If Vince McMahon wants a poster boy for “Ruthless Aggression,” he would do well in choosing David Batista. At 6'5 and 290 pounds of solid muscle, this former bodybuilder and powerlifter cuts a most imposing figure. He is now well on his way to establishing himself as one of the most charismatic and striking new Superstars to arrive in WWE in quite some time.
Unlike many Superstars, Batista never thought that he would make his living in sports-entertainment. As a young boy, he watched WWE programs in the early ‘80s, but drifted away from it in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. In high school,
the Washington DC native wrestled, played football and threw the shot put. He also discovered bodybuilding, a sport he would dedicate himself to.
Batista competed for three years as a bodybuilder, most of which was spent filling out his large frame. In high school, he wrestled at 185 pounds; by the time he was done with bodybuilding, he weighed an incredible 360 pounds.
To support himself, Batista worked as a bouncer. Although hesitant to use his overwhelming strength, he wasn̓t shy about delivering some serious beatings when the situation demanded it. Needless to say, he never came out on the short end of a brawl, and more than a few paid a serious price for their foolish bravado.
In late 1997, he moved to Minneapolis, and began power training at the same gym where Road Warrior Animal and Curt Hennig trained. By this time, Batista had started watching WWE again, and he asked Hennig about getting into the business. Hennig suggested that he tryout with the old WCW. So, Batista packed his bags and headed to Atlanta and WCW's training facility, the Power Plant.
His experience there turned out to be less than memorable: “I really didn't like the way they were running things there. They more or less brought everybody in to humiliate them. I didn't care for that atmosphere.”
He remained undeterred by his WCW experience and contacted WWE. At the time, WWE didn't have open training camps, so officials in the Talent Relations Department recommended that he enroll at a wrestling camp in Allentown, Pennsylvania, run by former WWE Tag Team Champions the Wild Samoans. In March 1999, Batista journeyed to Allentown to begin his quest of becoming a WWE Superstar.
Once there, he got off to a rocky start. Just one month into his training, he ruptured his triceps muscle and was forced to sit on the sidelines for six months. At the time, he weighed 360 pounds and was simply too big to be able to with- — stand the _punishment in the ring. The bug had bitten him,
though, and as soon as he was able to return, he did.
By November 1999, his trainers decided that Batista was ready to show his skills to WWE, so he arranged a tryout with WWE's developmental talent manager Dr. Tom Prichard. Though he was still green, Prichard saw enough potential to sign him to a developmental deal. Batista was ecstatic. But it was only the first step on his journey to a full-time career with
WWE.
In March 2000, Batista was sent to WWE̓s developmental organization, Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) in Louisville, Kentucky. There, OVW owner Jim Cornette dubbed him Leviathan, and with the help of his fellow trainees, Batista begin to develop into an unstoppable force.
Early this past summer, Batista received the call he'd been waiting for: WWE officials were bringing him up to SmackDown! After three long, hard years, Batista had made it. “When I got the call, I was shocked more than anything else. I'd been down in Louisville for two years and wasn't sure what was going to happen to me. They just told me they had something for me, and that I needed to get a suit. So, I went out and bought a $500 suit. Of course when I got up there, the first thing they did was cut the sleeves off.
He made his first appearance as Deacon Batista, Reverend D-Von's bodyguard. His first time through the curtain was surreal. His head was spinning and it wasn't until a week or two later that it fully hit him that he was now a member of the “A” team.
His reception backstage couldn't have gone better, and with D-Von's advice and encouragement, Batista has quickly begun getting acclimated to his new surroundings. There are few men in the world with his size, presence and agility, and it's only a
matter of time before he is a main-event Superstar. Until then, he doesn't want to get ahead of himself.
“My main short-term goal is to improve my ring work,” says Batista. “In OVW, most of my matches were short. In order to compete with the best, I'm going to have to improve my ring skills. My goal is to become a singles star, and I know I have to [improve my ring work] in order to do that.”•