TNA Wrestling, Championship Belts, and Food Truck Life | ODB Jessie Kresa, Meat and Greet #048

Hey everyone, it's Karissa from Shining Light on Minnesota. We're at a very cool place today. We're at Champlain, Minnesota, and we have a super awesome guest today, ODB Jessie Kresa. Karissa, welcome. What is going on? Thank you for having me so much for making the trip out. Yeah. So, let's start. Let's talk wrestling first. A very cool story. Well, what got me here? Yes. Yep. Well, I started born and raised from AIO, Minnesota. Yeah. Right down the road from here. And I grew up watching wrestling. Who doesn't brothers? Yep. I used to beat up my older brother. I was I was throwing child drivers. I was dropped every which way upstairs. Just what you do, right? Got promos on people. Yeah. Yep. But it was just great. Like grew up watching it. We'd have pay-per-views at home with mom and dad and they'd take us to shows and stuff and then something just when I was little, I was like, "Oh, that'd be fun to do." Then I kind of forgot about it. Went out to college and all that. And then I was like, "Nope, that's what I want to do. I want to do that. Then uh started training with Eddie Shy. Okay. Trained a lot of Legends, Road Warriors, Mr. Perfect, Rousing RC. Yep. And uh just trained literally like in a storage facility. Awesome. How How was it training? Like did you have to cut like a lot of wrestlers, cut weight and do different things or was it It wasn't about that. Nope. Just learn the moves, how to protect each other. Yep. Um protect yourself. Absolutely. And then once you kind of get in, they you know, you give them your money obviously. Yep. That's the most important part, right? You don't just get to go. I love that. Yeah. So, I started it'll be 25 years next year. So, and then once I was the only girl in the class and then hung out with a group of guys and we've all actually made it in companies, other wrestling companies and we traveled the roads together for quite a long time. And how was it being a female in an all guy world for a while? Oh boy. Well, back in Yes. I'm going to put these on. Uh back in the era, my era, it was you had to be tough but then look the part. Yeah. Right. So it was uh I was brought up different where it's like don't treat me like I'm another girl in the ring. Like I can hold I'm equal, right? Yeah. Absolutely. And play the part and Yep. So it was good. Yeah. You definitely had to hold your own. Um be respective and a lot of women come and go in this business. I still see it till this day. Yep. you know, it's, you know, they get like they find this beautiful model on, you know, I play golf and that's the most frustrating thing. Like you see all these people that want the free stuff and they don't know how to play. They don't know how to do it and it's like I'm putting in the time. I've been here since I've been little doing the sport. Yeah. So, you know, for the love of it and not not just they see the shortcut in it and they, you know, they can't even last three months or two seconds in the ring. Let's go, you know, get me, right? So, signature moves. What were some of your signature moves? Well, I came out with a flask. I was kind of like your Stone Cold female version of Stone Cone Cold Steve Austin. Yep. Does the beard thing I came out with the flask. I was very I was I was a brawler. I represented Minnesota pretty good, I thought. I did the BAM. Yep. This thing. Yep. Right. Why not? So, I had a lot of signature like my character was very out there. Yes. Way different than any other woman. You're Minnesota. Why not, right? Yes. Yes. And I had fun doing it. It was the ODB kind of came from my brother. Yep. He called me ODB when I was little and it just stuck. And uh Yeah. And then when you go out there, ODB is easy to chant. Yep. Absolutely. A lot of different meanings for the ODB from what a lot of people Yeah. It depends where I'm at. If I got to keep it PG or if I got Right. who the audience is. I've only offended a few people. Yeah. Well, it's wrestling. You can't offend too many people. It's all good. So, your closing moves, I've seen and heard a couple of them. Tell the audience what some of your favorite closing moves were. The moves of I had the TKO. Put them on top right here. Swing them around. Bam. What else did I do? I didn't No, I didn't really have like the signature moves. It was more just like the character wizard. They're like, "All right, what's ODB doing next?" So, it was kind of like they were just they just love the character cuz I was relatable. Yes. you know, I can person when I'm on the road, I come home. Um, and actually, when I was on the road full-time wrestling, I was still bartending at one of my best friends bar, right? Cuz I still enjoyed it. I wasn't like, "Oh, look at me. I'm on TV." I would actually bartend and we tape a show and I'm like, "Oh, I'm on tonight." And they're like, "Oh, by the way, that's me." But I loved it because I loved, you know, the whole Meat and Greet, how the whole Meat and Greet kind of came about. beeract%. So, you've had a couple belt titles. You have four belt titles, I believe. So, single and one tag team. Yep. Yep. What is that like? How did did people start treating you different when you got those? Or was it Well, when I first got my first title, I was like, well, it's about damn time I got this thing, right? Yeah. I'm frustrated. I've been here for a while. Like, time to bring it. finally put it on me and I get it cuz I was so different from the other girls. I mean, that's basically been my whole career in wrestling. I was always so different and that did hold me back a little bit, but in the long run, it all worked out the end. I stayed true to myself and not many people do that in any business. No. Right. Especially when you're a woman, people. Correct. You