Jesse Ventura

Jesse Ventura (born James George Janos on July 15, 1951), also known as "The Body", "The Star", "The Mind", and "Governor Body", is an American politician, former professional wrestler, Navy UDT veteran, actor, and former radio and television talk show host.

In the Minnesota gubernatorial election of 1998 he was elected the 38th Governor of Minnesota and served from January 4, 1999 to January 6, 2003 without seeking a second term.

Wrestling career
He created the stage name Jesse "The Body" Ventura to go with the persona of a bully-ish beach body builder, taking "Ventura" from his wife's maiden name. As a professional wrestler, Ventura wrestled as a "heel" (the "bad" guys), and often used the motto "Win if you can, lose if you must, but always cheat!" Much of his flamboyant persona was copied from "Superstar" Billy Graham, a charismatic and popular performer during the 1970s and '80s. Although years later as a broadcaster, Ventura would make a running joke out of claiming that Graham stole all of his ring attire ideas from him.

In 1975, Ventura made his debut in the Central States territory, before moving to the Pacific Northwest, where he wrestled for promoter Don Owen. During his stay in Portland, Oregon, he had notable feuds with Dutch Savage and Jimmy Snuka and won the Pacific Northwest Wrestling title twice (once from each wrestler), and the tag team titles six times (twice each with Bull Ramos and "Playboy" Buddy Rose, and once each with Steve Strong and Jerry Oates). He later moved to his hometown promotion, the American Wrestling Association in Minnesota, teaming with Adrian Adonis as the "East-West Connection" in 1979.

The duo won the AWA Tag Team Championship on July 20, 1980 on a forfeit when Verne Gagne, one-half of the tag team champions along with Mad Dog Vachon, failed to show up for a title defense in Denver, Colorado. The duo would hold the belts for nearly a year, losing to "The High Flyers", Greg Gagne and Jim Brunzell.

Shortly after losing the belts, the duo moved on to the World Wrestling Federation, where they were managed by "Classy" Freddie Blassie. Although the duo was unable to capture the WWF Tag Team Championship, both Adonis and Ventura became title contenders, each earning several title shots at champion Bob Backlund.

"The Body" continued to wrestle until September 1984 when blood clots in his lungs ended his in-ring career; it forced him to miss a title match against WWF Champion Hulk Hogan. Ventura claimed the blood clots were as a result of his exposure to Agent Orange during his time in Vietnam. After a failed comeback bid, he began to do color commentary on television for "All-Star Wrestling" (replacing Angelo Mosca) and later "Superstars of Wrestling" (initially alongside Vince McMahon and Bruno Sammartino, and with McMahon after Sammartino's departure from the WWF in 1988), hosted his own talk segment on the WWF's "Superstars of Wrestling" called "The Body Shop", and did color commentary on radio for a few National Football League teams (among them, the Minnesota Vikings and Tampa Bay Buccaneers). Ventura most notably, co-hosted Saturday Night's Main Event with Vince McMahon and the first six WrestleManias (1985-1990) and most of the WWF's Pay-Per-Views at the time with Gorilla Monsoon (the lone exception for Ventura being the first SummerSlam, in which Ventura served as the guest referee during the main event). He departed in June 1990 to pursue other interests, most notably his acting career. He also did commentary for World Championship Wrestling from 1991-94. His professional wrestling commentary style was an extension of his wrestling persona, as he was partial to heel (bad guy) wrestlers, which was something new and different at the time.

Acting career
Ventura acted in the 1987 movie Predator, whose cast included future California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and future Kentucky Gubernatorial Candidate Sonny Landham. He had a starring role in the 1991 sci-fi movie Abraxas, Guardian of the Universe, and supporting roles in The Running Man, Demolition Man, Repossessed, and Batman & Robin - the former and latter also starring Schwarzenegger. He also appeared as a self help guru (voice only) in The Ringer trying to turn Johnny Knoxville into a more confident worker.

