WWE Legend Jesse 'The Body' Ventura Returning For Saturday Night's Main Event

Legendary WWE announcer Jesse Ventura returns to announce booth on 14 December.

by Andy H Murray
Jesse Ventura
WWE

Jesse 'The Body' Ventura will return to WWE's announce table for Saturday Night's Main Event on Saturday, 14 December.

Bill Simmons broke the news on his podcast earlier today.

14 December is the first Saturday Night's Main Event since July 2008, when a two-year revival of the classic WWE brand on NBC ended. Originally, SNME aired on NBC from May 1985, following a deal with Saturday Night Live executive producer Dick Ebersole, who'd been inspired by strong ratings for WWE's The Braw to End It All and The War to Settle the Score MTV specials in 1984 and 1985.

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For much of that original run, Jesse Ventura sat alongside Vince McMahon in the announce booth, with Bobby 'The Brain' Heenan filling in on occasion. Ventura occupied that seat until he left WWE in 1990, when he was replaced by 'Rowdy' Roddy Piper.

Saturday Night's Main Event was once a considerable ratings success for NBC. An 11.6 rating drawn on 14 March 1987 remains any show's highest rating in its timeslot.

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Ventura, 73, found considerable success as a heel wrestler in the '70s and '80s before becoming a legendary WWE color commentator. His partnership with the late Gorilla Monsoon is held to to particularly high esteem, with the duo calling five of the first six WrestleManias, amongst other highlights. Outside of wrestling, 'The Body' served as the 38th Governor of Minnesota between 1999 and 2003, and also worked as an actor, appearing in such films as Predator.

Saturday Night's Main Event will be the first time Ventura has called a match on a WWE show since TLC: Tables, Ladders, and Chairs 2009, when he joined the announce booth for the first time in close to 20 years.

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Andy has been with WhatCulture for eight years and is currently WhatCulture's Wrestling Channel Manager. A writer, presenter, and editor with 10+ years of experience in online media, he has been a sponge for all wrestling knowledge since playing an old Royal Rumble 1992 VHS to ruin in his childhood. Having previously worked for Bleacher Report, Andy specialises in short and long-form writing, video presenting, voiceover acting, and editing, all characterised by expert wrestling knowledge and commentary. Andy is as much a fan of 1985 Jim Crockett Promotions as he is present-day AEW and WWE - just don't make him choose between the two.