Why Jesse Ventura Hates Hulk Hogan and Why He’s Back at WWE | The Bill Simmons Podcast

[@TRENTBLOVE30]

Jesse basically cutting a 65-minute promo on himself and we are loving every second of it.

[@osaji922]

It sounds like we're definitely getting heel Jesse Ventura. I was scared for a minute they'd neuter him into the boring commentators they have now but after listening to this, he reassured me that ain't happening by a LONG shot. I love it!

[@vcvortex6356]

@@osaji922 He would have never returned if that was the case. Of course we're getting the real Jesse Ventura.

[@osaji922]

@@vcvortex6356 WWE is so controlling though. They make their commentators into robots which makes it hard to listen to. It's just not entertaining. I mean look what they did to Jerry Lawler over the years. Just terrible.

[@vcvortex6356]

@osaji922 Jerry did that to himself. Jesse doesn't need wrestling. He wouldn't let them control him.

[@KomradeKrusher]

@@osaji922 That was Vince, and yes, it was atrocious. But he's gone now, and you can see it everywhere and hear it on commentary as well. Michael Cole is having the time of his life on commentary right now, especially when paired with Pat McAfee. You should give it a shot.

[@leorocker180]

Love Jesse Ventura's iconic voice....never gets old

[@MrMan-yt3yd]

My favourite quote from Jesse "The Body" Ventura was, "Shut up McMahon."

[@NormanMears]

Bah-Ja

[@stevetollerud1192]

Surely a Top 5 Bill interview! Jesse is a one of one that's for damn sure!

[@TheAngryPooper]

LoL spoken like a true fanboy

[@ballsdeep5336]

He's a fraud

[@felixjones1375]

ABSOLUTELY!

[@David-666gforbid]

Jessie Rulz!!🤘

[@Jammer90210]

I love hearing Jesse Ventura talk. But do you know who else loves to hear Jesse Ventura talk more than I do?? Jesse Ventura. He loves to hear Jesse Ventura talk!

[@travismcdonald6576]

So true. That’s why he never got “access to the debates”.

[@khalidpitts933]

But it’s GOOD TV

[@etp7146]

Jesse for President

[@dthomscappello]

The irony of Bill Simmons nodding enthusiastically to Ventura reasoning why unions are important. We haven't forgotten over here, Bill....

[@Heyyo57]

Explain?

[@kz1000ps]

@@Heyyo57 Bill didn't want his Ringer employees to unionize... this was in 2021

[@jslberto]

@@kz1000ps nor should he have. They ruin everything. A Ford F150 is the awful price that it is right now because somehow a pipefitter on an assembly line makes 80+ grand a year.

[@mattpitman758]

​@@jslbertoyeah they should be making nothing while the corporate heads make millions

[@jslberto]

@@mattpitman758 only someone incapable of coherent thought would even attempt to make it sound like that’s what I said. You know that’s not what I said but since you don’t have an argument you decided to pluck it from your acid-induced fantasy land. Unions suck, they ruin everything. Sorry that you can’t accept it

[@jaxsonsdad79]

It's nice that Bill coaxed Jesse out from THE BAJA to give us a little of his time.

[@Setanta69]

Jesse has been telling the same story for the past 30 years, it never gets old. Love Jesse, and his family. May they live, a long, and blessed life.

[@kaledafif7972]

Yes indeed

[@craigrobb8197]

jesse bernie 2016 woulda been unstoppable

[@jamie.777]

Its gotten extremely old and he is really pathetic

[@Mosashi_EX]

@@jamie.777hush he is taking about the Predator movie now 😮

[@Jam-x9z]

Bill really ramps up his Podcast schedule during the holidays and I'm loving it!

[@TheAngryPooper]

Maybe find a hobby

[@vetoland92]

Can see why Jesse was a popular politician. His comments at the end of the pod were powerful. Gave me goosebumps. I would 100% vote for that guy.

[@damien5138]

By the time he left he had Biden numbers

[@trendmassacre8423]

@@damien5138 by the time he left he was as popular as he was when he got elected, I know this because I lived in Brooklyn Park MN where he was the MAYOR of that city when I lived there!

[@thelastdance714]

@@trendmassacre8423 Maybe he was as popular in that city only but maybe not the whole state though when he was leaving office. I did vote for him though as I still agree with him in regards to it being a two party dictatorship but I disagree with him regarding January 6th though.

