even if he did say it, it was most likely “kayfabe” - a pro wrestling term for maintaining the story line outside of the ring.

Well, yes. That's a big part of what makes the quote easy to believe. It sounds like an adorably polite spin on the kind of teeth nashing promos common both then and now.

Snopes says they haven’t found evidence that this is something he actually said

I mean, I'm seeing it in black and white right there in OP's post. Snopes even suggests it may have come from a popular wrestling zine of the era, they just don't have access to the full catalog to confirm it.

Also TIL Jesse Ventura tried to unionize WWF and later learned in court that it was in fact Hogan who had ratted him out to their boss (Vince McMahon). (Or maybe this is all just higher-order kayfabe? 🤡)

If its kayfabe, its something Ventura has kept to well past its expiration date. He was outspoken on this incident long after he'd left the Minnesota governor's mansion.