The Truth About Dave Bautista’s Wrestling Career
Cubankite/Shutterstock By Maria Scinto/Aug. 18, 2021 6:37 pm EST
You may know Dave Bautista best for his role as Drax in the Guardians of the Galaxy film series, or perhaps you’ve seen him in “Escape Plan 2,” “My Spy,” “Stuber,” or one of his numerous other movie appearances. Before the big man turned to acting, however, he made good use of his impressive stature (he’s 6-foot-6 and weights in at 290 pounds, according to WWE) in the squared circle.
Bautista, by all accounts, didn’t have an easy go of it in his early years, growing up on the mean streets of … somewhere in the Washington metropolitan area. (While WWE claims his birthplace as the nation’s capitol, Sportskeeda says he was actually born in the ‘burbs and Arlington Magazine claims him as a hometown hero.) Geographical imprecision notwithstanding, the young Bautista had a rough upbringing, finding himself in violent scenarios from time to time, according to the Tampa Bay Times. He soon put his criminal ways behind him, however, and turned towards other pursuits better suited to someone of his size including being a club bouncer and a bodybuilder. Eventually he hit upon an idea that would finally see him going places –- good ones, the kind without armed guards and barbed wire -– when he decided to train as a wrestler.
Dave Bautista was told he’d never make it in wrestling
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Dave Bautista’s first attempt to make it in the world of wrestling saw him trying out at WCE’s Power Plant training facility, but according to an interview he did on “Live With Kelly and Ryan,” things didn’t go too well for him there. As he admitted to the hosts, “They told me that I was horrible, to leave, never come back, and that I would never be a professional wrestler.” According to Pro Wrestling Fandom, the trainer making this bad call was former wrestler Sgt. Buddy Lee Parker. Rather than taking Sarge’s words to heart, Bautista said it just made him mad. “It made me want to pursue [wrestling],” he told Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest, saying, “I just became obsessed with it.”
The big man’s next move was to hit up the World Wrestling Federation (WWE’s predecessor), and they sent Bautista to the Wild Samoan Training Center in Allentown, Pennsylvania (via WWE). There he learned from Afa Anoa’i, one half of WWE Hall of Fame duo The Wild Samoans.
Dave Bautista got his start on the independent circuit
John Sciulli/Getty Images
After learning the ropes (and the turnbuckles, aprons, and canvas) from Afa Anoa’i, Dave Bautista was ready to make his 1997 debut on the indie circuit with Ohio Valley Wrestling (via Pro Wrestling Fandom). OVW, which is actually based out of Louisville, Kentucky, rather than anywhere in Ohio, is one of the more prominent regionals, one that Sportskeeda says has sent more than a few future stars up to the WWE.
It was in OVW that Bautista got pegged as a villain for the first (but hardly the last) time. While he debuted under the name Leviathan, he would also wrestle in demonic drag complete with fangs under names such as “Demon of the Deep” and “Guardian of the Gates of Hell.” (Interesting how that latter moniker foreshadows a future movie role of his … mysterious are the ways of sports entertainment.) Bautista did fairly well for himself over the three years with this promo, even winning the OVW Heavyweight Championship a few months before receiving his call-up to the big leagues.
The Truth About Dave Bautista’s Wrestling Career
Cubankite/Shutterstock
By Maria Scinto/Aug. 18, 2021 6:37 pm EST
You may know Dave Bautista best for his role as Drax in the Guardians of the Galaxy film series, or perhaps you’ve seen him in “Escape Plan 2,” “My Spy,” “Stuber,” or one of his numerous other movie appearances. Before the big man turned to acting, however, he made good use of his impressive stature (he’s 6-foot-6 and weights in at 290 pounds, according to WWE) in the squared circle.
