Dave Bautista

David Michael Bautista Jr. (born January 18, 1969) is an American actor and retired professional wrestler. Regarded as one of the most prolific professional wrestlers of the Ruthless Aggression Era, he rose to fame for his multiple stints in WWE between 2002 and 2019.

Bautista began his wrestling career in 1999 and signed with WWE (then WWF) in 2000. From 2002 to 2010, he gained fame under the ring name Batista, initially as a member of Evolution. Amongst other championships, Bautista would go on to win the WWE Championship twice and the World Heavyweight Championship four times. His first reign as World Heavyweight Champion was the longest in the title's history. He also won the 2005 and 2014 Royal Rumble matches and subsequently headlined WrestleMania 21 and WrestleMania XXX, with the former being one of the top five highest-grossing PPV events in wrestling history. He retired from professional wrestling after WrestleMania 35 in 2019.

As an actor, Bautista is known for portraying Drax in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (2014–2023) and Rabban in Dune (2021) and its 2024 sequel. Bautista has additionally starred in Spectre (2015), Blade Runner 2049 (2017), Final Score, Master Z: Ip Man Legacy (both 2018), Army of the Dead (2021), Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022), Knock at the Cabin and Parachute (both 2023), and The Last Showgirl (2024).

Industry peers and alike consider Bautista as the best wrestler-turned actor of all time.

Early life

David Michael Bautista Jr. was born in Washington, D.C., on January 18, 1969, the son of Donna Raye (née Mullins) and hairdresser David Michael Bautista. His mother is of Greek descent, while his father was born to Filipino immigrants. His paternal grandfather served in the Philippine military, worked as a taxi driver and barber, and held other jobs to feed the family. Bautista's mother later came out as a lesbian. He has said that he lived in poverty and had a hard life which included exposure to violent crime at an early age. Before reaching the age of nine, two bodies had been found on his front lawn and another one nearby. As young as age 13, he had begun stealing cars. By age 17, he was estranged from his parents and living on his own. However, he later said, "I am proud of my parents. They are good, honest, hard-working folks. They taught me the values of working hard."

Bautista worked as a nightclub bouncer until he was arrested after a fight that left two patrons injured, one of whom was knocked unconscious. After a trial, he was sentenced to one year of probation. He worked as a lifeguard before deciding to pursue a career in bodybuilding, which he credits with saving his life. At the age of 30, after having a breakdown from the shame he felt for having to ask a co-worker to lend him money so he could buy Christmas presents for his children, he saw how lucrative a career in professional wrestling could be and decided to pursue it.

Professional wrestling career

Training and early career (1999–2000)

Bautista tried out at World Championship Wrestling's Power Plant, where trainer DeWayne Bruce told him he would never make it in the wrestling business. He then went to the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), who advised him to train with Afa Anoaʻi at the Wild Samoan Training Center, where he trained and later competed in Anoaʻi's World Xtreme Wrestling (WXW) promotion. He wrestled his debut match under the ring name Khan on October 30, 1999, less than three months before his 31st birthday. He also trained with Marrese Crump in Muay Thai and Eskrima.

World Wrestling Federation / World Wrestling Entertainment / WWE (2000–2010)

Ohio Valley Wrestling (2000–2002)

Upon signing with the WWF in 2000, Bautista was sent to Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), a WWF developmental territory. He made his OVW debut later that year under the ring name Leviathan, where he immediately joined forces with Synn. As a member of the "Disciples of Synn" stable, he went undefeated until being beaten at Christmas Chaos by Kane with help from Stone Cold Steve Austin. He later won the OVW Heavyweight Championship from "The Machine" Doug Basham before losing the belt to The Prototype. A few months later, Bautista left OVW after he was promoted to WWE's main roster.

Early storylines (2002–2003)

While still in OVW, Bautista began appearing on non-televised WWE events. He began his televised WWE career on May 9, 2002, on an episode of SmackDown! as Deacon Batista, a heel enforcer for Reverend D-Von. He made his WWE in-ring debut in a tag team match teaming with D-Von against Faarooq and Randy Orton, pinning Orton. Over several weeks, Orton tried to beat D-Von and Batista with different partners, but ultimately lost each time. Batista suffered his first loss in a match against Rikishi after D-Von accidentally punched him, allowing Rikishi to take advantage and pin Batista. Batista and D-Von argued over the forthcoming weeks, with Batista eventually turning on D-Von. On the November 14 episode of SmackDown!, Batista defeated D-Von to end their feud. After splitting with D-Von, he was assigned to the Raw brand and was renamed Batista. He aligned himself with Ric Flair and feuded with Kane, whom he defeated at Armageddon on December 15.

Evolution (2003–2005)

In January 2003, Batista joined Triple H, Ric Flair and Randy Orton to form the heel stable Evolution. Batista, however, was sidelined for much of 2003 after he tore his right triceps muscle at a Raw live event in a tag team match alongside Orton against The Dudley Boyz. While training after the injury, Batista re-tore his triceps, extending his stay on the sidelines. Batista made his return on the October 20 episode of Raw, interfering in a match between Goldberg and Shawn Michaels. At Armageddon on December 14, Batista and Ric Flair became the World Tag Team Champions after winning a Tag Team Turmoil match, while Triple H won the World Heavyweight Championship and Randy Orton the Intercontinental Championship. Batista and Flair held the titles until the February 16, 2004, episode of Raw, when they were defeated by Booker T and Rob Van Dam. They later defeated Booker T and Van Dam on the March 22 episode of Raw to regain the titles before losing them to Chris Benoit and Edge on the April 19 episode of Raw.

In late 2004, the relationship between Batista and Triple H began to deteriorate in kayfabe. After a loss to Chris Jericho, Triple H verbally insulted Batista. Batista teased leaving Evolution that night, but declared that he was still part of Evolution and that they tricked everyone. Despite this ploy, Batista began behaving more like a face over the next few weeks in comparison to Evolution's heel tactics. One particular moment saw Batista express disgust as Triple H and Ric Flair boasted about how they had intimidated and/or beat up Jim Ross, Danny Hodge, and Stacy Keibler. Regardless, he continued to show his loyalty to Triple H and Evolution by running down to the ring and assisting them in matches.

As 2005 began, Triple H realized the possibility of Batista becoming a threat to his World Heavyweight Championship. Triple H suggested that he not enter the Royal Rumble on January 30, claiming that it would be selfish of him to do so, and to simply focus on Triple H retaining the title. Batista entered anyway and went on to win the Rumble earning the right to participate in the main event of WrestleMania 21 on April 3 against the World Champion of his choice. On the February 14 episode of Raw, in an attempt to persuade Batista to challenge WWE Champion John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL) and challenger John Cena in a triple-threat match rather than him, Triple H concocted a scheme to have Batista run over in a limousine resembling the one used by JBL. Initially, Batista did not want help from Evolution and wanted to confront JBL by himself. Triple H insisted that Evolution stick together and accompanied Batista anyway, saving him from the oncoming vehicle. Batista became aware of the plot while sneakily eavesdropping on fellow Evolution members and signed a contract guaranteeing him a match with the World Heavyweight Champion Triple H at WrestleMania 21, thus leaving Evolution and officially turning face. Batista initially pretended that he would sign with SmackDown!, giving Triple H and Flair the "thumbs up", but turned it into a "thumbs down" before attacking the pair. He emphasized his departure by powerbombing Triple H through the table used for the contract signing.