know, go to you no matter what. Don't let it change you. Yep. And be nice. Yeah. Stay nice. Minnesota nice. Well, just nice in general. Yeah. Yeah. Right. So, you're now doing food trucks. Tell everybody about some of your food trucks. You have two of them. Yes, I run it with my husband, Big Al. I started I started on my own back in 2017. I had a little small trailer. Okay. I started in Daytona Beach cuz that's where I was wrestling at the time still. And I was kind of slowly getting out of wrestling. I'm like, "All right, life after wrestling." What is that? Yeah. I built this brand and it was just uh it that I'm in a mill interview. What? Yeah, I'll pull up in a bit. Just give me like five minutes. All right, back to this. Yes. Um, so then with the Meat and Greet, I start in Daytona Beach and then I brought it up to Minnesota in 2018. Yep. and then just built. I did it on my own for a few years and then uh met my husband Big Al and he's a pitm so we kind of brought it all together. Now we got two roaming around and it's great. We uh we food truck from May until the end of October and we take the winters off. What kind of food are both of them? We are smoked meat. So we do brisket, pork, chicken. And I've literally had the same menu since I opened. Good. Um you don't want to change it cuz people expect it, you know. That's what I Then we'll do specials here and there, but yeah, literally just keep it simple. Like, you know, I had my own line of um barbecue and hot sauce line. So, that's where it all started and then I brought it into the dishes and here we are now. So, what is what's next? What do you think? I mean, you've done the wrestling thing, you've done the food trucks. What do you have planned next? What do you think? I'm think Well, the food trucks I don't I I'm I'm liking it. And a lot of people say, "Oh, would you guys get a brick and mortar restaurant?" I like being on wheels. Yeah. Y um our goal is to uh take this on the road um and follow all the big wrestling events like Wrestlemania. You got Summerslam. Summer Slam's coming to Minnesota next year. So we will be out by that stadium. But it's we want to get a tour bus and then we also have a a smokehouse trailer. So then we take the trailer, load it on the back and do a little nice little tour around the United States. Wrestling has changed quite a bit in the in the past couple years from WWF, WWE, TNA, all of that stuff. What do you think's going to happen in the future with all of it? I just hope it keeps growing like it is. It's great. I love seeing all the young talent and it's getting more bigger. It is. I mean, you see a lot of the celebrities, raw talent talent, too. I mean, it's actual it's actual wrestling now, not just the fake stuff that you kind of Well, the Sergeant Slaughter, the Andre Giant stuff. Yeah. They've become entertainment more. And yes, you're going to see more now with WWE, you see more behind the scenes a lot. Now with them being on Netflix than Peacock, they're showing you a lot of documentaries about how it is on the road and Well, which is important because it's not all the glitz and glamour that people think. There's there's the traveling, the expenses, all the stuff that people don't see getting into it. Tell people a little bit about that that lifestyle. Especially being like behind the curtain, you know, like you see all the ah once the music hits ah and then once you're behind that curtain, it's a whole different world. It is whole different world. And um not everyone is friends. I mean, for the most part, but you have a few people that But you're traveling with them non-stop, too. So when you hit that wall and don't get along with those people, you just stay away for you don't you don't go out and have a beer with them. You're good. We're going to separate for a while. Yeah. But for the most part, when I was in TNA for all those years, I'm still good friends with all the girls. Four of them were in my wedding. Um, and we stay very close. We talk every day. And now, as we're getting older, we are adventuring. Some are moms, some are still in the business behind the scenes. Yeah. So, it's fun to see us like taking our brand and evolving and not beating up our bodies for the rest of our lives. Do you see some of them that are moms having their kids kind of take follow in their footsteps or do you think that they kind of stay away from it? Don't do it. Don't do it. Guilty says no. Yep. Yeah. Right. I've lived that lifestyle. I know what it's like. That's the thing. It's not I mean it has changed because back in the day we had to actually, you know, go on Map Quest. Yes. Travel. Go here and sleep at truck stops. Probably wasn't the safest thing for a couple of women to do, right? Um maybe we get gas money. Maybe we didn't, right? And it somehow you just end up there and you don't know how or way or I mean I look back and I had a hell of a time. The journey was fun. The girls I travel with was fun. The guys were great. And but now it's like that that part's missing now. They don't get like that travel now. They they can just hop on a plane and they're a superstar. They go somewhere and so that's not around anymore. But and back in the day, you know, we sent our VHS tapes to get noticed like, "Hey, did you check out my tape?" Now it's just quick on the phone and they're done. Yeah. No, it's like, "Oh, look at me. I have so many followers. Hey, give me a drop." All the influencers, here's here's pretty me. I'm I'm going to pick something up and throw it. No, sorry. And it's all scripted. It's edited. So, kids these days growing up, entitlement. Yes. Wanting things handed to them. What do you think is in store for them? Boy, that's a tough question, right? Rehaps, right? I know. Yeah. Mental health, like get out there and work. Yeah. So, um, yeah. My