[@BacJaw]

​@trendmassacre8423 Well, this isn't *exactly* true. He started with a 73% approval rating and ended with just over 50%. It did dip in the mid(ish)term to 39%, I believe. In large part, this was due to a budget surplus turning into a deficit during late '99 to '00. There were certainly things he fought for that were admirable and decent, but much of his governorship was mired in controversy drummed up by the Republicans and democrats who had a virulent hatred of the man (probably because they got absolutely dumpstered by his campaign).

[@zt1053]

He was proof why independent president wouldn’t work because Republicans and Democrats would just unite to work against the independent. That’s why Trump ran as a republican.

[@travfdy]

This was great. I'm glad Jesse is getting out there more. I wish someone would do a documentary on him attempting to unionize. I haven't watched wrestling in years. I will be tuning in to watch Jesse make his return.

[@scotty4427]

Jesse is the man! Give him a show on the Ringer

[@robotspy15]

So hard to listen to Jesse Ventura without thinking about Will Sasso’s impression of him the entire time 😂

[@jslberto]

or Jim Norton clowning him to his face.

[@jasonpdsi]

Karrion Kross has a great one as well

[@jasonpdsi]

@@jslberto Jim Norton is a failed comedian.

[@jslberto]

@@jasonpdsi and he was still able to clown Ventura, which really shows how awful Ventura is

[@DennisWesley-sw6bp]

riff raf😂😂

[@johnruplinger2449]

This interview is fuckin' bonkers. Bill's gotta be amazed he's talking to someone with a bigger ego than his own!

[@jamie.777]

😂😂blows my mind Bill simmons has an ego, he was always a terrible writer and not funny

[@sh00ner]

So sick that Bill was able to land this one. If Jesse was born 10-15 years later he would've been an incredible president in this age. No bullshit or lies and gave back to Minnesota every chance he had as governor.

[@jslberto]

Lol wut. Ventura left the governorship to do dumb conspiracy shows that served no purpose but to make himself some money. He's so smooth-brained that even Jim Norton was capable of clowning him out of the room.

[@sh00ner]

@jslberto Sure thing, Jan.

[@douglasmurphy3266]

I'm not advocating he run in 2028 but he is 9 years younger than Biden and 5 years younger than Trump. More of a comment on how very very old those guys are.

[@IronTonyStark]

Nah. Jesse has too many Marxist/Socialist ideas to be a US President at all, much less an incredible one. Only makes sense that MN now finds itself under the iron fist steel toed jackboot of Maoist Communist devotee and enemy of liberty, Tampon Tim.

[@damien5138]

Lol. Ya ok

[@KentKaliber]

Saturday Night's Main Event with a complete top to bottom RETRO PRESENTATION is absolutely brilliant! This gives me incentive to TUNE IN since it won't just be a repeat of Raw or Smackdown. I AM IN !!!

[@CardShopReality]

I wish Bill would have asked Jesse if he will do any prep work on current WWE product knowledge before commentating Sat Night. Besides that omission, Thumbs up very fun podcast.👍

[@at0mly]

My first vote was for him as my governor.

[@brentbaker4489]

Did he give out tampons ?

[@adverseinperpetuity]

Jesse had complete control of this interview from the jump lol

[@TheAngryPooper]

No he didn't.

[@ThatGuy-zt6po]

@@TheAngryPooper Yes he did

[@crazyclown2650]

I love it!! Jesse helping to bring back old school pro-wrestling!! 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@DAEDRICHHHH-TUCKER19]

As much as I love Jesse, once you listen to one or two of his interviews, you've pretty much heard them all. He tells the same stories and even when he's asked a new and original question, he still ties it back to an answer he's given before or finds a way to tell a story he's already told in 50 other interviews.

[@ShiftaelV2]

He underplayed what he did for Mn, at the time he got our state out of debt, and into the positive, and if it weren't for him we probably wouldn't have the Light Rail System, too!

[@benjaminniemczyk]

Amazing interview especially for us Gen Xers. Can't wait for the SNME reboot!

[@abdullhauq6707]

jesse still cutting promos love it

[@arriuscalpurniuspiso]

He's a great entertainer.

[@keepnitredneck5578]

I believe Jesse The body Ventura way more than I do Hogan

[@kevinharris1981]

As a middle aged man, hearing Jesse talk about a 70s rock star is VINTAGE Body

[@CinemaMack]

His Keith Richards story is my personal favorite.

