Years after WWE exit, Jesse Ventura makes an unlikely comeback

“Hell has frozen over.”

That was the terminology Jesse Ventura used to describe his unlikely return to WWE, where he will be a guest commentator on “Saturday Night’s Main Event,” airing live from the Nassau Coliseum on NBC in prime time on Saturday.

In an exclusive interview with The Post, Ventura credited his son, Tyrel, who works as an agent for the former Minnesota governor and WWE star.

“He’s very qualified for it. He used to be Sean Penn’s assistant, so he has experience,” Ventura said.

Ventura butted heads with Vince McMahon over financial conflicts that occurred between 1986 and 1990.

However, WWE is under new management with Hollywood behemoth WME now presiding over the company and Nick Khan as president and Paul “Triple H” Levesque as chief content officer.

“My son was a fan of wrestling and a fan of mine growing up, so he took it upon himself to reach out to the new ownership and they started talking,” Ventura said.

“One thing led to another and I realized they were under new ownership and I wasn’t going to be held to the old standard of why I was kicked out before. Lo and behold it happened. I’ll tell you this: I did it selfishly for my children. I don’t want to be here forever. I want to place it where someone makes money off my name. I want my children to have a share of it the.”

Ventura thus signed a “Legends” contract with WWE, leading to his advertised appearance.

“When Saturday Night’s Main Event came back after 40 years, somebody said, ‘We need Jesse for this,'” Ventura said. “Because we had already negotiated the Legends deal, negotiating this wasn’t a big deal. The ice was broken and now hell has frozen over.

McMahon left WWE earlier this year after being accused of sexual misconduct by a former employee; he has pleaded not guilty and the case is pending.

Ventura’s first match with McMahon came before WrestleMania II in 1986, when the former WWE boss caught wind from Hulk Hogan that Ventura was running a campaign to organize the locker room as well as professional wrestlers from other promotions.

“I wasn’t outright fired for it — but you bet it played a role,” Ventura said.

Ventura eventually left WWE in 1990 after a dispute where he signed an outside promotion deal with Sega.

“I own the name Jesse ‘The Body’ Ventura. I have it copyrighted with the government,” Ventura said, noting that McMahon was unwilling to negotiate with him on outside marketing.

Ventura also sued WWE a year later for royalties on video sales.

While Ventura credits new WWE ownership for his return, he has made several other appearances with the company since his tumultuous exit, including a spot as a special guest referee at SummerSlam in 1999 for a match between Mick Foley and Triple H, as well as induction into WWE Hall of Fame in 2004.

In the phone call, Ventura still had his fastball.

He was extremely confident that he would have been able to defeat Donald Trump – and anyone else – in the national presidential election with the necessary financial backing, but was adamant that he would not bend the knee to any of the major political parties for the opportunity.

Ventura’s triumph in winning the governorship of Minnesota has previously been credited by President-elect Trump for igniting his political ambitions.

In addition to his renewed WWE work, Ventura has launched the cannabis business Jesse Ventura Farms.

“The reason is this: My wife was having seizures. Cannabis is the only thing that stopped them,” he said.