advice to people is like you you got to get out there. You got to even if it's not like when I was younger, you know, I worked I was in hospitality business. I also worked at Disney World, but I knew that wasn't going to be my full-time gig for the rest of my life. It was just an experience I wanted to do. Yeah, people aren't doing that much anymore. They all want to either be on their phones and be an influencer and it's like that should be your side hustle and sit at home and get on play a game and but one day I'm going to invent something and get out there and talk to people. Yeah. No, have that face to face conversation. Yeah. Right. Like go down the street, work at the fast food joint for a little bit. Just get out there, keep going, and Yeah. It's not uh It's crazy to see. I mean, I've got a blended family of seven kids. It's crazy to see like their friends how they don't even want to have that conversation. They can't even pick up a phone and talk to somebody anymore. It's like I'm going to quit text abbreviate. I'm like nope. You're going to go and talk to the person. You're going to have that interview. You're going to go and meet people and get outside and go play a game of football. Go do what you need to do. Like figure it out. Go. Just go. Well, I've noticed too like when people do a lot of fundraisers for their kids, it's the parents that are going on Facebook saying, "Hey, can you buy a go door to door if you need pizza or candy for my kid?" I'd be like, "No, that they better get their wagon out." Yep. Pull it out. Sell. Yeah. Yep. It's It's It's interesting. Like I don't I don't know what the world's going to come to with all that. It's Who knows? Good thing it won't be around in 50 years. I don't know if kids will be either. It's It's a robotic world, but we'll see. Yes. So, you've done all this. Have you written any books or do you have anything like that coming up? I did write a book um two it's been two years now during about 2021 a few years now. I wrote u my story from me growing being a little girl growing up into uh the wrestling world and and into the food trucking world. And it's a fun story. Yeah. I have I've had a good journey. I I don't have a sad story. No. Right. I grew up in a loving home. Y parents married till 50 years and it's they Yep. And it's I'm I get it. Some people do not have the greatest, you know, I had a fairy tale childhood. Yep. Absolutely. People get that, right? So, I enjoy that. But you're living the dream and you're doing what you've done and you worked hard for it. So, and I saw my parents working hard to Yep. make us a loving home and support us and I think that's it obviously rubbed off on me. I mean, my mom is turning 70 this year. Amazing. She still works full time. Oh, that's cool. She's hustling. She'll come and work the food truck today. Who have been some of your role models and what has sculpted you to be who have you who you have become today? I would just say my parents. Yeah. Um then looking back, I did have a grandma and great grandma I grew up with too. And nice just looking at that and just the um I think just all the love and support I got growing up. I think that really motivated me because me being when I've been single my whole basically, you know, half my life and then I was traveling the country by myself, right? Trying to make a, you know, Well, you're figuring out who you are while you're doing it, too. So, that's Yeah. So, I think and that I don't think I would have been able to if I didn't have the support from my parents, you know, Yep. always just in case if it didn't work out, I always knew, but had somewhere to fall back. But I I didn't like the plan B. You don't never have a plan B. Just go. You just figure it out as you go. Exactly. Figure it out. You got it. What are some of the exciting things that you've dealt with along the way traveling? Oh, exciting things. Oh, boy. I just Every experience has got me, I guess, where I've been. Like, if I uh So, I started the food truck business in Daytona Beach in 2017. I got to work at uh with Jimmy Hart, legendary Hall of Famer, um with him at his bar and I had the food trailer outside his bar. Cool. And just looking back at that, I'm like, man, that's got me perfect. That got you to where you are today. And then I think just the meeting the people. Yeah. I mean, you never know who you're going to meet, right? Who you get in contact with. And obviously social media helps out, too. It's that's kind of Yeah. You just kind of figure it out as you go. Yep. Yeah. Very cool. Well, it's a beautiful day out here today. Tell everybody about what where food truck's going to be next and what you have planned for that. Yeah, we are all over the place. Uh we just came obviously Fourth of July was our busiest week with Taste of Minnesota and Mystic Lake and Canterbury Downs. And tonight we are at um Mississippi Crossings in Champlain, Minnesota. They do an awesome thing on the river. They have music and they have about five food trucks. Cool. And it brings out the community. It's a pretty great one. We only do this uh we only do one of the shows. Okay. And then we are uh we do all the concerts at the Ledge Amphitheater in Park. Yep. Minnesota. So, we're there. There's tons of concerts. I think there's like 20 of them already. So, that is our one of our main gigs. And we'll be back at Mystic Lake, but just follow us at ODB's meetat greet.com and I post every day and Yep. And socials. We're like, where can they find you at? Socials at the ODBam. Yep. Easy. Yeah. Perfect. Well, we appreciate having you here today and we're going to start sending our guys whenever they're in the area out to the food truck and Oh, heck yeah. John and I are going to go get some food. Can't wait to try it out. Yes. Thank you. Awesome. Thank you so much. [Music]