Gov. Ventura Returns To Ring
Gov. Jesse Ventura will return to the ring with the World Wrestling Federation, although it's not clear if he will wrestle or referee.
The governor, who turns 48 Thursday, hasn't wrestled in more than a decade. In his WWF days, Ventura was a boa-wearing bad guy known as "The Body."
"He's going to be taking some vacation time," Ventura spokesman David Ruth said. "It's business that is separate from his gubernatorial duties."
Ruth deferred further questions to the governor's lawyer, David Bradley Olsen, who did not immediately return a phone call. Ventura was in northern Minnesota and not immediately available for comment.
A spokesman for the WWF also declined comment, citing a news conference Wednesday at Target Center in Minneapolis.
Whatever Ventura does, it will occur Aug. 22 at the WWF pay-per-view "SummerSlam" event at Target Center.
Among those scheduled to appear with Ventura at the news conference are WWF chairman Vince McMahon and champion "Stone Cold" Steve Austin.
Ventura once successfully sued McMahon. He said McMahon pocketed $1 million in royalties and interest from a wrestling tape McMahon was selling.
"Since I'd beaten him in court, he wasn't ever going to hire me again," Ventura wrote in his recent autobiography. "It doesn't behoove promoters to have wrestlers who know what their rights are."
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