WWE Contract Written For Unlikely Hall Of Famer’s Return

A WWE Hall of Famer is returning to the company.

On July 29th, Jesse Ventura made a surprise return to WWE when he attended Monday Night Raw.

Ventura rose to fame as a wrestler in the 1970s before moving to the WWF at the start of the following decade. However, the veteran is best known for his commentary alongside Gorilla Monsoon and Vince McMahon in the wake of his retirement.

The star famously clashed with McMahon over royalties after being led to believe that only featured performers on WWE videotapes earned royalties back in 1987. In 1991, Ventura brought legal action against Titan Sports — the WWE’s parent company at the time, and eventually won.

Prior to attending Raw, Ventura had remained largely away from the company since 1999, although he was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2004, and made a special appearance in 2009.

Jesse Ventura Close To WWE Deal

During an interview with Chris Van Vliet, Jesse Ventura confirmed he’s agreed a new Legends deal with WWE. The veteran noted that everything is in place and it’s a matter of signing on the dotted line.

“My relationship with them now has much improved. We are on the verge right now. I can say this, contracts have been written, contracts have been agreed upon. And all it requires is two signatures, one from them, and one from me. And I will be back with the legends [deal].”

When asked whether Vince McMahon’s WWE exit and the company’s merger with UFC had impacted his return, Ventura confirmed they had.

“Yeah, very much so. I think that since they merged with the Ultimate Fighting [UFC] and they’re under that one roof now, they’re very much more mainstream corporate that you can deal with better because they’re more open. It isn’t having to tie into the old days of wrestling, for lack of a better term, slavery. Because, you know, in the old days of wrestling, you truly were slaves.

I got a great compliment I heard the other day. Barry Bloom, my former agent, the one I introduced to Vince, I was the first wrestler that made Vince deal with an agent. And I heard Barry was on a podcast and said that all these contracts these guys are getting today, they owe Jesse Ventura a thank you. Because if it weren’t for him, they wouldn’t be getting them.”

Speaking elsewhere, Jesse Ventura held nothing back when discussing Hulk Hogan and the star’s support of Donald Trump.

H/t to ITRWrestling