In an interview with In Depth with Graham Bensinger, Jesse Ventura said that he never had a grudge against Vince McMahon and doesn’t have one now. Here are highlights:
On if he holds a grudge against Vince McMahon: “Is Vince [McMahon] a ruthless billionaire businessman? Yes, but you probably have to be. I bare no grudge against Vince. No. I just, when I disagreed with him I did the proper thing – I took him to federal court and beat him and I have a retirement now. He has to pay me for every tape I’ve ever been on as long as he sells them. So quarterly, I get a check from him and have since 1991. I call it my wrestling retirement. I’m the only wrestler in the world that has it – a retirement. Even though technically it’s not.”
On if his friendship with Hulk Hogan can ever be repaired: “Never… I can’t trust him. I’m never friends with anyone I don’t trust. I have to have trust with someone to be their friend. And he’s the one that ratted me out to Vince [McMahon] when I tried to unionize. I found that out under a federal deposition when Vince was put under sworn [oath]… My attorney said, ‘Did you hear Mr. Ventura?’ ‘No.’ ‘Well then how do you know he did?’ With no hesitation Vince went, ‘Hulk Hogan told me.’ And I didn’t show any emotion, but I almost tipped over in my chair because he was my friend… but then understand why. When we went to court, I saw in WrestleMania 3 Hogan got paid more than all of us combined. Now, why would he want a union when he’s getting taken care of?”
On his lawsuit against Chris Kyle, who claimed in his book that he punched Ventura after he insulted Navy SEALs: “I said [to Kyle], ‘If you’ll go out with me to the media, admit you fabricated the story, I will forgive you and we’ll go our separate ways.’ He wouldn’t do it. He didn’t have the honor. He didn’t have – this hero from the war didn’t have the courage to tell the truth. And he’s not a hero. You know why? He’s a backstabbing liar. He whored the trident for money and fame. He took an old-timer like me and threw me under the bus so he could get money. You know why he’s not a hero? Because heroes have to have honor. A liar has no honor.”