WRESTLING NEWS
How Hulk Hogan Helped Prevent Jesse Ventura From Starting A Wrestlers Union
By RANCE MORRIS
WWE Hall of Famer and former Minnesota Governor Jesse "The Body" Ventura has been a long opponent of wrestlers being treated as independent contractors. Ventura noted on "The Steve Austin Show" that he addressed the locker room before WrestleMania II and "gave a speech to the boys," encouraging his colleagues to refuse to go on without unionizing.
Ventura continued, "The next night I got a call from Vince who basically threatened to fire me if I ever brought it up again and read me the riot act." Ventura later sued Vince McMahon and when the matter went to court, Ventura's attorney asked how McMahon knew that Ventura wanted to form a union, to which the former-WWE chairman said that Hulk Hogan told him.
Stunned at this information, Ventura said, "It was like someone punched me in the face," adding, "This was my friend. And I thought, 'Hogan betrayed me? Hogan called Vince and ratted me?'" He explained that Hogan told McMahon because "Hogan made more money than all of us combined, including Andre [The Giant]. So naturally, he didn't want a union."