Former World Heavyweight Champion Batista was a guest on F4Wonline.com's Wrestling Observer Radio this week to discuss his time with WWE, MMA, the future and lots more. Here are highlights from the excellent interview:
Batista said he left WWE because he felt like he didn't fit in anymore. He feels like wrestling is in a bad spot right now and has gone down hill since the whole PG direction. Batista said it leaves a bad taste in his mouth and became too unbelievable & hokey. He added that the things he learned from guys like Triple H and Ric Flair, you couldn't do anymore. He said you couldn't use your tools anymore. Batista said he felt like he became disconnected from the business and became unhappy with it. He still believes in WWE as a company but there wasn't a place for him anymore.
Regarding his most recent run where some felt it was the best work of his career, Batista said he knew he was leaving and basically did what he wanted to do and eventually it worked. He didn't care about pissing anyone off on the mic and just put his thoughts out there more without worrying about upsetting anyone. He said this started to work so Vince McMahon let him work with it. He recalled one promo before his last WrestleMania in San Jose, California where he let it run how he wanted to do it, ripping on several people. When he got backstage, Vince told him that he went too far with the promo and gave him a good earful.
June 16, 2011
Batista Comments On Why He Left WWE, His Future In Wrestling, More
June 7, 2011
Former WWE star Dave Batista opening MMA gym with Cesar Gracie
Former WWE star Batista is opening an MMA training facility in Tampa. He is teaming up with Cesar Gracie to launch Gracie Fighter Jiu Jitsu. The gym will open to the public next week...Mre?
source: tmz.com
April 25, 2011
Batista's MMA Deal with Strikeforce is Dead
Ex-WWE superstar Batista WON'T be crushing anyone's face in an MMA ring anytime soon -- because the human freak show says his deal with Strikeforce is officially kaput.
The 6'6", 290-pounder was lumbering through LAX this weekend when he explained that his deal fell through the cracks when the UFC bought out Strikeforce before they could schedule his first fight.
Batista told our guy he's "real disappointed" with the way things turned out ... adding, "I really had my heart set on Strikeforce."
source: tmz.com
March 3, 2011
Rumor Mill - Batista to Make his MMA Debut in the UK
MMAWeekly.com is reporting that former WWE star Batista is likely to make his MMA debut with the BAMMA promotion, which is based out of The UK, sometime in May. While there has been no confirmation of this news, and no official date has been announced for Batista's first fight, it's being said that the promotion is interested in the former WWE Champion. Strikeforce, as we have reported in the past, has also expressed interest in working with Batista.
December 27, 2010
Data on Most Popular WWE, TNA & MMA Personalities in 2010
Based on Google search data from 2010 in the United States, here are the 45 most-popular wrestling and mma personalities:
1. John Cena
2. Brock Lesnar
3. Georges St. Pierre
4. Anderson Silva
5. Edge
6. Jeff Hardy
7. Batista
8. Randy Orton
9. Hulk Hogan
10. Triple H
Click here for the rest of the list.
November 29, 2010
Update on Batista's First MMA Fight; Strikeforce CEO Announces Target Date in 2011
Former WWE star Dave Bautista is expected to make his MMA debut for the Strikeforce promotion in second quarter 2011.
Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker said on today's MMA Hour talk show with Ariel Helwani that "there's still dialogue" with Bautista, but they expect him to be fighting for Strikeforce between April and June of next year.
Bautista, age 41, left WWE in the spring of this year and began training for a potential MMA cross-over. Bautista reportedly wants a three-fight deal with Strikeforce.
In October, Bautista said his first MMA fight could be in March 2011. It appears the target date has been pushed back one-to-three months.
Coker was on the MMA Hour today promoting this Saturday's Strikeforce fight card that will be airing on Showtime from St. Louis.
source: pwtorch.com
October 28, 2010
Batista Wrestling in Japan
Antonio Inoki announced that a former WWE star and World Champion will be working the IGF's December 3rd show in Japan. As noted weeks ago, Inoki's company has been in serious talks with Batista. It's being reported in Japan that Inoki's mystery former WWE guy is Batista.
source: impactwrestling.com
October 15, 2010
Dave Bautista Talks About Training for MMA and Leaving WWE
Dave Bautista can't go too far down the street without someone asking him what he's been doing since leaving WWE earlier this year.
"I just tell them I'm unemployed," he laughs. "They look at me kind of funny."
Nothing could be further from the truth. There's a film role with Russell Crowe in the works and a probable MMA debut with Strikeforce. That could happen in late March-early April, and the fight everyone wants is Bautista (spelled Batista during his WWE days) against fellow former WWEer Bobby Lashley.
The 41-year-old Bautista knows his window for MMA success is short, but he's used to it. He didn't debut in pro wrestling until he was 30, but found fame and fortune as part of the Evolution stable alongside "Nature Boy" Ric Flair, Triple H and Randy Orton.
And even though he's left WWE, he says he's still good friends with chairman Vince McMahon.
