Jesse “The Body” Ventura made a pretty big stir during his time with the WWE. He debuted back in 1975 and worked in wrestling for a decade. In 1999, he began to dabble in acting, working with the likes of Arnold Schwarzenegger. And looking at that is pretty funny when you consider that both men ended up in politics.
Yes, Jesse Ventura also went into politics, hitting in the scene in 1991, when he became mayor of a town in Minnesota called Brooklyn Park. Seven years later, he successfully ran for Governor of Minnesota, taking the seat from 1998-2003. According to the rumor mill, you may just see Ventura running for President next year, too.
Virgil Seems Confused
Virgil is another former wrestler that got out of the ring to venture into something…different. Virgil went into teaching high-school mathematics in Pennsylvania. Hey, there’s nothing wrong with that! It’s actually pretty noble to leave a job that pays a ridiculous amount of money to educate children, instead.
However, Virgil wasn’t exactly satisfied by his newfound teaching career, either. Could it be the fact that he missed the fat paychecks? It would seem so, as a few years back he decided to launch a crowdfunding operation because he missed the big money. Cue the mass amount of eye rolls.
April Mendez Writes a Bestseller
April Mendez, fondly known as AJ Lee, rose to WWE stardom after her debut in 2009. She even found herself winning the Divas Championship on three separate occasions. But in 2015, Mendez decided it was time to hop out of the ring and focus her efforts elsewhere. So, what did she do? She wrote a tell-all autobiography about her incredible life.
Mendez’ book, that she called Crazy is My Superpower, details the struggles she faced when dealing with poverty when she was young, along with mental illness and her rise to fame and fortune. The book was a hit and earned a spot on the NY Times list of bestsellers. She also operates her own website where she sells her books.
Shad Gaspard: Jack of All Trades
Shad Gaspard made his WWE debut in 2006 when he was introduced as part of the duo, Cryme Tyme, who became an instant fan favorite. But just a year later, they both vanished from the WWE for reasons that remain a mystery. Shad would return for a few appearances, between 2008 and 2010. But in 2010, he was released again and this time, it was for good.
But Shad’s departure from the WWE led him to be able to explore different creative avenues. In 2011, he published a graphic novel that he dubbed Assassin and Son, which won multiple awards both that year and the next. Shad also dabbled in acting, appearing in Get Hard, alongside Kevin Hart and Will Ferrel.
Ronda Rousey Is an Overall Celebrity
Ronda Rousey has become one of the most popular women in sports after turning women into flying ragdolls in her cage-fighting career. She’s been featured in various films, modeling gigs, and even video-games, and has literally turned herself into a celebrity. Rousey was the first female American to win an Olympic medal in judo, which helped her make the jump to professional MMA fighting at just 21 years old.
Although she’s been known to be quite brash and overconfident at times, Ronda Rousey has every reason to think highly of herself. She recently retired from fighting and moved to the tough world of wrestling on the WWE. This femme fatale remains one of the most formidable women in entertainment, and appeared in some very popular films and TV shows recently, including "The Expendables", "Furious 7", and "Entourage".