[@billstrohler]

I find Jesse's stories so fascinating. The only person who finds them more fascinating is Jesse.

[@AceAcabras]

Would have liked to hear Jesse talk about the 13th amendment. Jesse stated very clearly in 1989 that he believed Ted Dibiase was the legal owner of Hercules Hernandez 😂😅😂😅

[@rickybeard]

Sure did. Even called him a slave while he stood right next to him. Ventura is and has always been a clown. LMFAO

[@AceAcabras]

@@rickybeardand stated it many times in his commentary that Hercules was the slave of the million dollar man. He even recommended that DiBiase take Hercules to court over it.

[@ImaginalComponent]

Great interview! Jesse is always so right on. PS- Jimmy Hart and his wife have been married over 50 years I believe.

[@russellfrancis6294]

I know you're going across America. But you're going worldwide thanks to the Internet. Hello from Britain.🇬🇧 Great to see Jess !

[@David-666gforbid]

Great To See Jessie The Body Back!!!💯🤟

[@enriqueramirez7318]

God damn, Ventura can still talk w the best of em

[@arriuscalpurniuspiso]

Why don't tell me? If you're so smart? I'm living in the Baja.

[@jasonkraatz9574]

Ventura was a voice of my childhood. Seeing him return over 30 years later brings everything full circle.

[@sacheenmehta1982]

Gorilla Monsoon and Jesse my fave team of all time

[@Azwel]

great interview

[@mattwonders5566]

I’d pay an incredible sum of money to watch Jesse do toe raises on a plane for ten minutes

[@AETERNVS]

The fact that WWE is going totally old school with SNME is crazy. McMahon no more being there is working wonders (and allowed Jesse to be back too).

[@Heyyo57]

Vince is literally the one who created it and brought it back many times,the saturday night main event deal was negotiated when vince was still in WWE in 2023

[@AETERNVS]

@@Heyyo57 Aside from the fact that Vince was almost out of WWE by the end of 2023, Jesse Ventura would've never came back if McMahon was still around, nor McMahon would've allowed the production team to make every wrestler enter from the crowd on a non-modern setting. The man removed the number from Wrestlemania banners because he didn't want to feel old..

[@GreetingsFromSpace]

It's a shame they don't have the in-ring talent to give it that same feeling

[@BumpyHumpyDumpy]

Bit of a fact check, Jesse Ventura returned to the WWE under Vince McMahon. You can find footage of him there in 2001, he guest hosted a Raw, he commentated a match with Vince, he pretty much did everything outside of wrestling a match.

[@cal9784]

​@@BumpyHumpyDumpy He was in the main event of Summerslam 1999

[@holstorrsceadus1990]

LFG. I ain't got time to bleed but I do have time for this pod.

[@tomknowlton]

This was great interview

[@mlineberry25]

The most humble man in the business.

[@garethcullen9604]

😅

[@joedirenzo4002]

Every time I hear Jesse talk I hear Will Sasso talking about The Baja where he has 1000 gallons of potable water and a silo full of tortillas

[@jeff-ds2pr]

Why don't you tell ME about potable water and my fish tacos?

[@joedirenzo4002]

@@jeff-ds2pr There’s more regulations, there’s less laws

[@BigBadJerryRogers]

Who wouldn't want a silo full of tortillas

[@eanthony1983]

100%

[@realBrianCars]

If there is a Bill Simmons podcast hall of fame the part when Ventura essentially does a wrestling promo about how Trump could never beat him one one-on-one in an election has to be in it. Simply amazing.

[@vincethevoice237]

I'm happy they are going Old School with Saturday Night's Main Event. It worked with NWA in late 2019 before the pandemic hit, when they made it look like 1986, and it's going to work with SNME because wrestling fans are the most nostalgic fans on the planet.

[@willjohnboy]

Jesse was on smackdown this week

[@AndresQuinones-oi6vf]

so happy he is back in WWE!

[@RuggedSource]

3:00 - I love Jessie but I feel like he's lying here. A few years ago in a shoot interview he literally said, "I would do it in a heartbeat if the decimal point was in the right place." Don't give me this full circle nonsense. Just be honest and say it was for the money. Nobody is going to get upset you're trying to leave something behind for your kids and grandchildren.

