Former Minnesota Governor, Actor and WWE Hall Of Famer Jesse Ventura Reveals Why He Never Fought Hulk Hogan For The WWE Championship!
At the recent Steel City Con, Jesse Venture spoke about his planned and then cancelled WWE World Championship match against Hulk Hogan and why it didn’t ultimatelly happen as transcribed by 411.
On why he couldn’t compete against Hogan for the title: “I’m a great believer sometimes in fate and destiny. And I think fate and destiny play somewhat a role, for whatever reason that might be. Like the night before I was to wrestle Hulk Hogan for the World Heavyweight Title in Los Angeles, I ended up in critical condition in the San Diego hospital with massive blood clots from 28 days of flying in a row.”
On how his career took a new direction after the missed match: “Many times in life when something dastardly happens to you, it leads to something good as a result of it, and I never got my shot at Hogan … but what did I get to do? While I was convalescing, Vince McMahon called me and he said Jesse, I have an idea. And I said, what is it Vince? He said, we’ve never had a villain on the microphone before, you think you could do color commentating and broadcast matches?”
Surprisingly, considering his icon status among wrestling fans, Jesse “The Body” Ventura’s in-ring career lasted just over a decade from 1974 to 1986. However, he was a wrestling color commentator and interviewer up until 1994. Ventura was part of the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2004.
Ventura’s acting, hosting and producing career CV can be found on IMDB including classics such as:
- Predator
- The Running Man
- Demolition Man
- Batman and Robin
Ventura entered Minnesta politics after that serving as Brooklyn Park mayor from 1991 to 1995 and then Minnesota Governor from 1999 to 2003.
Ventura is a proud Navy veteran having served from 1969 to 1975