Karrion Kross on Meeting Jesse Ventura and Doing His Imitation in His Presence

– During a recent interview with Insight with Chris Van Vliet, WWE Superstar Karrion Kross discussed doing his imitation of Jesse Ventura in the presence of the WWE Hall of Famer and wrestling legend. Below are some highlights (via WrestlingInc.com):

Karrion Kross on his imitation of Jesse Ventura: “I was concerned he was going to feel like it was patronizing. If I had a guy sit in front of me for two hours doing me, I’d be like, ‘Do you want me to throw you down the stairs? Let’s go.’ I lost the nerve to do it longer than I did in front of him. But then also, the little kid of me was alive and well being in front of him.” 

On meeting Jesse Ventura: “I was telling my brother, there’s something about him for me personally that’s refreshing because he’s like authentically unapologetic. Especially with media nowadays, being in front of a camera is sometimes, for a lot of people, like walking through a minefield. To just be honest and just to say what you’re thinking and to say what you’re feeling, you’re not sure there’s always this dark cloud or concern that it’s going to bother someone. Jesse Ventura does not care at all.”

On how he and his friends would mimic other wrestlers when they were kids: “Watching wrestling as a kid, my friends and I would all sit down in front of the TV and we would just do impressions of everybody whenever they were on TV. It was just like a thing we put into practice just to pop each other in the room. And it was something we were always able to do. I’ve always notoriously been the guy with my close friends, if you happen to not pick up my call, you’re getting an insane voicemail from somebody. It might be Macho Man, it might be Jesse Ventura. I don’t know, it’s not planned. It’s just there.”