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JESSE VENTURA
James George Janos was
born on 7/15/51 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He
became a Navy Seal. When he left the Navy, he
was trained by Eddie Sharkey and made his debut
in 1975. He named himself after The Ventura
Highway in California. His wrestling career
highlight was winning the AWA Tag Team titles
with Adrian Adonis.
The end of one career
and the beginning of another:
Just as he was about to start a feud with Hulk
Hogan for the WWF title in 1984, he had to
retire from the ring due to blood clots that he
claims are due to his exposure to Agent Orange
in Vietnam. He did wrestle a few times after
this but never bled in the ring due to the blood
thinners he was on. He became a full time
announcer.
The announcer and
actor:
Jesse was known for "telling it like it is".
He was the first successful heel announcer and
he would do PPV events with Gorilla Monsoon,
weekly TV with Vince McMahon & Bruno Sammartino,
and Saturday Night's Main Event with Vince
McMahon. His entertaining commentary drew the
attention of Hollywood
Arnold's Friend:
He began his movie career starring in two
Schwarzenegger films, Predator and The Running
Man. He left the WWF in 1990 and became an
announcer for WCW in the early 90's. He filmed a
TV pilot with Roddy Piper called Tag Team that
aired once on ABC. He also starred in a
syndicated show called "The Grudge Match".
Fighting the system:
Jesse sued the WWF for royalties on the
videotapes his voice was on. Jesse won the suit
and on many WWE releases his voice will be
deleted from the commentary. His next victims
were the city council members of Brooklyn Park,
MN. He ran for mayor of the town because he
hated the city council and won.
Governor Ventura:
Jesse was a sports radio commentator and
also did announcing for Tampa Bay Buccaneer
games. In 1998, he ran for governor of
Minnesota. He ran on the Reform party ticket and
shocked the world by winning the election. He
received much criticism for refereeing a match
and being a commentator for the XFL while being
governor.
Jesse "The Mind"
Ventura:
After retiring from politics in 1992 (he
didn't seek re-election) he had a TV talk show
and taught a class at Harvard University.
Whatever Jesse decides to do next, you can be
sure that both controversy and success will
follow.
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