Jesse Ventura at Wrestlemania 1.

[ToyfareMark]

Wrestlemania 1 hasn't held up all that well over the years, but I still go back and watch it from time to time. One thing that has always been interesting to me is how Jesse Ventura's commentary was pretty neutral during the event. I think the most he heeled it up was at the ending to the Greg Valentine/Junkyard Dog match. I'm wondering if it was because Vince perhaps didn't want him to be too overbearing for a lot of first time viewers. Or maybe its just because Jesse was still new to commentary, and was still in the process of finding his niche. By the time of the Wrestling Classic he's far more into over the top Jesse mode. Its just something I've been wondering about.

[jason1980s]

It could be the event was such an important one for the direction of the company that he, or Vince, deemed he should be on the neutral side. By Classic time, he could be his own character in the broadcast booth and he did a great job at that for five years. It's hard to believe he and Gorilla only did 10 major events (WM + 9 PPVs). They have held up very memorably for the last 25+ years.

[lildude8218]

Unbelievable, Gino!

[johnnyk9]

Yeah he calls Gorilla by his nickname the entire event not Monsoon! He was really humble during WM 1

[Cranjis McBasketball]

Looking back, Jesse was always pretty neutral. Sure, he rooted for the heels, but if the face did something well or won because the heels plan backfired, he praised the face. He always called Gorilla out for cheering when faces broke the rules and then complained when the heels did.

Jesse was never over the top heel.

[jmule]

I love the way Jesse points out who the wrestlers are and who the plain brawlers are.
Today we have Michael Cole flippin out over the Shane o mac shuffle.

[lildude8218]

What's real interesting is when you notice changes in his voice. During this show (and some of his voiceover work on early Coliseum videos) his voice is a lot deeper and quieter in comparison to the voice he settled on.


I noticed something similar with Bobby Heenan. If you listen to his commentary on the SNME episode where the Mega Powers form versus any of his later stuff it's way different.

[MrElijah]

Mar 18, 2016 9:55:41 GMT -5 lildude8218 said:

What's real interesting is when you notice changes in his voice. During this show (and some of his voiceover work on early Coliseum videos) his voice is a lot deeper and quieter in comparison to the voice he settled on.


I noticed something similar with Bobby Heenan. If you listen to his commentary on the SNME episode where the Mega Powers form versus any of his later stuff it's way different.

It was probably them finding their voices, even Gorilla sounded diffrent from say, '84/'85 to '88.

And looking back '84/'85(and some of '86) was an interesting time. The shift in tone and how less gritty the WWF got was something to watch.

[jason1980s]

Speaking of Jesse and Gorilla, if Axl Rose were to sadly pass, I would like his tombstone to read "oh THAT Axl" (Wresltemania 6).

[Mighty Attack Tribble]

Mar 18, 2016 2:05:25 GMT -5 Cranjis McBasketball said:

Jesse was never over the top heel.

And in a time where every heel got booed simply because they were heels, whenever Jesse did something in front of a crowd he was generally warmly received... At least until he did something heelish.

[Phil Parent]

Mar 20, 2016 5:05:38 GMT -5 Mighty Attack Tribble said:

Mar 18, 2016 2:05:25 GMT -5 Cranjis McBasketball said:

Jesse was never over the top heel.

And in a time where every heel got booed simply because they were heels, whenever Jesse did something in front of a crowd he was generally warmly received... At least until he did something heelish.

Yeah, had the Hogan / Ventura feud came to be, more than a few people might have cheered for Jesse. He was a lot more colourful and cooler than Hogan.

The promo battle would have been good.

I have seen less than 5 Jesse Ventura matches. All tagging with Adonis in the AWA, so he's an announcer first and foremost for me.