2K Games has given us an early preview of a wrestling legend on and off the mats.
Jesse Ventura is part of the Saturday Night’s Main Event Pack for WWE 2K25, launching tomorrow. And so, the WWE 2K Twitter account has shared a preview of Jesse Ventura’s ring entrance.
And here is where we get into an interesting detail about Ventura’s career.
We Loved Pro Wrestler Jesse Ventura In Saturday Night’s Main Event… Or Did We?
Some wrestling fans may have some erroneous memories, or they could be confused about this. We know that Jesse Ventura was a pro wrestler, and he was in the original NBC run of Saturday Night’s Main Event. But Ventura wasn’t a regular draw for the show.
Ventura’s career as an in-ring performer really lasted from 1975 to 1981. Yes, we have known Ventura more as an in-ring personality who doesn’t wrestle than as a wrestler. In 1984, blood clots emerged from his lungs, ending his career early.
Ventura claimed that this stems from his exposure to Agent Orange during his time as an underwater demolition soldier in the Vietnam War. He did have one match in the 4th Saturday Night’s Main Event with Roddy Piper and Bob Orton, beating Hillbilly Jim, Uncle Elmer, and Cousin Luke.
But most casual wrestling fans know him for his time as color commentary on Saturday Night’s Main Event. Paired with Vince McMahon, and later, Gorilla Monsoon, Ventura started the trope of heel commentators that sided with the bad guys.
Jesse Ventura Outside Of Wrestling
Ventura is also a popular personality outside of pro wrestling because of his acting career. He mostly appeared in Arnold Schwarzenegger movies after he befriended the Governator on the set of Predator.
Ventura’s big movies include The Running Man, Demolition Man, No Holds Barred, and Batman & Robin. And then, of course, there was his political career.
Ventura became mayor of Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, from 1991 to 1995. He then successfully became Minnesota Governor, beating both Democrat and Republican candidates. He served as governor from 1998 to 2003.
Ventura Could Have Never Returned To WWE
Ventura successfully sued WWE for royalties on his color commentary in 1995. But even before that lawsuit, Ventura had multiple grievances against the company, including its one-time top star, Hulk Hogan, and its retired owner, Vince McMahon.
Vince brought Ventura back to capitalize on his gubernatorial win as guest referee for 1999’s Summerslam (Steve Austin vs. Triple H vs. Mankind for the World Title.) Since then, he has always had a testy relationship with the company, returning sporadically.
Ventura doesn’t necessarily love the company even without Vince. But he decided to sign a Legends contract last year so his family could benefit from his royalties.
