Well, I guess hell has frozen over again.
Jesse Ventura is the latest person after Bret Hart and CM Punk to use the saying about their WWE return. Ventura appeared on Friday’s episode of The Bill Simmons Show to promote his recently announced role on the commentary team for next weekend’s WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event. During the interview, Ventura said he did not think he’d ever be back in the company.
“Hell has frozen over,” he said.
When Simmons asked him why, Ventura responded:
“Because I never dreamed I would be back in the WWE until hell froze over. I had a friend, Glenn Frey of the Eagles. And I remember when the Eagles broke up, they thought, ‘Oh, it’s over. We’ll never hear another Eagles song. The differences are too much. They’ll never be able to mend fences.’ And lo and behold, Glenn got together with Don Henley, and away they go. They came back, and they cut that phenomenal album When Hell Freezes Over. And I kind of feel that way, that hell has frozen over for me because I never believed in my wildest dreams I would be back doing wrestling again.”
“It means my career has gone full circle. And here’s the part that I don’t understand: They couldn’t control me before. Why do they believe they can now?”
Ventura continued to explain to Simmons how WWE could not control him previously.
“Number one, I tried to unionize. Number two, I wouldn’t allow them to market me without negotiating it. That’s what ultimately got me thrown out of the WWF, WWE.”
Ventura then mentioned what led to his departure from WCW.
“I went to WCW. They went into turmoil. The guy who hired me got fired. They brought in Bill Watts, who was an old-school relic who didn’t understand the business had changed. It had gone to television now, not to putting seats in the stands. The money was now going to be in TV. He didn’t get that. So he comes in, and then he gets fired.”
“I busted my butt behind the scenes to get Eric Bischoff into the position. And here’s where it got interesting. Eric Bischoff then got the head job at WCW. And then behind my back, he went out and got Hogan because Hogan was leaving the WWF or getting booted or whatever was happening with his career. They gave Hogan total artistic control. He came in, got me immediately fired because he took over my look.”
“What did I do? I went to the dirtiest business on the planet, got myself elected mayor, and went on and defeated the Democrats and Republicans at the same time, getting myself elected Governor of Minnesota. And dig this: I only raised $300,000 to do it. You want to know who could have been president if he wanted to be? You’re talking to him.”
Earlier in the conversation, Ventura mentioned that he’s been told the new episodes of Saturday Night’s Main Event will have an old-school look and feel to them.
“What’s exciting about it, and I got the word on this, the whole show is going to be a throwback,” Ventura said.
“That means it’s going to look like it did before. The wrestlers are not coming down that ramp. They’re not coming with all the lights and spectacular. They’re coming in through the crowd like the old days. That’s why they brought me back. We’re going back in the time capsule, only it’s going to be four times a year.”
Ventura’s full appearance on The Bill Simmons Show is available below: