Jesse Ventura doesn’t buy Hulk Hogan’s excuse for being anti-union.
Ventura appeared on The Ringer’s Bill Simmons Podcast and spoke about his return to WWE for Saturday Night’s Main Event. During the conversation, Ventura spoke about his initial departure, which coincided with Vince McMahon finding out that he tried to unionize the locker room ahead of WrestleMania II.
“The Body” tried to explain the benefits of a union, but Vince McMahon found out and subsequently fired him. Speaking to Simmons, Ventura explained why he wanted a union, noting that it was mostly about talent benefits. Ventura explained how he needed to get WWE talent and the “Charlotte guys” [Jim Crockett Promotions] on board, and it would’ve changed everything.
“All we had to do was en masse, walk out and go to the media and say we refuse to wrestle unless federal negotiators for union are brought in, it’s federal law. [Vince] couldn’t stop it, it’s federal law,” Ventura explained. “[We could’ve] refused to perform until we were allowed to unionize or collective bargain and bring these people in. And I made that passioned speech, and when I was done I went home, and the next day Vince calls me immediately. ‘Well I found out…’ Apparently he called all of the wrestlers and threatened them all, all of this stuff. I didn’t know about that, but he called me and I stood up to him. I said, ‘Vince, this isn’t just to fight you.”
Jesse Ventura says his health issues were linked to him traveling so much
Ventura says he told Vince that he wanted cheaper health insurance for his family. He noted how he’d seen wrestlers give 20 years of their lives and careers to the business and not having anything to show for it. Ventura maintained that if they had a union, maybe wrestlers could retire with something meaningful.
Ventura said that days off would have been a major benefit. Simmons said context was important, alluding to how much they were on the road back then. Ventura added that he was suffering from blood clots in the lungs, which was a result of flying so much.
“That’s why you need to exercise on planes and they don’t say nothing now. Because the airline people are well aware of it. I get up on every plane and do toe raises for ten minutes,” Ventura said. “The flight attendant won’t say a word to you, they know exactly what you’re doing.
“But the point is, here’s how bad it was — the month that I had the pulmonary emboli, the blood clots, do you know how many days that month that I flew? 28,” Ventura added. “You’re talking about 30 days in a month, I flew for 28 of them. That’s why I wanted the union for. And then for Hogan to make a statement like, ‘Well I didn’t want to get paid like everyone else,’ he makes it sound like unionizing is socialism and communism.”
Ventura pointed out that the NBA and NFL still have unions, but top stars like Patrick Mahomes and LeBron James still make more money.
“Hogan still would’ve made more,” Ventura pointed out. “That’s a lame excuse!”
Jesse Ventura shares how he found out Hulk Hogan ratted him out
Jesse Ventura got access to the financial figures from WrestleMania III in his court case against McMahon. He said they learned Hogan made more that night than everyone else combined, including Andre The Giant.
“Now do you want to know why he didn’t want [a union], why he’d lay his life down on the line to stop a union? Of course he [denied it]. And here’s why — if you come from the business during my era of the old territory days, the worst thing you could be accused of being is an office stooge,” Ventura said. “That’s somebody that rides around with the boys and pretends he’s one of them, but all the while he’s listening to the gossip and he’s reporting it back to the promoters, taking care of himself and being ‘an office stooge.’ That, in my day of wrestling, was the worst thing you could ever be. And that’s what Hogan was.”
Ventura says the story only came out because he had his attorney depose Hogan at trial, which opened him up to any line of questioning.
Ventura couldn’t believe Hogan turned on him
“I said, ‘If you could find out who ratted [me out to Vince], I’d really love to know. Who was the rat in the dressing room that ratted me out? My attorney said, ‘Mr. McMahon, has there ever been a union in wrestling?’ and Vince said no. My attorney said, ‘Has anyone tried to form a union in wrestling?’ And Vince thought a moment and he said, ‘Yeah, I think Jesse Ventura might’ve spouted’ — I remember he used the term ‘spouted his mouth off about it one time a number of years ago.’ And my attorney said, ‘Oh really? Did you hear Mr. Ventura talk about unionizing?’ And Vince [said] no. My attorney said, ‘Well then how were you aware of it?’
“With no hesitation, Vince went, ‘Hulk Hogan told me.’ I almost fell out of my chair. Now, I had to sit there,” Ventura said. “I can show no emotion, it’s a deposition, I can’t talk, nothing. I can only sit there and confer with my attorney. It was as rough as getting hit in the face with a hard left jab, because Hulk Hogan, I thought, had been my friend.“
Ventura said he had no idea who ratted on him before that, noting that no one from the office was around when he made his speech.
Ventura previously said that he doesn’t believe he could “bury the hatchet” with Hogan. However, he does still believe he’s owed an apology.