[@TigerBoyRS]

People loves Jesse Ventura, the man that tells it like it is. Cheers 🥂

[@LoPresti13]

The greatest interview of all time. 😂😂😂

[@kwh1183]

Jesse is firing on all cylinders here. I get excited whenever a new interview drops. Nothing better

[@anthonyf.9457]

I’m super excited that Jesse Ventura is coming back to wrestling and the mic. One of my favorite commentators of all time🎙️

[@dreamhunterfilms2796]

Jesse needs his own movie. It's time. He's an icon.

[@MichaelAHaleJr]

The best play by play man him and Bobby Hennan!

[@Almeida5]

Jesse "The Body" Ventura has to easily be one of the Top 10 most interesting interviews ever. I'll hear him retell a story, and he'll always add a caveat to the story, which it gives it even more substance. He could be embellishing stuff, but I'm always willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. He's not for everyone, but I've always found him extremely interesting.

[@markleshane9314]

Hogan and Ventura are going to be at Saturday Night’s Main Event

[@KevinLindsayJr]

Excellent, love Jesse. Can't wait to see him on tv next week

[@mattpitman758]

Jesse rules, best ever in WWE history

[@BabyfaceThompson]

Holy shit, Jesse's got a "Paris, Texas" poster on the wall.

[@JB-si3rp]

Hopefully they bring back the blue cage!! That would be epic!

[@vcvortex6356]

The blue cage was the only good cage. That fence BS is lame.

[@ShilohGNRFan7]

Love this combo. I’m not sure Bill is used to not getting to talk as much 😆 Jesse’s gonna cook no matter what

[@TheHannibalTV]

Lost respect for him over the years but this should be interesting to see how he does

[@felixjones1375]

If Jesse Ventura came back to the WWE, a lot of us ol'skool dudes would definitely start watching wrestling again.

[@YonderComesSin]

I like the Paris, Texas poster in the background.

[@129stacey]

My lord, I love that Jesse is letting himself talk like the old Jesse

[@jeffreymiller9808]

God Bless Cyndi Lauper. Sally’s Pigeons and True Colors are Iconic Tunes. Love the Heel Announcer and always thought The Running Man was an Iconic Character…💕✅

[@KomradeKrusher]

It's a testament to "HHH" Paul Levesque that he managed to have Hell freeze over multiple times now. Bruno Sammartino was done with WWF/WWE for good and Paul managed to bring him back as a legend. (Ultimate) Warrior was dead to WWE and WWE was dead to him, and Paul brought him back to the fold before his passing on. CM Punk, who called Levesque "the doofus son in law" before he disappeared from wrestling for years? They get along great now and Punk is once again one of the biggest stars in the company. And now we have Jesse Ventura back not only as a face in short clips, but even on commentary.

[@ryanbenson4610]

Awesome interview

[@deputyja1]

Best commentary man of all time. Isn't even close

[@CARTOONIVERSE2.0]

I'm pumped about this.

[@jeff-ds2pr]

All of a sudden I'm hungry for some fish tacos and tortillas from the Baja.

[@Mosashi_EX]

Can’t wait to hear him talk about the current wrestlers as the heel commentator he was.

[@rickjones7782]

Love the Paris ,Texas poster! Excellent taste in movies Jesse.

[@RightSmarts]

Bobby Heenan used to talk about how Jesse was jealous of Hogan. I believe it.

[@bdot187um]

I agree, while I can see his pov on the union situation other than that it was utter hate & jealousy on his part.

[@scottsimpson8973]

Hogan is a scumbag who has fd everyone over. Yes he made wrestling and is a legend. But scumbag, every notice he only talks about how great a friendship he has on TV shows about dead wrestlers who can't refute the claim, but other wrestlers do confirm it. He said him and Macho are Luke brothers, Macho fn hates him!

[@jonathanpeters5027]

Jesse had no reason to be jealous of Hogan, considering he achieved so much more than Hogan outside of wrestling.

[@watersandblue6001]

​@@jonathanpeters5027 Hogan still the much bigger Name thought.

[@Stu-b12]

Jealous of a Old Racist who is a joke & lost all of their money?

[@HuntingVictorDocumentary]

Jesse's fault for not pulling Hogan aside and explain to him a union would not affect his income.

[@sam123220]

So happy Jesse is coming to SNME, he’s such an interesting person in and out of wrestling!

[@delbertprince5302]

Jesse Ventura continues to keep it real.

