61 Facts About Dave Bautista

Dave Bautista had several stints in WWE between 2002 and 2019.

Dave Bautista has held the World Tag Team Championship three times and the WWE Tag Team Championship once.

Dave Bautista was the winner of the 2005 Royal Rumble match and went on to headline WrestleMania 21, one of the top five highest-grossing pay-per-view events in professional wrestling history.

In October 2018, Dave Bautista made his second return to WWE and faced Triple H at WrestleMania 35 in April 2019, before retiring from wrestling.

Altogether Dave Bautista won a total of eleven championships throughout his wrestling career.

Dave Bautista has starred in the films The Man with the Iron Fists, Riddick, Spectre, Blade Runner 2049, Army of the Dead, Dune, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, and Knock at the Cabin.

Dave Bautista competed in his lone mixed martial arts fight on October 6,2012, defeating Vince Lucero via first round technical knockout.

Dave Bautista was born in Washington, DC, the son of Donna Raye and hairdresser David Michael Dave Bautista.

Dave Bautista's mother is of Greek descent, and his father is the son of Filipino immigrants.

Dave Bautista was a nightclub bouncer until he was arrested after a fight that left two patrons injured, one of whom was rendered unconscious.

Dave Bautista worked as a lifeguard before pursuing a career in bodybuilding, which he credits with saving his life.

Dave Bautista said he decided to turn his life around and become a wrestler after having a breakdown from the shame he felt after asking a coworker to lend him money so he could buy Christmas presents for his children.

Dave Bautista tried out at the World Championship Wrestling Power Plant, but was told he would never make it in the wrestling business by Sgt.

Dave Bautista then went to the World Wrestling Federation, who advised him to train with Afa Anoa'i in the Wild Samoan Training Center wrestling school, where he went to train and compete in Anoa'i's World Xtreme Wrestling promotion.

Dave Bautista had his debut match as Khan on October 30,1999.

Dave Bautista trained with Marrese Crump in Muay Thai and Eskrima.

Dave Bautista made his OVW debut later that year under the ring name Leviathan, where he immediately joined forces with Synn.

Dave Bautista later won the OVW Heavyweight Championship from "The Machine" Doug Basham before losing the belt to The Prototype.

Dave Bautista made his WWE in-ring debut in a tag team match teaming with D-Von against Faarooq and Randy Orton, pinning Orton.

Dave Bautista aligned himself with Ric Flair and feuded with Kane, whom he defeated at Armageddon.

Dave Bautista emphasized his departure by powerbombing Triple H through the table used for the contract signing.

Dave Bautista won the match by leaping from the inner bamboo structure to the outer one, shortening his escape route and beating Khali to the floor.

Dave Bautista then pulled an unconscious Batista on top of The Undertaker for the pinfall to retain the World Heavyweight Championship.

Dave Bautista's hamstring was injured at SummerSlam, in the same match that John Cena was forced out of action with a neck injury.

Dave Bautista was expected to be out of action for six to eight months.

Dave Bautista then stated that he would not retire, but move to SmackDown instead.

Dave Bautista's promo was interrupted by new Raw General Manager Bret Hart, who ordered he face an injured Randy Orton to qualify for a shot at WWE Championship against Cena again at the new Fatal 4-Way pay-per-view.

Dave Bautista's profile was moved to the alumni page on WWE's website.

Dave Bautista later said in an interview that he left WWE because he "did not like the direction the company was going in".

Dave Bautista was contacted to appear at WrestleMania 32 in 2016, but turned down the offer.

Dave Bautista said that WWE honored his request to induct him at a future ceremony.

Dave Bautista was declared as the 50th greatest wrestling villain of all time by a WWE article in 2012.

On June 21,2010, Dave Bautista stated that he would be embarking on an MMA career.

Dave Bautista became a purple belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu under the tutelage of Cesar Gracie.

However, in April 2011, Dave Bautista stated that negotiations fell through when the organization was bought by the Zuffa company.

Dave Bautista was expected to make his MMA debut against Rashid Evans on October 6,2012, at CES MMA: Real Pain in Providence, Rhode Island.

Dave Bautista went on to win the fight by technical knockout at 4:05 in the first round.

Dave Bautista has acted and guest-starred in several television shows as both himself and in-character as Batista.

Dave Bautista worked alongside Rob Van Dam, Marrese Crump and Ja Rule on the 2010 action film Wrong Side of Town.

Dave Bautista appeared as the villainous Brass Body in the Universal Studios film The Man with the Iron Fists.

Dave Bautista played Drax the Destroyer in the 2014 Marvel Studios film Guardians of the Galaxy, which was a critical and commercial success.

Dave Bautista played Mr Hinx in the James Bond film Spectre, and starred as the villain Tong Po in the reboot of the 1989 martial arts film Kickboxer, opposite Georges St-Pierre.

Dave Bautista had a memorable supporting role near the beginning of the epic science fiction film Blade Runner 2049, released in 2017 to critical praise.

Dave Bautista reprised his role as Drax in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.

Dave Bautista called Gunn's firing "nauseating", and declared that if Disney did not use Gunn's script for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.

On May 24,2021, during an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Dave Bautista confirmed that the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.

Dave Bautista starred in Zack Snyder's Army of the Dead.

Dave Bautista had a villainous role in Dune, a film adaptation of the novel of the same name by Frank Herbert, which was released to glowing reviews.

Dave Bautista appeared in Glass Onion, the sequel to Knives Out, playing 'Duke'.

Dave Bautista remarked on his 2007 appearance on MTV Cribs, "I was trying to collect my action figures, but I gave up, there became too many".

Dave Bautista actually saw things from a different perspective from reading the book.

Dave Bautista has appeared on MTV Cribs showing his house and cars.

Dave Bautista married his second wife, Angie, on October 13,1998.

Dave Bautista's favorite is the 1967 Green Hornet lunchbox, as it has Bruce Lee on it.

Dave Bautista has numerous tattoos, including a large dragon on his back, red kanji lettering on his upper left biceps which says "Angel", a signature design on his upper right biceps, and a small sun on his abdomen which encircles his navel.

Dave Bautista has a tattoo on his arm of the flags of Greece and the Philippines.

Dave Bautista once had a tattoo of a meteor on his arm, a logo associated with former friend Manny Pacquiao, but had it covered up with a sugar skull design after Pacquiao made homophobic remarks.

Dave Bautista supported Bernie Sanders in the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries.

Dave Bautista endorsed Joe Biden in the 2020 United States presidential election and appeared in an ad for his presidential campaign.

Booker T believed that Dave Bautista considered himself better than the rest of the roster due to his main-event status and relatively quick climb to achieve it.

Dave Bautista denied the allegations, and said that he was "tested regularly by the WWE" and "in full compliance with the WWE Wellness Program".