Long before he took the world of Hollywood by storm, Dave Bautista was a force to be reckoned with in WWE, proving himself
Though his start in the company as deacon to D-Von Dudley didn’t yield great results, the powerhouse would go on to find plenty of success in his role as Batista. His first World Championship win came at WrestleMania 21 in 2005, where he defeated Triple H.
In a video posted to Instagram on January 18th in celebration of his 54th birthday, Dave Bautista reflected on his WrestleMania 21 match and admits that he wasn’t prepared for the responsibility of being thrust into the role of champion, saying it was never something he planned.
“WrestleMania 21, this is the end of the match and I can’t believe this is happening at this point. I can’t believe this. This happened so fast where I went from being a guy in the background that they never had any big plans for to being the top guy in the company to now I’m the flagship, I’m the guy holding the belt. A lot of responsibility comes with that. I was so unprepared. I was not prepared for what was coming my way.
“Triple H was my mentor, he groomed me as best he could up until then. It just came to a point where I was on top now and I had to come into my own. It was still a lot of learning lessons after this. I was thrown into the deep end. I didn’t plan on this. Watching it makes me emotional. I just never planned for this. When I was wrestling, I was just happy to have a job and always thinking that I was going to lose my job any day. Becoming World Champion was something I never imagined.
“They always say, ‘Why do you want to be there if you don’t want to be champion?’ I was content just having a job. I just wanted to make a living, being able to support my family. Being champion and being on top of the company was something that was beyond my dreams.
“With me, it’s always baby steps. I find things by accident, almost, and then I chase them once I find out that I really love something. I put everything I have into it, I put blinders on, and sometimes that’s been a fault. I’ve sacrificed some things because of that, but my life is what it is because of that. This is still surreal, watching it.” (h/t Fightful)
Dave Bautista Has Been Highly Praised For His Post-WWE Acting Career
In addition to great success in wrestling, Dave Bautista has now turned his attention to Hollywood, taking on roles such as Marvel’s Drax the Destroyer in the Guardians of the Galaxy as well as opposing Daniel Craig’s James Bond as Hinx in 2015’s Spectre.
The former WWE Champion reunited with Daniel Craig once again in Rian Johnson’s Glass Onion where he played the role of Duke Cody, a men’s rights advocate who makes his living streaming videos on YouTube with controversial views as an influencer. Starring alongside Daniel Craig and Dave Bautista are Kate Hudson as Birdie Jay, Kathryn Hahn as Claire Debella, and Janelle Monáe as Andi Brand.
Speaking in an interview with The Atlantic, Rian Johnson had high praise for Bautista, saying that while he initially pictured someone different for the role, he couldn’t be more pleased with Bautista’s performance.
“Dave Bautista. When I was writing [his character, a men’s-rights streamer named Duke Cody], I was picturing a scrawny dude who’s trying to overcompensate. When Bautista was brought up, I was instantly so smitten by the idea. I’ve been a very big fan of his dramatic chops as an actor.”
Batista’s final WWE match was also a WrestleMania bout against Triple H when the two competed in a No Holds Barred match in 2019.