With Gov. Ventura, Call It ‘The Young and the Wrestling’

So you think real men don’t watch soap operas? Try telling that to pro wrestler turned Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura, a 15-year fan of CBS’ “The Young and the Restless,” who fulfills a dream by guest-starring as himself on today’s episode.

Flanked by three Minnesota state troopers, a press secretary and a personal manager, Ventura lounges in his dressing room moments after taping his big soap debut. “I felt very comfortable,” he says. “When you’ve watched and been a fan as long as I have, it’s very easy--and a lot of fun.”

The casting is not so abstract, considering wrestling is often described as a male soap opera, a comparison Ventura defends wholeheartedly. “You have heroes and villains in both--and they switch as the scenarios change,” notes Ventura, who turns 49 this week. “Pro wrestling is just soap opera with a little more physical violence to it.”

Still, Ventura, like most men, scoffed at daytime TV, before discovering “The Young and the Restless” way back in the early years of his wrestling career. It was while on the road traveling to different venues throughout the country that “The Body” (his moniker at the time) first began following the trials of the show’s most popular couple, Victor and Nikki Newman.

“You’d wrestle and then have to drive 200 miles, so every night I would get in at 2 or 3 in the morning,” he recalls. “I would wake up at about 10:30 in the morning, and as I’d eat breakfast, the First Lady (as he respectfully calls Terry Ventura, his wife of 24 years) would be hooked on ‘The Young and the Restless.’ At first I said, ‘How can you watch this?’ Two weeks later, I was hooked.”

“I started describing to him some of the plot twists and all the tangled backgrounds of the characters,” explains Terry Ventura, whose all-time favorite story line involved Ashley’s nervous breakdown in the late 1980s after aborting Victor’s child--typical of the gripping stories that have made “Y&R;” the No. 1 soap for 600 consecutive weeks.

If you doubt Ventura’s sincerity, you only have to watch the governor jump to his feet each time a cast member enters the studio. Humbly extending his hands and hunching his back ever so slightly, Ventura innocently calls each of the actors by their character names--”Mrs. Chancellor,” “Jack” and “Jill.”

“I’ve been watching you for years,” Ventura drools to actress Jess Walton (Jill).

“We don’t typically go after celebrities,” explains Melody Thomas Scott, a 21-year vet whose long-suffering character, the alcoholic ex-stripper Nikki Reed Newman, recently became a high-powered executive. “Once it’s known that a celebrity enjoys our show, it’s fun to write them in for a day or two.”

Cast and Governor a Bit Star-Struck

Ventura’s fanaticism toward the “Y&R;” cast does not go unreciprocated. Alex Donnelly, who plays the scheming Diane Jenkins, wasn’t scheduled to work the day Ventura appears. Initially explaining that she’s stopped in to pick up a script, Donnelly ultimately admits her true intentions.

“I did want to meet the governor--he’s an extraordinary person,” she confesses, revealing a book she’s brought for Ventura to autograph.

But more than Diane, Jack or Jill, it is ruthless businessman Victor Newman, played for the past 20 years by German-born Eric Braeden, who brought Ventura to Genoa City, “Y&R;’s” fictional Wisconsin town. The producers learned the soap was Ventura’s favorite television show shortly after he won his election. Plans originally called for Ventura to act opposite Lauralee Bell, daughter of the show’s creators, Bill and Lee Phillip Bell, who plays Cricket.

“I put a stop to that,” states Ventura, who’s acting resume lists a part in Arnold Schwarzenegger’s 1987 film “Predator” and a starring role in the far more forgettable 1992 turkey “Abraxas, Guardian of the Universe.” “I said, ‘Wait a minute. The governor would only meet with Victor Newman. He wouldn’t meet with a lawyer--because they were going to have me meet with Cricket, Victor’s attorney. No offense to her, but from the governor’s position I’d only meet with ‘The Mustache’ [a nickname used by Victor’s enemies].”

In the single-episode story line, Gov. Ventura calls on Victor to become his running mate in a bid for the presidency. The men’s egos quickly put an end to the proposition, with each questioning who would take the top spot. Compared to Sammy Davis Jr. dropping in on Archie Bunker or Liz Taylor and Richard Burton’s famed 1971 visit to “The Lucy Show,” the gimmick is not so far-fetched.

“There’s no stretch here,” notes Donnelly. “Victor being the international businessman that he is, and the way business integrates with politics, it’s perfect.”

Thomas Scott sees strong similarities between Ventura and Victor Newman. “In real life he believes and acts just like Victor,” she says of Ventura. “His attitude in life. His ruthlessness in getting what he wants, and if he doesn’t get it, he gets even.”

Presidential Bid Is Just for Show

But Ventura stresses the presidential story line is strictly for entertainment purposes, denying any real-life aspirations to follow the lead of actor-turned-president Ronald Reagan.

“I’ve learned in 48 years that you never say never in life,” he relates. “One never knows. But I have no intention of running for president. I find the presidency to be an oxymoron. He’s the leader of the free world, but he has no freedom. I really would find it very difficult to live inside that life.”

More likely, he says, would be a return to “The Young and the Restless”--perhaps in a long-term role. “They kind of left the door open,” he says. “So maybe I can reoccur occasionally.”

Until then, Ventura hopes his appearance will draw high numbers. “I’m considering declaring July 10 a holiday,” he said, “and encouraging all my constituents to watch.”

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* “The Young and the Restless” airs weekdays at 11 a.m. on CBS. The network has rated it TV-14-D (may be unsuitable for children under 14, with an advisory for dialogue).