David Michael Bautista Jr. Regarded as one of the most prolific professional wrestlers of his generation, he rose to fame for his multiple stints in WWE between and From to , he gained fame under the ring name Batista , initially as a member of Evolution. Having largely stepped back from professional wrestling in , he retired after WrestleMania 35 in As an actor, Bautista has starred in the well-received films Guardians of the Galaxy , Spectre , Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.
His mother is of Greek descent, while his father was born to Filipino immigrants. Bautista's mother later came out as a lesbian. 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. 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 wrestled his debut match under the ring name Khan on October 30, , [ 17 ] less than three months before his 31st birthday. He made his OVW debut later that year under the ring name Leviathan , [ 17 ] where he immediately joined forces with Synn.
Over several weeks, Orton tried to beat D-Von and Batista with different partners, but ultimately lost each time. On the November 14 episode of SmackDown! He aligned himself with Ric Flair [ 24 ] and feuded with Kane , whom he defeated at Armageddon on December While training after the injury, Batista re-tore his triceps, extending his stay on the sidelines. In late , the relationship between Batista and Triple H began to deteriorate in kayfabe.
Batista teased leaving Evolution that night, but declared that he was still part of Evolution and that they tricked everyone. Regardless, he continued to show his loyalty to Triple H and Evolution by running down to the ring and assisting them in matches. 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.
