One of the most beloved voices to ever provide commentary for the business, Jesse Ventura is a man who's accomplished quite a bit throughout his life. Prior to joining the world of pro wrestling, "The Body" was a Navy SEAL, the most elite branch of the American military. He had a respectable career as an active wrestler but found most of his success in the industry behind the microphone for both WWE and WCW, while also achieving moderate fame as an actor. After leaving wrestling he moved into the world of politics, ascending all the way to the Governorship of Minnesota. He's spent the years since tarnishing his legacy by suing the widow of an American hero and hosting a show where he tries to convince the world that alien lizards are running the government. "The Body" had two instances where he tried to go up against the WWE machine, finding success in one and getting nowhere with the other. The challenge that made no headway whatsoever was his reported attempt to form a labor union between the wrestlers back in 1984. This could have been a landmark maneuver that never came to fruition because Ventura found out that Hulk Hogan ratted him out to Vince, effectively bringing an end to their once-close friendship. The second time Jesse took on Titan was in a lawsuit over royalties for home video sales. Initially, in 1987 Ventura had waived his rights when he was incorrectly told that only featured performers received royalty payouts. Upon finding out the truth in 1991 "The Body" brought an action for fraud, misappropriation of publicity rights, and quantum meruit against the WWE. He won an $801,333 jury verdict, which was affirmed on appeal, and the case became a landmark in restitution law. While Jesse may have won, the fans lost as this resulted in most of his commentary being edited out of WWE home video releases. As is the case with most of the people on this list, the hatchet was eventually buried and Ventura came back into the fold, making a historic appearance as the special guest referee of the main event at SummerSlam 1999. Any whistleblowers we forgot about? Let us know in the comments section.
Brad Hamilton is a writer, musician and marketer/social media manager from Atlanta, Georgia. He's an undefeated freestyle rap battle champion, spends too little time being productive and defines himself as the literary version of Brock Lesnar.
