Jesse Ventura wins defamation lawsuit against former Navy SEAL

When you're a former professional wrestler known for your super muscular body and you're also the man who once said "I ain't got time to bleed" in one of the

When you're a former professional wrestler known for your super muscular body and you're also the man who once said "I ain't got time to bleed" in one of the greatest action movies ever, there are few things worse than having your tough guy persona ruined -- especially if it's a lie.

For Jesse Ventura (also former Governor of Minnesota), he got the last laugh when a Minnesota jury voted in his favor in a defamation lawsuit against late Navy SEAL sniper Chris Kyle, reports the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.

In his 2012 book American Sniper, Kyle wrote that he punched out a celebrity for "running his mouth about the war." Though Kyle didn't identify the celebrity in the book, he later claimed to multiple media outlets the person was Ventura.

Ventura, who served in the Navy's Underwater Demolition Team during the Vietnam War, immediately called him on it. Despite legal experts predicting a loss in the courts, Ventura won the case, and with it comes $1.8 million in settlement, to be paid by Kyle's widow, Taya.

In an interview with reporters while leaving court, the 63-year-old Ventura said he was "overjoyed that his reputation was been restored," but had mixed emotions overall. 

"I can't go to a SEAL reunion anymore because that was the place I always felt safe and who will be next to throw me under the bus? I'd have to spend my time looking over my shoulder."

[Star-Tribune]