Political career
Ventura ran for mayor of Brooklyn Park, Minnesota in 1990 and served from 1991 to 1995. Between 1995 and his run for governor, Ventura had a radio call-in show (KFAN 1130 Sports Radio) in Minneapolis-St. Paul.

Immediately after his election, bumper stickers and T-shirts bearing the slogan "My governor can beat up your governor" appeared in Minnesota and became ubiquitous virtually overnight. Ventura circulated material stating his wish to be known in office as "Jesse 'The Mind'". The nickname stuck, but as a sarcastic and facetious way for opponents to highlight his frequent controversial remarks. Far more frequently, people continued to use "Jesse 'The Body'" or adapt his former stage name as "Jesse 'The Governing Body'."

Political positions
Ventura's main campaign promise was a tax refund to Minnesota residents. The state was running a budget surplus at the time, and Ventura believed that the money should be given back to the public. In political debates, he often admitted that he had not formed an opinion on certain policy questions. Sharing many views with libertarians, Ventura frequently described himself as "fiscally conservative and socially liberal." He selected teacher Mae Schunk as his running mate. The 1998 Minnesota Governor debates helped Jesse increase his popularity as a candidate too.

Later as governor, he came to support a unicameral (one-house) legislature, light-rail public transport, property tax reform, gay rights, and abortion rights. While funding public school education generously, he opposed teachers unions, and did not have a high regard for the public funding of higher-education institutions. Additionally, Ventura supported the use of medicinal marijuana, advocated a higher role for third parties in national politics, and favored the concept of instant runoff voting.

Lacking a party base in the Minnesota House and Senate, Governor Ventura's vetoes were often overridden.

Ventura was elected on a Reform party ticket, but he never received support from Ross Perot's Texas faction. When the Reform party was taken over by Pat Buchanan supporters before the presidential elections of 2000, Ventura left the party in February 2000, referring to it as 'hopelessly dysfunctional'. However, he maintained close ties to the Independence Party of Minnesota, which also broke from the Reform party around the same time.

Litigation
In 1987, while negotiating his contract as a WWF commentator, Ventura waived his rights to royalties on videotape sales when he was falsely told that only feature performers received such royalties. In 1991, having discovered that other non-feature performers received royalties, Ventura brought an action for fraud, misappropriation of publicity rights, and unjust enrichment in Minnesota state court against Titan Sports. The case was removed to federal court, and Ventura won an $801,333.06 jury verdict on the last claim. The judgment was affirmed on appeal, and the case, Ventura v. Titan Sports, Inc., 65 F.3d 725 (8th Cir.1995), is an important result in the law of restitution.

Now because of Ventura's victorious lawsuit, whenever the WWF/WWE wants to use his commentary for a mass marketed VHS/DVD, Ventura will get a percentage of the sales. This may be why WWF/WWE's archival footage featuring Ventura's commentary has been frequently edited out on their DVD releases (such as The History of WrestleMania: 1985-1993, The Greatest Wrestling Stars of the 80s, Bret Hart and The Self-Destruction of the Ultimate Warrior, though some earlier DVDs included his commentary, such as the Hogan/Warrior match included as a bonus on the WrestleMania X8 set). His commentary is included on the recent WrestleMania box set, the Royal Rumble box set, and History Of The WWE Championship, Hulk Hogan: The Ultimate Anthology and Born to Controversy: The Roddy Piper Story DVDs however.

Relationship with Hulk Hogan
Ventura has had a strained relationship with Hulk Hogan. Back in the 1980s, Ventura thought about starting a wrestlers union, but Vince McMahon stopped him from doing it and Ventura wondered who told him about his intentions for a few years. During McMahon's deposition in Ventura's 1990 lawsuit against the WWF, McMahon claimed that it was Hulk Hogan who tipped him off about Ventura's intention to start a wrestlers union, saying "Hulk Hogan told me", in response to a question about the subject. Ventura, who considered Hulk Hogan a good friend, stated in his autobiography that he was hurt by McMahon's claim. Hulk Hogan has denied this, and claimed in his autobiography that Ventura used to say negative things about Hulk Hogan to other wrestlers behind his back when they both wrestled for the AWA. Hogan did admit that he declined to help Ventura in his successful campaign for mayor of Brooklyn Park, MN, instead going to a boat show with a friend, and said it's the only time he can recall making Ventura angry.

