From professional wrestler to Governor of Minnesota and beyond, Jesse Ventura, a.k.a. Jesse “The Body” Ventura, has been in the limelight for several years. Nowadays, Jesse Ventura has taken to living “off the grid.” In other words, he says he is somewhere where the U.S. government can’t touch him. And he loves it. If you don’t believe me, then read it for yourself. I recently spoke with the former Governor, and here’s what he had to say.
Jesse Ventura: Off The Grid
Eat Play Rock: Let’s talk about your new program. What’s it called and what’s it all about?
Jesse Ventura: It’s called “Jesse Ventura: Off The Grid” and it airs Tuesday through Friday at 3 p.m. Eastern time at ora.tv/offthegrid. It’s really the only way I can get my message out because I’ve kinda been blackballed in the U.S. media. Fox News won’t have me on, MSNBC won’t have me on, the last time I wrote a book CNN wouldn’t interview me, so this way I can get the message across about what I’ve been warning people about for years. We are broadcasting from a thousand miles south of the U.S. border, so the FCC can’t touch me.
EPR: What do you talk about on the show?
Ventura: Anything I want to. Obviously politics creeps in there, but I can talk about whatever I want to. I call this my dream job because, since it is streaming on the internet, the show is only about 10-12 minutes long. I say it’s like a Jesse “The Body” Ventura wrestling interview, only instead of talking for 3-4 minutes, I get to talk for 10-12 minutes about whatever I want to.
EPR: Who are some of the guests you have had on your show?
Ventura: I’ve had Ron Paul on the show, Judge (Andrew) Napolitano, and one of the most interesting guests I recently had on the show was Thomas Drake. Thomas Drake was a CIA whistle blower before Edward Snowden. It’s interesting to see now just how hard the government is going after Snowden, and they tried the same things with Thomas Drake. I asked him why he did what he did, and he said that it was because he took an oath to defend the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights, and the government, stating that since it’s a time of war, is just throwing them both out the window.
EPR: Oh, wow! I have obviously heard of Edward Snowden on the news, but not Drake.
Ventura: The news today is just entertainment, and that’s unfortunate. I think the downfall of media was the program “60 Minutes.” You see, it used to be that networks wrote off the news as a loss, and they said “We’ll make the profits up in entertainment.” But, then “60 Minutes” went to number one, and the networks realized that they could make a profit from the news, and thus began the downfall, with more opinions and guests than real news.
Jesse Ventura On Being A NAVY Seal, Wrestler and Governor
EPR: Let’s talk about your career. You were a Navy SEAL, professional wrestler/commentator, and Governor of Minnesota. Which of these did you find the most rewarding?
Ventura: All of them. I know that’s a straight political answer, but it’s the truth. I feel like that all of these jobs were the most important things in my life at the time, and I don’t have any regrets about any of them. That’s how I live my life. I don’t want to go through life saying “woulda, coulda, shoulda.” I live my life with the belief that everything I do is important and I don’t want to have any regrets about it.
EPR: Did you aspire to become a professional wrestler?
Ventura: No. I loved watching wrestling growing up, but it was never anything that I wanted to be. I went straight into the Navy out of high school. When I came out, I went to junior college for a year, and I was playing football at the time and taking theater. I found that pro wrestling combined the best of both football and theater. It had the roughness and toughness of football, but with the choreography and emotion of theater. I thought it was a great combination. I answered an ad in a newspaper, and went to the 7th Street Gym in Minneapolis, there I met Eddie Sharkey, who was the rival to Verne Gagne. At that time, if you were a professional wrestler, you were either trained by Verne Gagne down south or Eddie Sharkey. Eddie trained some legends like Bob Backlund and The Road Warriors.
Jess Ventura On Entertainment
EPR: Who were some of your idols growing up?
Ventura: One that I can think of right off was Cassius Clay, who became Muhammad Ali. I loved him because he stood up for what he believed in. He never actually lost the World Heavyweight Title. It was taken from him. But, he never backed down. He stood up for what he believed in and I admire him for that.
EPR: Who are some of your idols today?
Ventura: I don’t really have any. I live within the life of what you can see. I don’t watch television. I do listen to music a lot, and that’s more company for me down here than television. I am a huge rock music fan, always have been.
EPR: Really? Me, too! I especially love classic rock.
Ventura: I have seen Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix live. I am one of a very few people who can actually say that. I have also seen Led Zeppelin. It’s interesting because I believe it was David Crosby who said that the downfall of music was MTV, because music became visual not auditory. I love to go to concerts, but if you are at a concert and you don’t want to see the artist, you can always close your eyes.
EPR: Thanks, Jesse, for taking the time to talk to me today.
Ventura: You’re welcome, and be sure to check out the show. I am as excited about it as I have been about anything, as you can tell by my enthusiasm.
