Years after WWE exit , Jesse Ventura making an unlikely comeback

“Hell has frozen over.”

This is a term used by Jesse Ventura to describe the unlikely return to WWE as a guest commentator on “Saturday Night Main Event,” which airs live from the Nassau Coliseum on Saturday primetime. It was.

In an exclusive interview with The Post, Ventura credited his son Tyrell, a former Minnesota governor who works as an agent for WWE stars.

“He's well qualified to do that. He used to be Sean Penn's assistant, so he has experience,” Ventura said.

Ventura famously clashed with Vince McMahon over financial disputes between 1986 and 1990.

But WWE is under new management, with Hollywood giant WME now in charge of the company, with Nick Carn as president and Paul “Triple H” Levesque as head of content.

“My son is a wrestling fan and I've been a fan myself since I was little, so I decided to reach out to the new owners and they started talking,” Ventura said.

“One thing led to another and they found themselves under new ownership and weren't going to get caught up in the old standards of why they were evicted before. Lo and behold, it happened. Let me just say this. Mind you, I did it selfishly for the sake of my children. I'm 73 years old now. I'm not going to be around forever if someone makes money in my name. I want to give some of that to my children.”

Ventura thus signed a “Legend” contract with WWE and announced his appearance.

“Saturday Night Main Event was coming back for the first time in 40 years, and someone said, 'We need Jesse for this,'” Ventura said. “We were already negotiating a contract with a legend, so it wasn't a big deal to negotiate this. The ice has been broken and now hell has frozen over.”

McMahon left WWE earlier this year after being accused of sexual misconduct by a former employee. He has denied wrongdoing and the lawsuit is pending.

The first match between Ventura and McMahon took place before WrestleMania II in 1986. At that time, the former WWE representative learned from Hulk Hogan that Ventura was campaigning to unionize the locker room and professional wrestlers in other promotions.

“I wasn't fired directly because of it, but it definitely played a role,” Ventura said.

Ventura ultimately left WWE in 1990 after controversy when he signed an outside promotional contract with Sega.

“I have the name Jesse the Body Ventura. I have it copyrighted to the government,” Ventura said, adding that McMahon was reluctant to negotiate with him about outside marketing. He pointed out that it was a target.

Ventura sued WWE over video sales royalties a year later and won.

Although Ventura credits his return to WWE's new owners, he has made several appearances in WWE since his acrimonious exit, including a match between Mick Foley and Triple H at SummerSlam 1999. That includes a spot as a special guest umpire and induction into the Hall of Fame. Inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2004.

Ventura's fastball was still intact during the phone conversation.

He was supremely confident that with the necessary financial support, he could defeat Donald Trump, and everyone else, in the national presidential election, but he said he had no interest in joining either major political party for the opportunity. He was determined not to give in.

Ventura's victory in the Minnesota gubernatorial race has been credited in the past with fueling his political ambitions by President-elect Trump.

In addition to his new WWE stint, Ventura has started a cannabis business, Jesse Ventura Farms.

“The reason is because my wife had seizures and cannabis was the only thing that stopped them,” he said.