A pioneer of modern-day women’s wrestling, Jessie Kresa, professionally known as ODB (One Dirty Bitch), first came to prominence in 2003 when she joined Total Nonstop Action, aka TNA.
“We were given the platform to be our characters and just go for it,” she says. “They gave us the time to tell stories while the WWE was giving the Divas 30 or 60 seconds for matches.”
These days, Kresa has mostly traded her wrestling boots for a meat smoker as the proud co-owner of Big Al & ODB’s Meat & Greet food trucks. The menu includes nachos, sammies, wraps, and mac ‘n’ cheese, all served with BBQ chicken or pulled pork.
“People see the big lines outside of the food trucks and think, ‘Oh that looks so great! I want to do that,’” she says. “But shit, sometimes I’d rather be back on the road wrestling.”
A Maple Grove native who currently resides in Clearwater, Minnesota, Kresa and her husband, Big Al, can be found most weekends feeding fans at concerts, fairs, and food-truck fests. This weekend, in celebration of the dozens of wrestling events happening across the metro, she’s hosting a three-day wrestling tailgate party in the downtown parking lot of Bobby & Steve’s in Minneapolis.
“U.S. Bank Stadium is usually food truck friendly, but WWE has it all locked down so you can’t just go park your truck outside this weekend,” she says.
At Bobby & Steve’s wrestling hall of famer Earl Hebner and others are planning on stopping by. “It’s going to be a party,” she says.
Mega wrestling events are nothing new for Kresa, who spent years headlining TNA matches all over the world. Her smashmouth, balls-the-wall brawler style took her to the top of TNA Knockouts’ women’s division, which was entirely different than WWE’s T&A-focused women’s wrestling of the early to mid 2000s. Instead of pillow fights and bikini contests, ODB, along with stars like Awesome Kong, Gail Kim, and Mickie James were kicking each other’s asses.
“I was wrestling a match back in ’08 with Awesome Kong, and we were just winging it out there,” Kresa recalls. “I powerbombed her on a table, and the table didn’t break. So I set it up in the corner and told her to spear me through it. You can see I smacked my head and I immediately had a concussion. I got backstage after the match and puked in front of everyone.”
While her onstage persona of a loud, beer-drinking tough chick was hilarious, the real Kresa was…exactly the same.
“Even when I was on TV wrestling every Thursday night, I still bartended back home,” she says. “I’d fly home and work at the local bar, and we’d watch it while I was working. The customers got a kick out of it… I’d get locals telling me stories about how they used to hang out with the legends like Rick Rude or the Road Warriors back in the day, and they’d ask me all about my wrestling road stories.”
Eventually she used her bar connections to launch her own line of Pepper Palace hot sauces and, ultimately, her Meat & Greet food trucks.
“I left TNA full-time in 2015 and I was like, ‘OK. Life after wrestling. What the hell am I doing?’” she says of her transition to meat truck queenpin. “I wasn’t scared. I knew I’d figure it out.”
Kresa hasn’t called it quits between the ropes just yet. Earlier this year, it was announced that she’ll be inducted into the TNA Wrestling Hall of Fame in October, and she’s still finding time to drop the occasional “BAM!” (her signature catchphrase) on a new generation of female performers.
“I started doing independent events last December,” she says. “My body felt good. I take better care of myself now than when I was full-time.”
This Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, she’ll be meeting with fans of all ages and eras, which she says is one of the best parts of the job.
“It’s cool to see dads bringing their little girls around and showing them the Knockouts from my day,” she says. “I’ll have 6- to 10-year-old girls in line saying ‘BAM!’ It’s cool for them to see that because we were all so different, and they get to see that it’s good to be unique in your own way.”
One Helluva Meat & Greet with ODB and TNA Hall of Famer Earl Hebner
When: 11 a.m. to evenings Friday through Sunday
Where: Bobby & Steve’s Auto World, 1205 S. Washington Ave., Minneapolis