Check Out Jesse Ventura: Off The Grid
Socialize With Jesse Ventura
*The opinions expressed in this interview with Jesse Ventura are those of Jesse Ventura and not necessarily those of Eat Play Rock.
Interesting. I think he blackballed himself though. No one took him seriously as a governor after he was a goofball wrestler lol. At least I didn’t.
Sounds like something my husband ould enjoy watching. Sending him the link now!
I love the interview with Ventura! He is quite a personality and I’m sure his show is interesting!
He’s an interesting guy with a fascinating career. I enjoyed reading this interview.
He`s a quack…I think he took one too many hits on the head.
**shakes head** Anyone who still talks in the 3rd person needs to just STOP already.
When he was commenting that he was a affiliated bike member he just sounded like a loud mouth.
I don`t know if I believe he is sincere or not.
I’m not sure I was listening before he was blackballed, so I guess I still won’t. But reading what he had to say was interesting.
Great interview. I hadn’t heard about the show before, could be interesting!
Good interview – I think he is a very interesting person.
I think this is great. I’m glad he can get his message out even though he is “off the grid”.
Wow! This is really interesting. When Arnold ran for governor, I thought it was a bit weird being that he was Conan and really concentrated a lot on his body image. I think he did quite ok though so we just never know, right?
He sounds like a really cool and nice guy – I want to watch his show!
I definitely agree that the news now is purely entertainment, and the internet does give a solid platform to those who pursue it. It’s interesting to see who he interviews.
Sounds like a really great show.
This is really interesting. I didn’t know too much about Jesse Ventura before this post.
Hmmmm – He has such an eclectic resume!
What I want to know, is if he is so far “off the grid,” how does he have a show? lol
World wide internet, baby! Don’t you know Big Brother is watching your every move as we speak? *hides under the couch*
What an interesting interview. I love hearing from famous people and see how real they are. He has definitely lived a full life so far.
You can say whatever you want about Jesse Ventura and I’m sure people do. But man, what an amazing adventure he’s had in his life!! He’s done SO MUCH and lived his life so full. We could all take a lesson or two from that.
That is so true. No matter what armchair critics say, he’s just out there doing his thing. You have to respect that.
I didn’t realize he had been blackballed. That’s a shame! Thanks for sharing about his new show… will have to check it out.
Wow, he’s aged alot!
Yeah, we all do that. I actually was shocked to learn that he was 62, myself.
I haven’t heard anything about Jesse Ventura in a long time. Good to see he’s loving living off the grid!
Great Interview I Love Him & His Show Is Awesome I Watch His Show ALL The Time!!
I LOVE Jesse Ventura!!! I know he has his haters but that’s because HE’S RIGHT!! Very cool interview, thanks for sharing!
I haven’t heard of Jesse Ventura before, but his show sounds interesting. Thanks for sharing a great interview!
*shakes head in disbelief* What?!?!?!
I’m sure it has lot to do that I’m not from the US 😀
Yeah! That could definitely have something to do with it. 🙂
wow, interesting, I always looked at him a rough tough wrestler!
I’ve seen a few of his television appearances in the past. After learning that he took theater, it kind of all makes sense now. He does seem like a pretty nice guy, though. Despite his sometimes strong, outlandish theories & beliefs.
His show sounds interesting I’m not sure that I would watch it though. I had no idea he had kind of been blackballed.
Very interesting – I had no clue!
This was a very awesome interview. I have to say that this man is correct about our country, and their messed up priorities!
There is absolutely no difference between the two parties, and anyone who thinks otherwise, needs to pull their head out of the sand of ordinary, because you are part of the problem why this great nation of our is in the shape it is, and what I mean by that, I personally bought into Obama promises on his first term, and I voted for him, and then Hilary give her speech where she said the candidate Obama is much different then the President Obama a cold chill ran down my spine, and when he signed and renewed the patriot act I no longer supported him, he has been lying to the American citizens ever since, if you think that an ex professional wrestler, like Jesse Ventura couldn’t be President, then you too are part of the problem, here’s why, the mere thought that an average citizen can make a difference in this country, that is to say, an ordinary person, who views life as a middle class or so way of life, is what this nation is all about, look at what we have today, a constitutional lawyer, as our president, former senator, as our president, who took over the helm form a silver spooner big oil money family, and they both have all but ruin our country, there is no difference between the two parties -none, whatever you want to call it, what ever it is running our nation, it is not working, it is time for the citizens of this great nation to take back control of our senate, and our congress, and the presidential office, they work for us we do not work for them, with that having been said, we as a nation need to do something radical, something “out of the box” to fix this, “Ventura / Napolitano 2016”
Great interview.. now I have to go look up Drake and learn about him LOL. I def. agree about the news becoming purely entertainment. I used to love the news but now I can’t even stand to watch it!