WWE Hall of Famer Jesse “The Body” Ventura spoke with The New York Post on a number of topics, including how his son, Tyrel, helped broker his new Legends deal with the company.
Ventura said, “He’s very qualified for it. He used to be Sean Penn’s assistant, so he has experience. My son was a fan of wrestling and a fan of myself growing up, so he took it upon himself to make some contact with the new ownership and they started talking. One thing led to another, and I realized they were under new ownership and I wasn’t going to be held to the old standard of why I got kicked out before. Lo and behold it happened. I’ll tell you this: I did it selfishly for my kids. I’m 73 now. I ain’t gonna be around forever. I want to position it where if anybody makes money off my name, I want my kids to have a piece of it.”
On having him return to the broadcast booth for Saturday Night’s Main Event:
“With Saturday Night’s Main Event coming back after 40 years, somebody said, ‘We need Jesse for this,’ because we had already negotiated the Legends deal, it wasn’t a big deal to negotiate this. The ice had been broken and now hell has frozen over.”
On wanting his kids to be able to make money off of his name:
“My son was a fan of wrestling and a fan of myself growing up, so he took it upon himself to make some contact with the new ownership and they started talking. One thing led to another, and I realized they were under new ownership and I wasn’t going to be held to the old standard of why I got kicked out before. Lo and behold it happened. I’ll tell you this: I did it selfishly for my kids. I’m 73 now. I ain’t gonna be around forever. I want to position it where if anybody makes money off my name, I want my kids to have a piece of it.”
On starting a cannabis business:
“The reason being is this: My wife was stricken with seizures. Cannabis is the only thing that stopped them.”