Post-gubernatorial life
Ventura announced that he would not run for a second term as governor in 2002. He was succeeded in his office by Republican Tim Pawlenty.

Ventura began a cable television show in October, 2003, on MSNBC called Jesse Ventura's America. The show was broadcast once a week, on Saturdays, unlike many MSNBC shows which are on five nights a week (this show was originally planned for five nights a week as well, but MSNBC executives changed their minds). At the time of its airing, Jesse Ventura's America was the only national television show filmed in Minnesota. Among his guests were Charles Barkley, Gray Davis, Ariana Huffington, Rob Kampia, and Kathy McKee. However, the show was soon canceled.

On March 14, 2004, Ventura appeared as an honored guest at World Wrestling Entertainment's (WWE) WrestleMania XX as part of the "WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2004." Later in the evening he approached the ring to interview Donald Trump, who had a front row seat at the event. Trump affirmed that Ventura would receive his moral and financial support were he to ever re-enter the world of politics. Alluding to the 2008 election, Ventura boldly announced that "In 2008, maybe we oughta put a wrestler in the White House". As of yet he has made no official announcement concerning whether or not he intends to run for President. If endorsed, Ventura would be the first presidential candidate endorsed by the Independence Party (in 2004, the Independence Party conducted an instant-runoff straw poll for President during its spring caucuses; John Edwards, who eventually became the Democratic candidate for Vice President, was the winner, but the straw poll was non-binding and not a formal endorsement).

Ventura is serving as an advisory board member for a new group called Operation Truth, a nonprofit organization set up "to give voice to troops who served in Iraq."

“The current use of the National Guard is wrong....These are men who did not sign up to go occupy foreign nations.”

In 2005, Ventura continually discussed leaving the United States. In September of 2005 Ventura announced on the Mike Malloy Show that he is leaving the U.S. and will go have an adventure. In late October 2005, he went on the Donny Deutsch show and told Deutsch he was leaving the U.S. due to, among other things, censorship. He has since moved to Baja California, Mexico.

It was announced that Ventura would be participating on the June 11, 2007 WWE Raw Draft Special on the USA Network.

Electoral history

 * 1998 Race for Governor
 * Jesse Ventura (Ref.), 37%
 * Norm Coleman (R), 34%
 * Hubert H. Humphrey III (DFL), 28%

Wrestling facts

 * Height & Weight: 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 245 lb (110 kg) (listed as high as 281 pounds during his wrestling days)
 * Trained by: Eddie Sharkey
 * Debut: October 1975

Finishing and signature moves

 * Body Breaker (Triple rib breaker)
 * Inverted body-vise (AWA)

Wrestling championships and accomplishments

 * American Wrestling Association
 * AWA Southern Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
 * AWA World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Adrian Adonis


 * International Wrestling Institute and Museum
 * Frank Gotch Award in 2003


 * National Wrestling Alliance
 * Regional
 * NWA Hawaii Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Steve Strong
 * NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
 * NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship (5 times) – with Bull Ramos (2), Buddy Rose (2) and Jerry Oates (1)
 * NWA World Tag Team Championship (Central States version) (1 time) – with Tank Patton


 * Pro Wrestling Illustrated
 * PWI ranked him #239 of the 500 best singles wrestlers during the "PWI Years" in 2003.
 * PWI ranked him #67 of the 100 best tag teams of the "PWI Years" with Adrian Adonis.


 * World Wrestling Entertainment
 * WWE Hall of Fame (Class of 2004)