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Jesse Ventura: “No one had ever heard a heel before on the microphone”
Decades have passed, but Jesse Ventura still vividly recalls the beginning of his famed tenure on the World Wrestling Federation broadcast team.
Long before he was a political pundit, television host or the governor of Minnesota, Ventura was a proud and true pro wrestler. Known across the territories as Jesse “The Great” Ventura, he reached a new level of notoriety in the AWA as Jesse “The Body” Ventura. He signed with Vince McMahon’s WWF in 1984 but soon found himself unable to perform in the ring due to blood clots in his lungs, effectively ending his in-ring career. Yet for all his dreams and desires of success as a wrestler, it is his intellect and acumen that made him an indispensable, beloved and permanent fixture in the world of pro wrestling.
“Vince deserves a little credit for that,” Ventura says. “I know some people will be shocked to hear me say that, but he does. When I had the health problem and couldn’t wrestle, Vince came up with the idea of putting me on the mike. He wanted to break down another barrier. At that time, Vince was breaking down all the barriers, and there had never been a heel or bad guy on the mike.
“I was out of commission, but Vince doesn’t want you not working, no matter what ails you. So he came up with the idea and asked if I could do color commentating, and I said sure. He deserves the credit for thinking it up—and I’ve always given the man credit, he’s the P.T. Barnum of this generation.”
Ventura went on to redefine the role of a color commentator in pro wrestling. Nearly four decades later, his style and approach are traits that many continue to emulate. Ventura’s broadcast debut took place at a 1985 edition of All Star Wrestling, and he can still picture McMahon offering prescient advice about his new position.
“The first night I was going to broadcast, Vince pulled me aside,” Ventura says. “Vince said, ‘Jesse, here’s your thought process and here’s the best way for you to operate.’ He said, very simply, ‘If you believe it, then it’s true.’ That was carte blanche, the handcuffs were removed completely, and I was being instructed by the boss to go out there and get it done. If I believed it, it was true—which meant I could say whatever I wanted.
“That’s one of the reasons it exploded so big. No one had ever heard a heel before on the microphone who’d stand up for bad guys, and no one ever heard the psychology from a bad guy’s point of view.”
Ventura’s work in WWE endures as a barometer for all color commentators. Sharp, witty and unafraid to challenge the status quo, his broadcasts alongside McMahon stand out for being so different, with Ventura refusing to back down to him. And his pairing with the late Gorilla Monsoon was magic, as the duo embedded joy into pro wrestling in a similar fashion to the way the Inside The NBA crew elicits that same euphoria from basketball.
Frequently, the matches were merely background to the soundtrack of their broadcasts. And in big matches, like Hulk Hogan–Andre The Giant at WrestleMania III or the Demolition–Colossal Connection tag match at WrestleMania VI, their commentary enhanced the moment and brought it to a whole new level of greatness.
“With Gorilla and I, it was all chemistry,” Ventura says. “He was a wonderful man. Always respectful, an old veteran of the sport, he had a great sense of humor, he had great timing, and he understood what needed to be accomplished. My relationship with Gorilla was phenomenal, and it was that way all the way until his passing.
“Gorilla helped catapult me, too. You’ll notice I was the one that got brought up to the A-team. Gorilla and I were the B-team. We always went to [tapings in] Toronto, that was the B-show. Then Vince brought me up to the A-team.”
Ventura believes there was even more potential with Monsoon had McMahon kept the legendary Bruno Sammartino on the broadcast team.
“I fought him on this, but Vince got rid of Bruno,” Ventura says. “I begged him not to, but he didn’t listen to me. I needed Bruno because Bruno was such a foil I could bounce off of. That was the beauty of it, that’s what made it so great. Bruno, bless him, he was a legend.
“One of the greatest thrills of my wrestling career was in Scranton, Pennsylvania, wrestling Bruno. I grew up looking at pictures of Bruno in magazines. Getting the opportunity to wrestle Bruno Sammartino at a house show was one of the highlights of my career. That was the same way I felt when I stood in the ring and wrestled The Crusher. It’s someone I grew up watching, and then I’m staring across from him as we wrestled in the ring.”
Ventura will be reminiscing about his iconic career in pro wrestling this Saturday at the 80s Wrestling Con at the Mennen Sports Arena in Morristown, N.J. He will be joined by a star-studded crew that includes Jake “The Snake” Roberts, Demolition, Tito Santana, Greg “The Hammer” Valentine and Koko B. Ware. The event will also be raising money for Connor’s Cure.
“We’re raising money for a good cause,” the 70-year-old Ventura says. “I’m also grateful that I have made it this far. My generation has been disappearing, and doing so at a pretty rapid pace. So I’m grateful to be part of it and I’m excited to attend.”
