(JESSE) VENTURA HIGHWAY: HOW "THE BODY" CHANGED MY MIND

Wrestling With Heels On

Wrestling With Heels On is part of the Sports History Network - The Headquarters For Sports Yesteryear.

EPISODE SUMMARY

One of my favorite audiobooks of 2023 was Matt Singer’s Opposable Thumbs: How Siskel & Ebert Changed Movies Forever. As a lifelong fan of the two film critics, I geeked out on learning about the humble and somewhat shaky origins of their groundbreaking film review show Sneak Previews.

It was also fascinating to learn how much the show’s format—two eminent critics engaged in a verbal duel—inspired other shows to do the same. Political shows like CNN’s Crossfire and the syndicated The McLaughlin Group were now rife with heated crosstalk and contentious debate.

There is no doubt the format was adopted by a lot of other shows too. Unscripted and unpredictable, the format could be counted on to deliver a certain edginess to the audience…if done right. Now I can’t prove this, but I have a sneaking suspicion Vince McMahon took a cue from Siskel & Ebert when he thought of using a heel to do ringside color commentary on his weekly wrestling broadcasts.

The year was 1984 and Vince McMahon was looking to shake things up at the WWF, so this heel had to be a triple threat: quick-witted, opinionated, and charismatic. Enter Jesse “The Body” Ventura. He was all three....

ABOUT WRESTLING WITH HEELS ON

Wrestling With Heels On Web Page

Hi EVERYONE. MY NAME IS ARIEL GONZALEZ, ORIGINALLY FROM BROOKLYN, NOW LIVING IN THE GARDEN STATE AND I HAVE A NEW PODCAST SHOW CALLED WRESTLING WITH HEELS ON. BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE SPORTS HISTORY NETWORK, OF COURSE.

ON THE PODCAST, I GET TO REMINISCENCE ABOUT MY FAVORITE WRESTLING BAD GUYS FROM YESTERYEAR. LIGHT ON STATS AND HEAVY ON NOSTALGIA, THIS LITTLE TRIP DOWN VILLAINY LANE GIVES ME A CHANCE TO VISIT THE DARK CORRIDORS OF MY WRESTLING SOUL. AND IT’S ALSO FUN TO HAVE A PODCAST.

SO JOIN ME AS I WAX NOSTALGIC ABOUT MY FAVORITE WRESTLING WEIRDOS AND NE’ER DO WELLS, THE NO-GOODNIKS OF A NO-LONGER TIME THAT STILL HAUNT ME TODAY. JUST KEEP IN MIND, LIKE SOME PEOPLE MY AGE, MY RECALL OF PEOPLE AND EVENTS CAN GET A LITTLE WOBBLY SOMETIMES. SO DON’T WORRY IF I GET IT WRONG. OH! WHAT DO YOU EXPECT?

I’M WRESTLING WITH HEELS ON.