[@AceAcabras]

As I recall in 2015 Ventura praised both Trump and Bernie sanders because they were directly challenging their party’s leadership caste whom wanted Jeb bush and Hillary Clinton as nominees

[@undertakerfanz628]

It's funny how Jesse interrupters Bill's questions the entire interview😂😂

[@rokki1972]

True Legend of WWF/WWE. Miss those days when He was around

[@pubighomie7334]

Shut out to the legendary Jesse. The body Ventura 💪🏼can't wait to see what he has on on Saturday night main event.

[@IamLegend32]

Jesse Ventura just casually cutting promos better than any of today's wrestlers, during this interview. That's why he's the 🐐

[@bigboiranch5055]

The Rudy Boesch mention!! RIP to a legend

[@greenmittens1]

Now he’s back to saying he doesn’t support democrats or republicans, but he literally endorsed Kamala for president a few months ago lol

[@iAmChristopherMunoz]

I mean, the only choices were democrat or felon.

[@thegoldentroll]

How could he vaguely remember the twin referee angle?! Lol

[@delbertprince5302]

Great podcast with Jesse Ventura

[@loveroflife1914]

As a proud Minnesotan, thanks Billy boy.

[@DennisWesley-sw6bp]

thermite, i was a navy seal, why won't they let me on that island lol

[@RhinoXpress]

Well the two have to coexist because they are both on the show this upcoming Saturday it would be really interesting to see how this plays out.

[@christopherruggles887]

His SNME return is going to be Epic.

[@Leba.Anatniuq]

Jesse is an Icon in US history. Marine, mayor,Governor, superstar wrestler, conspiracy tv pioneer..

[@blaketindle4703]

Navy SEAL, not a Marine.

[@TL2354]

@@blaketindle4703 Wasn't a SEAl either, his unit later because the SEALs but they weren't called that when he was with them

[@Leba.Anatniuq]

​@@TL2354he was a frogman...literally the same thing.

[@ThatGuy-zt6po]

Jesse we love you. Bill More listening less butting in.

[@JayMil365]

Sasso is watching this right now dying of laughter, lol

[@RickRudeMark]

Greatest color commentator of all time IMO

[@frizzyred1292]

Find it hard to believe Jesse didnt know it was Hogan all along...surely he knew Hogan stood to gain the most by telling Vince. You could have pressed him, Bill. Said something like, cmon Jesse, you really had no idea it could have been Hogan?

[@mach1sports]

Why wasn’t a union formed after hogan left too. Jesse is a whiner on the level of bret hart

[@jcbradley13]

Ventura is now a corporate shill. Unforgivable.

[@vcvortex6356]

k

[@TRENTBLOVE30]

I feel had this interview shouldve happened during the taping of the McMahon doco series and wouldve led Bill and the production team down some deeper rabbit holes, like the Hogan as the rat in the locker room story. Can we also please get the 9-minute part about the union that was cut from the doc up on the ringer as a youtube deleted scene

[@Aizenborgman]

a wrestling uoino will never work. Jim Ross said it. Bill Watts said it too. Wrestlers do not trust each other and even if they did trust each other (which is impossible) they will control the company and the stories and they will be like a gang inside the company. If Jesse or anyone else does not like what Vince or Hogan did, the solution is simple, leave for other companies. The solution is easy. Jesse claims that he is a friend of Hogan, but he is lying because he was never his friend. Bobby Heenan said once that Jesse was jealous of Hogan since their days in The AWA Mean Gene" Okerlund said that he saw Jesse's reaction of hatred when Hulk Hogan won the WWE world title in 1984. Gene said that he saw it with his own eyes. So do not believe that everything that comes out of Jesse's mouth is true. He wanted to exploit Hogan's great success and drew up his plan that did not work

[@HuntingVictorDocumentary]

Its not about trust, its about pooling the money for a blanket policy for 800 people, Jesse is right, cuts the premium in half!

[@felixjones1375]

Smh You sound like a company man talking about the wrestling union. Man Hogan is a rat 🐀 and a snake. Jesse Ventura isn't the only wrestler that has said this. Hogan was Vince McMahon's tape recorder/messenger.

[@danieljoyce4015]

He was so good in Predator too! Goat film

[@SwagAli]

Just let him do the whole damn show. WTF. I would have actually watched.

[@danyboy5518]

Love him he takes total control lol great stories

[@warriorgman]

I could listen to Jesse alll day

[@warriorgman]

Jesse needs a show, Jesses Saturday Night