From being known as “The Body” to becoming the Governor, Jesse Ventura knows how to create buzz inside and outside the ring. In between these two different career paths is a story of how this colorful wrestler charmed the hearts of people that led him to his shocking political win in 1998.
Jesse Ventura was born on July 15, 1951, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. His father, George, a steam fitter and mother, Bernice, a nurse, named him James George Janos. After graduating from Roosevelt High School in 1969, James enlisted in the U.S. Navy and became a part of its elite S.E.A.L.s program. James completed the training in 1970. He was sent to Vietnam as a member of the Navy’s Underwater Demolition Team, where he performed deep-sea dives and more than 100 parachute jumps. He worked for the team up until 1975. Towards the end of his career in the Navy, he became a member of the Mongols motorcycle club in San Diego, California. After being relieved from the Navy, he worked as a bodyguard for the Rolling Stones. However, both stints were cut short when he decided to move back to Minneapolis.
Within the same year of his retirement, Jesse enrolled in a community college, although he decided to drop out after just a year. His serious training for weightlifting began and he continuously worked on maintaining his large body frame. A wrestling promoter spotted him and made him an offer to be a wrestler for the Central States Division. It was during this time that James Janos became Jesse Ventura.
With his 6’4” frame 200-pound physique, Jesse Ventura’s persona was that of a beach-blond Californian surfer and bodybuilder. He attributes the flamboyant character of Billy Graham, who was very popular during the 1970s up to the 1980s. With his bright pink tights and big sunglasses, Jesse was the trash-talking wrestler who stole the hearts of wrestling audiences. Jesse debuted in the Central States Division in 1975.
He then moved to the Pacific Northwest, where he was promoted by Don Owen. There, he competed in both singles and tag team divisions and won the Pacific Northwest Wrestling title against Dutch Savage and Jimmy Snuka. He also won five times in the tag team division with Bull Ramos, Buddy Rose and Jerry Oates as his partners. After these successes, Jesse moved to the American Wrestling Association and teamed up with Adrian Adonis. Shortly after his transfer, he became known as the “The Body”. Along with Adrian Adonis, they became known as the “East-West Connection, “ and the duo became the World Tag Team champions in 1980, holding the belt for almost a year before losing to “The High Flyers”. Shortly after this, the duo moved to World Wrestling Federation. Although they failed to succeed in their tag team partnership, both won in the singles divisions.
In his ten years on the pro wrestling circuit, Jesse became known for his charisma and outspokenness. For these very same reasons, he became a color commentator for the World Wrestling Federation in 1985. In 1984, Jesse was found to have blood clots in his lung, which according to him, were the result of his stint in the Navy. He stopped for a year, but returned in 1985. He completely quit from his wrestling career in 1986. With his personality and his stint as a commentator, Jesse also bagged several parts in movies such as “Predator”, “Abraxas: Guardian of the Universe.”
In 1990, Jesse expressed his disappointment toward the inefficiencies of the Brooklyn Park local government, where he was living at that time. Through the urging of his wife and his high school teacher, Jesse contested for the mayoral seat and ran as an independent candidate. To the shock of skeptics, he was able to defeat the incumbent mayor who was in the seat for 25 years.
Because of Jesse’s conflicting opinions with both the Republican and Democratic members of the council, he was not able to accomplish significant legislation during his time. He did, however, managed to lower down the crime rate of his town and renewed the interest of the locals towards the government. After his four-year term, Jesse did not attempt reelection. Instead, he went back to his career as a commentator and worked for the World Championship Wrestling. Aside from commentating, he also appeared in films such as the “Demolition Man”, “The Master of Disguise”, and “Batman & Robin.”
In 1997, Jesse decided to try his hand again in politics but this time, he challenged the Governor’s seat and became the nominee of the Reform Party of Minnesota. He had an unconventional stand which favored pro-choice, pro-gay right and pro-gun rights. As these ideas were not popular during this time, he was not considered a serious candidate. However, Minnesotans found his promises of lower tax and better quality of education to be appealing. In his plain-spoken and down-to-earth style of talking, he became a crowd favorite during gubernatorial debates. On November 1998, he unexpectedly defeated other candidates by a narrow percentage. It was considered as the year’s political story when he beat candidates Hubert Humphrey III and Norm Coleman.
Throughout his time as a governor, he was able to oversee the reforms in the property tax in Minnesota. It was also under Jesse’s rule that the state had its first sales tax rebate. Income taxes were also lowered based on what he had promised. Aside from these, Jesse also oversaw the construction of the Minneapolis-Saint Paul METRO Blue Line light rail.
Jesse authored several books during and after his term, two of which were titled “Don’t Start the Revolution Without Me”, and “American Conspiracies.” In 2014, his book “They Killed Our President: 63 Reasons to Believe There Was a Conspiracy to Assassinate JFK” was published and was hailed a New York Times bestseller. Jesse’s interest and participation in politics continued after his term. He taught at the Institute of Politics at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government as a visiting fellow during the spring semester of 2004. He also hosts “Off The Grid”, a television show that discusses the Government, people’s rights as well as conspiracy theories.
