Dave Bautista: biography
It has been said that the ways of God are inscrutable. As history proves, life can change drastically in the blink of an eye. It happened to Eminem when he met Dr. Dre, to street musician James Bowen when the article about him and his gorgeous cat named Bob was published, and to David Michael Bautista Jr. when he was put on probation.
Dave was born on January 18, 1969, in Washington, D.C., the capital of the USA. His mother, Donna, was of Greek descent, while his father, David Michael Bautista, was born in the Republic of the Philippines. The family broke up before the boy went to school. Bautista's childhood was hard because before he reached the age of ten, three murders had occurred on his front lawn. At the age of 13, he sailed close to the wind, stealing cars. Therefore, he did not attend school.
In 1986, the guy tried to jump smooth. Bautista began to work as a nightclub bouncer to make a living (by that time, Dave had already been living on his own). One day, Bautista injured a patron solving a conflict. A few days later he got a subpoena. Thanks to the lawyer, he was sentenced to one year of probation, the mandatory minimum penalty. This incident made the man rethink his life and change priorities. The very next day, Dave got a job as a beach lifeguard and began spending all his free time in the gym. Dave wrote in his autobiography that this decision saved his life.
Wrestling career
In the late 1990s, Bautista decided to try his hand at wrestling. He first tried out at the World Championship Wrestling (WCW). The fighter failed, and coach Sgt. Buddy Lee Parker said that Dave would never make it in the wrestling business. It made the man angry, and he decided to go to WCW's competitors, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). This attempt was successful because WWE managers immediately sent Dave to the Wild Samoan Training Center wrestling school.
Bautista had his debut match in the Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) show in 2000. Then the young wrestler fought under the name Leviathan, in honor of a gigantic biblical monster (Dave's height is 6.49 ft. (198 cm), and the weight is 291.01 lbs. (132 kg)).
After three matches, Dave joined forces with Disciples of Synn. For a long time, no one could defeat Leviathan, but Glenn Thomas Jacobs, also known as Kane, interrupted the series of Bautista's victories. It happened in the Christmas Chaos match. Nevertheless, Bautista quickly regained his previous status, and also won the Ohio Valley Wrestling Heavyweight Championship, defeating Doug Basham. Later, Dave fought against The Prototype in the OVW match, then appeared at the WWE wrestling television program, SmackDown, on May 9, 2002.
Bautista first won at SmackDown when Dave and Devon defeated Ron Simmons and Randy Orton. But he lost in the fight against Rikishi.
In 2002, Bautista also signed a contract with Monday Night Raw.
In 2003, Dave joined Evolution, which he left due to a muscle injury.
From 2003 to 2010, he regularly participated in matches at Armageddon, Summer Slam, No Mercy, Wrestlemania, Survivor Series, Royal Rumble, The Great American Bash, Blacklash, Cyber Sunday, No Way Out, One Night Stand, Bragging Rights, TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs, Elimination Chamber, Outer The Limit, Judgment Day, and Hell In Cell.
In 2010, he quit World Wrestling Entertainment due to a conflict with Bret Hart, the company's general manager. At the same time, Bautista decided to take a chance with mixed martial arts competitions. However, he could compete at the MMA Championship only on October 6, 2012, in Providence (Rhode Island). Dave defeated his rival Vince Lucero by a technical knockout in the first round. Having realized that the path to the world of mixed martial arts was closed, Bautista returned to WWE.
The wrestler returned to WWE on January 20, 2014, in the Royal Rumble match. Then he competed at the Elimination Chamber, Extreme Rules, and Payday. In mid-2014, Bautista took a wrestling career break because he filmed in a movie. There are rumors that Dave plans to return to the ring in 2017, during the Wrestlemania annual event.
Movies
Dave made his movie debut in 2006 in the comedy Relative Strangers with Danny DeVito and Kathy Bates. Then he played a role in one of the episodes of the TV series Smallville.
He had to wait for four years to have the opportunity to appear in films and on TV again. In 2010, Bautista starred in the TV series Chuck, as well as in the movie My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done?, and Wrong Side of Town.
In 2012, the wrestler appeared in The Scorpion King 3: Battle for Redemption. It is an interesting fact that his colleague, Dwayne Johnson (also known as The Rock), played in the previous two parts.
The following year, Dave starred in the film Riddick, the continuation of the movies Pitch Black and The Chronicles of Riddick, in which Vin Diesel played the leading role.
In 2014, Bautista played a role which helped to forget about wrestling and switch to acting. It is the character of Drax the Destroyer in the Marvel film Guardians of the Galaxy. In 2017, Dave returned to this role alongside his colleagues, Chris Pratt, and Zoe Saldana, in the second part. He also participated in the 2018 crossover Avengers: Infinity War.
It is also worth mentioning that Bautista appeared in Spectre, the 24th installment in the James Bond film series (2014), in Kickboxer: Vengeance (2015), a reboot of the legendary film with Van Damme, as well as in Blade Runner 2049 (2017), the continuation of the screen adaptation of Philip K. Dick’s cult novel.
Personal life
Bautista had married his first wife Glenda before he began a wrestling career. The woman gave birth to Dave's two daughters: Keilani (1990) and Athena (1992). But this marriage was short-lived.
From 1998 to 2006 he was married to a woman named Angie. But their relationship did not work out either. Therefore, Bautista decided not to start a serious relationship for a while. He dated the female fighters: Melina Perez, Kelly Kelly, and Rosa Mendes.
In October 2015, he married Sarah Jade, with whom he lives happily till the present day.
It is also worth mentioning that before Dave celebrated his 40th birthday, he had become a grandfather when his daughter Keilani gave birth to sons, Jacob and Aiden.
Dave Bautista now
At first, Dave joined his castmates in support of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, and then, he has traveled around the world again promoting Blade Runner 2049. Bautista does not forget to post photos of these events on his Instagram and Twitter pages.
By the way, the recent photos and videos on Bautista’s Instagram account depict actors Josh Brolin, Sylvester Stallone, and Arnold Schwarzenegger. The reason is that Dave played with Brolin in Avengers: Infinity War, with Stallone and Schwarzenegger in two sequels of Escape Plan.
The actor does not forget to train in the gym, even though he has such a busy schedule.
Filmography
- 2006 – Relative Strangers
- 2006 – Smallville
- 2010 – Chuck
- 2010 – My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done?
- 2010 – Wrong Side of Town
- 2012 – The Scorpion King 3: Battle for Redemption
- 2013 – Riddick
- 2014 – Guardians of the Galaxy
- 2015 – Spectre
- 2016 – Kickboxer: Vengeance
- 2017 – Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
- 2017 – Blade Runner 2049