"I didn't agree with the direction the company was going in," Bautista said, even though he admits the squared circle pays a whole lot more than the cage. "It was geared more toward the PG rating. I fell in love with wrestling again in the late '90s with 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin and 'The Rock' Dwayne Johnson … It was edgy, and that was the kind of wrestling I knew and loved. It wasn't like that anymore, and my passion for it died a little bit."...More?
source: espn.com
October 11, 2010
October 9, 2010
Update on Batista
Legendary hip hop star and Wu Tang Clan member The RZA has announced former WWE star Batista has joined the cast of his new movie, “The Man with the Iron Fist” starring Academy Award winner Russell Crowe.
RZA spoke to movie news site ComingSoon.net and had the following to say about Batista’s involvement:
“I would love to bring these worlds together. That’s what I’m striving to do. My budget is not as big as some of these movies, so I’ve got to pull a lot of favors. Another buddy who is on board is Dave Batista, the world wrestling champion who left and now he’s into Strikeforce and he’s going to be doing mixed martial arts. To have him come on as Glass Body, when I talked to him about it, he was like, “I always wanted to be The Toad in ‘Five Deadly Venoms,’” and I said, this isn’t The Toad but the character is very similar, and he said it would be his honor to do it. So to have him and Russell Crowe standing beside each other, two men, real men, is exciting. But I’m looking to make this an international thing that brings both worlds under one umbrella and get out a good piece of art.”
Batista appeared in the corner of Strikeforce fighter Nick Diaz at yesterday's weigh-ins for tonight's fight. Batista was said to be very low-key and drew no attention to himself.
partial source: impactwrestling.com
August 26, 2010
Batista Lands an Acting Gig on NBC Show
Former WWE star Batista will appear in an edition of NBC's "Chuck" this fall. The season begins on Sept. 20...More?
source: prowrestling.net
August 19, 2010
Chris Nowinski Claims WWE Encourages Steroid Use: "It's Garbage That They're Not Using Stuff."
"They have an environment where it's absolutely unsafe to work in that ring," said Nowinski, whose wrestling persona was a cocky Harvard graduate.
"They have no oversight into what actually happens in the ring. And they are encouraging steroid use," he said, citing the enormous physiques of recent champions such as Triple H and Batista. "It's garbage that they're not using stuff," he said. "They absolutely know what's going on."..
"The WWE rewards the guys who use them,"...More?
source: thehill.com
August 16, 2010
This Day in Wrestling History
Leo Pardello died at age 72 of natural causes.
August 16, 1939
Verne Gagne declared first AWA Heavyweight Champion.
August 16, 1960
Pat O'Connor died of cancer at age 65.
August 16, 1990
Plum Mariko died from head trauma during a match at age 29. Mariko was the first professional wrestler in Japan to die as a result of injuries suffered in a wrestling match.
August 16, 1997
One night after defeating Chris Benoit for the World Heavyweight Title at SummerSlam 2004, Evolution turns on Randy Orton on RAW following the main event re-match between Orton and Benoit.
August 16, 2004
August 12, 2010
August 5, 2010
Vince McMahon on Lousy Quarter, Decline in PPV Buyrates
During the WWE conference call held earlier today, Vince McMahon described the scenario as WWE just having a very lousy quarter. He also blamed the retirements of Shawn Michaels and Batista, injuries to Triple H and The Undertaker and the Icelandic volcano as reasons for the company struggling over the last few months. McMahon did address a question about plans for an all WWE cable network saying they are going to cable systems with a presentation in January. He added they are making a pitch based on the Major League Baseball model and that they have already received strong reactions to the idea of a "WWE Network" within the cable industry.
sources: corporate.wwe.com, prowrestling.net
August 3, 2010
Batista vs. Cancer
Former WWE star Batista announced his new project "Batista vs. Cancer". Batista is specifically targeting ovarian cancer, as his ex-wife Angie has been battling ovarian cancer for the past several years. Donation information can be found at demon-wrestling.com and the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund
July 30, 2010
2010 PWI 500
1. AJ Styles
2. John Cena
3. C.M. Punk
4. Randy Orton
5. Chris Jericho
6. Batista
7. Shinsuke Nakamura
8. The Undertaker
9. Kurt Angle
10. Sheamus
11. Triple H
12. The Miz
13. Rey Mysterio Jr.
14. Takashi Sugiura
15. Rob Van Dam
Click here for 16-500.
July 25, 2010
July 8, 2010
Does Batista Deserve Lesnar Comparisons?
Assuming the reports are right, UFC 116's viewership pattern provides all the explanation needed for Strikeforce's interest in former pro wrestler Dave Batista.
Strikeforce met last month with Batista about the possibility of an mixed martial arts bout. CEO Scott Coker sees a parallel between Batista and Brock Lesnar, the Ultimate Fighting Championship's heavyweight titleholder.
"Look at Brock Lesnar," Coker told Sherdog.com last week. "He made the crossover. Why not Batista?"
Like Lesnar, Batista became a marquee name in World Wrestling Entertainment's choreographed shows. And like Lesnar, he wants to try his hand at real fighting.
But the similarity ends there...More?
source: usa today
July 4, 2010
