Jesse Ventura Offers Update On Relationship With WWE, New Deal

With Vince McMahon's unceremonious exit from the company he helped build, the WWE has shown a new willingness to negotiate with former personalities they once considered disfavored. One such figure is Jesse Ventura. Although Ventura has made a handful of appearances in WWE over the years, he has mostly kept his distance from his former employer. Recent reports have suggested that Ventura is now fully back in the fold, especially after he was spotted backstage at a recent "WWE Raw" with CM Punk — coincidentally, another individual who WWE once considered persona non grata under McMahon. On "Insight with Chris Van Vliet," Ventura shed some light on his current relationship with WWE.

"My relationship with them now has much improved," Ventura said. "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]." The former Minnesota governor was then asked if he had a timeframe for a deal to get done. "Fairly quickly, because time is money," he said.

Ventura's rocky history with McMahon goes back to 1986, when Ventura famously attempted to form a union for wrestlers. While he and McMahon were at odds, Ventura took a hiatus from wrestling to pursue roles in a variety of Hollywood films. He then returned to WWE as a color commentator, a position he held until his departure in 1990. Ventura would further needle McMahon throughout the '90s with litigation over royalty disputes. However, despite their strained relationship, Ventura has made two notable appearances in WWE: first at SummerSlam 1999 as a special guest referee, then later on as a guest host of "Raw" in 2009.