Bautista, by all accounts, didn’t have an easy go of it in his early years, growing up on the mean streets of … somewhere in the Washington metropolitan area. (While WWE claims his birthplace as the nation’s capitol, Sportskeeda says he was actually born in the ‘burbs and Arlington Magazine claims him as a hometown hero.) Geographical imprecision notwithstanding, the young Bautista had a rough upbringing, finding himself in violent scenarios from time to time, according to the Tampa Bay Times. He soon put his criminal ways behind him, however, and turned towards other pursuits better suited to someone of his size including being a club bouncer and a bodybuilder. Eventually he hit upon an idea that would finally see him going places –- good ones, the kind without armed guards and barbed wire -– when he decided to train as a wrestler.
Bautista, by all accounts, didn’t have an easy go of it in his early years, growing up on the mean streets of … somewhere in the Washington metropolitan area. (While WWE claims his birthplace as the nation’s capitol, Sportskeeda says he was actually born in the ‘burbs and Arlington Magazine claims him as a hometown hero.) Geographical imprecision notwithstanding, the young Bautista had a rough upbringing, finding himself in violent scenarios from time to time, according to the Tampa Bay Times. He soon put his criminal ways behind him, however, and turned towards other pursuits better suited to someone of his size including being a club bouncer and a bodybuilder. Eventually he hit upon an idea that would finally see him going places –- good ones, the kind without armed guards and barbed wire -– when he decided to train as a wrestler.
Dave Bautista was told he’d never make it in wrestling
Shutterstock
Dave Bautista’s first attempt to make it in the world of wrestling saw him trying out at WCE’s Power Plant training facility, but according to an interview he did on “Live With Kelly and Ryan,” things didn’t go too well for him there. As he admitted to the hosts, “They told me that I was horrible, to leave, never come back, and that I would never be a professional wrestler.” According to Pro Wrestling Fandom, the trainer making this bad call was former wrestler Sgt. Buddy Lee Parker. Rather than taking Sarge’s words to heart, Bautista said it just made him mad. “It made me want to pursue [wrestling],” he told Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest, saying, “I just became obsessed with it.”
The big man’s next move was to hit up the World Wrestling Federation (WWE’s predecessor), and they sent Bautista to the Wild Samoan Training Center in Allentown, Pennsylvania (via WWE). There he learned from Afa Anoa’i, one half of WWE Hall of Fame duo The Wild Samoans.
The big man’s next move was to hit up the World Wrestling Federation (WWE’s predecessor), and they sent Bautista to the Wild Samoan Training Center in Allentown, Pennsylvania (via WWE). There he learned from Afa Anoa’i, one half of WWE Hall of Fame duo The Wild Samoans.
Dave Bautista got his start on the independent circuit
John Sciulli/Getty Images
After learning the ropes (and the turnbuckles, aprons, and canvas) from Afa Anoa’i, Dave Bautista was ready to make his 1997 debut on the indie circuit with Ohio Valley Wrestling (via Pro Wrestling Fandom). OVW, which is actually based out of Louisville, Kentucky, rather than anywhere in Ohio, is one of the more prominent regionals, one that Sportskeeda says has sent more than a few future stars up to the WWE.
It was in OVW that Bautista got pegged as a villain for the first (but hardly the last) time. While he debuted under the name Leviathan, he would also wrestle in demonic drag complete with fangs under names such as “Demon of the Deep” and “Guardian of the Gates of Hell.” (Interesting how that latter moniker foreshadows a future movie role of his … mysterious are the ways of sports entertainment.) Bautista did fairly well for himself over the three years with this promo, even winning the OVW Heavyweight Championship a few months before receiving his call-up to the big leagues.
It was in OVW that Bautista got pegged as a villain for the first (but hardly the last) time. While he debuted under the name Leviathan, he would also wrestle in demonic drag complete with fangs under names such as “Demon of the Deep” and “Guardian of the Gates of Hell.” (Interesting how that latter moniker foreshadows a future movie role of his … mysterious are the ways of sports entertainment.) Bautista did fairly well for himself over the three years with this promo, even winning the OVW Heavyweight Championship a few months before receiving his call-up to the big leagues.
Dave Bautista’s WWE career really got into gear when he joined Evolution
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Dave Bautista came and went from the WWE roster a couple of times
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Dave Bautista’s last hurrah came at WrestleMania 35
Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