No one in wrestling can compare with the rarefied Hollywood success of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, but in a prior generation, Ventura constantly widened the boundaries for pro wrestlers outside of the ring. He elevated his stardom with a role in the 1987 hit film Predator, igniting a noteworthy acting run. He ran for mayor of Brooklyn Park, Minn., in ’90, defeating a 25-year incumbent, then set the political world aflame by being elected governor of Minnesota in ’98 as a third-party candidate.
Ventura begins his next project later this month, launching Die First Then Quit on Substack. The name is a callback to Ventura’s time as a Navy SEAL, and he will be joined by his son Tyrel discussing an array of topics in an unfiltered, honest manner.
“We start May 16,” Ventura says. “That’s where I’ll be found. I’ll be working my style, and I’m not going to hold back.
“I can also brag right now and say we’re in the middle of a major documentary. I can’t say much more, but I’ll say this—the person doing it is an Academy Award winner.”
As Ventura opens another new chapter in his career, he has never forgotten his roots. Even with decades standing between that period of his life, he remains proud of his groundbreaking work in pro wrestling.
“I have my share of fond memories,” Ventura says. “For me, it was a long time ago. When I left the wrestling business in the early, early, 1990s, I never looked back. Wrestling, in and of itself, became the past for me very quickly.
“My only forays back into it were when I refereed after I won the governorship, my induction into the Hall of Fame in 2004 and when I broadcasted with Vince, but that was a co-promotion for Conspiracy Theory. I really have not had much contact with that world since I left it. And I’ll be honest, as I always am—I haven’t desired to. I can’t even tell you who wrestles. If I were to watch wrestling, I’d have no idea who the wrestlers are today.”
Even if he is unfamiliar with the current product, Ventura is not at all surprised to hear that McMahon continues to be hands-on in every major facet of WWE.
“I had the good fortune of working with Larry King, and Vince is just like Larry King,” Ventura says. “Vince will work until he dies.”
The (online) week in wrestling
- It’s long overdue for Finn Bálor and AJ Styles to team together in WWE, and it should be interesting to see where they go together.
- Juice Robinson desperately needed a fresh coat of paint, and he got it: Juice is the newest member of Bullet Club, and his promos—as evidenced by his first one this weekend—should be dynamic.
- Week after week, Becky Lynch continues to present herself as one of the top two stars in WWE.
- Another round of WWE cuts was made last week affecting NXT talent. How is it possible that WWE cannot find a place creatively for Dakota Kai? The gutting of Triple H-hired talent continues in WWE.
- FTR’s singles match last week on Dynamite offered a lot of callbacks to Bret Hart matches. This was really good, though I worry that too many tribute spots can detract from a match. Moving forward, I’ll be curious to see if FTR adds the AEW tag titles to their collection.
- Kazuchika Okada defeated Tetsuya Naito last weekend at Wrestling Dontaku. His next challenger will be Jay White next month at Dominion, who is leading the recharged Bullet Club.
- Go Shiozaki is back on top of Pro Wrestling NOAH as the new GHC heavyweight champion. He defeated Kaito Kiyomiya last weekend, winning the title that was vacated after Kazuyuki Fujita tested positive for COVID-19. Both Shiozaki and Fujita are on the list of talent on a group visa headed to the U.S. to work for Pro Wrestling Revolution.
- Roderick Strong has requested his release, per Fightful. He would be a perfect fit in AEW, filling in the missing piece from The Undisputed Era.
CM Punk will be the next AEW champion—and here’s why
CM Punk is set to wrestle “Hangman” Adam Page at this month’s Double or Nothing pay-per-view.
And there is every reason to believe Punk will be the next AEW world champion.
Punk has put in his time over the past year, feuding with the likes of Darby Allin, Eddie Kingston and MJF. All of those programs were meaningful, and while Punk is still regaining his otherworldly touch in the ring after a nearly seven-year absence, his matches remain must-see. He has no peer on the microphone, and makes the perfect voice of AEW as their world champion.
If—or when—Punk wins the title at Double or Nothing, it will mark a nine-year gap between world title runs. That is a remarkable stretch of time, and speaks to the timeless quality of Punk as a performer. He possesses an iconic presence, and it is important to note that he did not come into AEW and immediately become champion. Punk has made the most of every single spot he has been placed in over the past year, and in terms of story line, has wrestled his way to the top.
Page’s run as champ has not exceeded his chase, which isn’t all that uncommon among babyfaces. As difficult as it may be to lose the belt, it represents an opportunity for Page to further evolve, adding even more edge to his persona. His run has reminded me of Kevin Nash’s championship run as Diesel. It has yet to reach that elusive next gear, but perhaps Punk will be the right adversary to bring out the best in him, especially if Page drops the title and is forced to chase Punk for the belt.
Tweet of the Week
In the Vin Diesel–Rock feud, here is further reason to believe The Rock is the babyface.
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Justin Barrasso can be reached at JBarrasso@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @JustinBarrasso.
