At the height of his WWE profession, Dave Bautista was one among the most important names within the promotion, serving as one among John Cena’s most memorable rivals. Nonetheless, Bautista’s journey into pro wrestling wasn’t clear-cut, especially after years of struggling to search out his way early in life. During an interview with “W.O.L.F. Gyms,” the previous WWE Champion opened about his failed WCW tryout and its aftermath.
“I went for a tryout in Atlanta, it was for the WCW on the time. I didn’t make it. I didn’t make it past the primary stage. They told me to get the f**k out and I’d never be a professional wrestler [and that] I did not have what it took,” he recalled. “So I used to be pretty crushed because I didn’t know what I used to be going to do with my life.”
Bautista then claimed he waited about per week before finding another person to coach him to change into a professional wrestler, winding up at a training camp in Pennsylvania. “Wild Small Wrestling Camp. And so they were directly affiliated with the WWE,” he said, adding that he borrowed money from his friends, moved to Pennsylvania, and started his training. “I used to be there for a few yr before I got a tryout with the WWE. And so I made it with them. I got a contract and it was for 650 bucks per week, but it surely was – they sent me to Louisville, Kentucky, to begin training, and I trained there for a number of years before I finally made it onto TV.”
Years later, in 2002 at 33-years-old, Bautista would make his television debut in WWE as “Deacon Batista” before eventually becoming one among the most important stars of the Ruthless Aggression Era.
When you use any quotes from this text, please credit “W.O.L.F. Gyms” and supply a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.