Dave Batista Reflects On WWE Character That ‘Stunted His Growth’

WWE legend Dave Batista, now a successful Hollywood actor, recently opened up about a character from his early wrestling career that he believes hindered his professional development.

In an interview with Chris Van Vliet, Batista discussed his time in Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) under Jim Cornette, where he portrayed the character “Leviathan.”

Dave Batista, known for his roles as “The Animal” in WWE and Drax in the “Guardians of the Galaxy” franchise, expressed mixed feelings about his OVW experience. While acknowledging the valuable lessons learned about wrestling history and traditions from Jim Cornette, Dave felt that the Leviathan character limited his growth as a performer.

What hurt me was my character that I had in OVW (Leviathan). I really had – and I always get grief about this because people think that I don’t respect Jim Cornette, and I really do. That character, it stunted my growth in OVW, because I had nothing but squash matches. That’s what I did. I went out and in two or three moves my matches were over. I had Goldberg matches.

Batista contrasted his experience with that of his contemporaries he was working with in OVW at the time in the early 2000s.

I didn’t progress like the rest of the guys, like Brock Lesnar or Randy Orton. I was just stunted a little bit. I never got to speak on the mic.

This lack of diverse in-ring experience and promo work left Batista feeling unprepared when he finally made it to WWE’s main roster.

I went into the WWE completely unprepared.

Despite these early challenges, Batista went on to become a six-time world champion in WWE and successfully transitioned to a career in Hollywood.

Batista Rules Out A Return To In-Ring Competition

Former WWE Champion Batista has also revealed how he will never return for “one more match” as he doesn’t want to tarnish the end of his career and perfect storybook ending.

H/t to WrestleTalk