized, but that didn't mean much to Cody Rhodes.
"The weird thing is they're talking about, 'There's no venom, there's no venom.' They're not scientists, they're not veterinarians. It's a venomous snake, y'all. There's some element of venom and that's the sacrifice you're willing to take for the fans, for the world over, for the WWE Universe to sell this story? Lunacy."
Hulk Hogan and Savage's brother, Lanny Poffo, shared details about the aftermath.
"Randy was very sick afterward," said Hogan. "Fever, chills, just really sick."
"A few days later, Randy got a 104 degree fever and the snake died," revealed Poffo. "And Randy would always say, the snake was devenomized, but I wasn't."
Here is the promo for the Roberts-Savage episode from Rivals.
And here's a clip from A&E's Biography episode on Savage from two years ago that covers the famous snake-bite storyline.
2. Caitlin Clark's final regular-season game this past Sunday was a big ratings draw for Fox.
Impressive 3.4 million viewers on Fox for Iowa-Ohio State on Sunday afternoon. Beyond women's college hoops superlatives, Caitlin Clark's record-setting game was:
— Austin Karp (@AustinKarp) March 5, 2024
🔲 Higher than both TNT NBA Opening Night games this season
🔲 Higher than Victor Wembanyama's NBA debut on ESPN pic.twitter.com/gKNlEzxqjA
Including the NBA, Iowa's win ranks sixth among all basketball games during the ongoing 2023-24 regular seasons.
— Sports Media Watch (@paulsen_smw) March 5, 2024
The other games on this list include holiday games -- including an MSU-Arizona game that had an NFL lead-in of 34 million -- classic rivalries and Wembanyama's debut. pic.twitter.com/5KLIuEv9Lq
3. We need more food content from athletes. Here we have MLB players giving us their takes on how they like their steak cooked and what foods they hate. Freddie Freeman came in hot by revealing that he hates chocolate.
These are how MLB players like their steaks cooked.
— MLB (@MLB) March 5, 2024
Do you agree? 🥩 pic.twitter.com/9SnV1JaxV3
MLB players share their least favorite foods. 😂 pic.twitter.com/9h4vusjW6U
— MLB (@MLB) March 5, 2024
4. Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards missed the beginning of last night's game against the Trail Blazers because he "lost track of time." Come on, Anthony. You gotta have a better excuse than that.
"I lost track of time."
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) March 5, 2024
Anthony Edwards to reporters when asked why he missed the opening tipoff last night in Timberwolves-Trail Blazers 😅
It was the first time Ant Man started a game off the bench since his rookie season. https://t.co/t2uRmYrZQA
5. The NFL is a rough business. At around 11:30 a.m. Monday, the Jaguars wished defensive tackle Foley Fatukasi a happy birthday.
Happy birthday, 94! 🎉@FISGlobal | #DUUUVAL pic.twitter.com/P0SyWYuZJB
— Jacksonville Jaguars (@Jaguars) March 4, 2024
Two hours later, the Jaguars released Fatukasi.
Source: #Jaguars are releasing defensive tackle Foley Fatukasi.
— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) March 4, 2024
The move saves $3.5M on the cap. pic.twitter.com/GMiEuQrUuc
6. The latest episode of the SI Media with Jimmy Traina podcast features an interview with WFAN/CBS Sports Network morning radio host, Gregg Giannotti.
Giannotti, who co-hosts the highly successful Boomer & Gio show, talks about how he balances doing a radio show for a New York audience and a TV show for a national audience, explains how he formats the show and reveals why Boomer Esiason never knows the opening topic before the show begins.
Giannotti also discusses the importance of covering non-sports stories, the recent mishap when his show booked the wrong Randy Moss at the Super Bowl, how he assesses ratings and much more.
Following the interview with Giannotti, Sal Licata from WFAN and SNY joins us for the weekly "Traina Thoughts" segment. This week's topics include whether you should tell your significant other if you have a huge gambling win, the We Are The World documentary on Netflix, the court-storming controversy in college basketball and more.
You can listen to the podcast below or download it on Apple, Spotify and Google.
You can also watch SI Media With Jimmy Traina on Sports Illustrated’s YouTube channel.
