| Jméno: | Dave Bautista |
| Datum narození: | 1969-01-18 |
| Místo narození: | Washington, D.C., USA |
| Výška: | 1.93 m |
| IMDb ID: | nm1176985 |
David Michael Bautista Jr. (born January 18, 1969) is an American actor of Filipino-Greek descent and retired professional wrestler. He had several stints in WWE between 2002 and 2019. In his acting career, he is most widely known for his portrayal of Drax the Destroyer in the Marvel Cinematic Universe since Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), up until leaving the franchise after Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023), and for his portrayal of Glossu Rabban Harkonnen in Denis Villeneuve's Dune (2021) and its sequel, Dune: Part Two (2024).
- Has a Purple belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu from Cesar Gracie, and is trained in Muay Thai, Wushu& Kickboxing.
- Is a collector of steel lunchboxes.
- Is an accomplished break dancer, a skill used in a TV trailer for Summerslam 2004.
- Published author.
- Worked as a lifeguard before becoming a bodybuilder.
- His father was born in Washington, DC, of three-quarters Filipino and one-quarter British Isles (English/Irish) ancestry. Dave's Filipino grandfather received US citizenship after fighting in World War II. Dave's mother has Greek ancestry.
- Grew up in the Washington, DC, area and often worked as a bouncer at many clubs in the area.
- Went to the WCW Power Plant for a tryout, where they told him he'd never make it in the wrestling business.
- Has two daughters by his first wife, Keilani (born in 1990) and Athena (born in 1992). Also has two grandsons, Jacob and Aiden (by Keilani).
- In an interview prior to Spectre (2015) with IMDb, he stated that his two favorite 007 movies were a tie between Goldfinger (1964) and Skyfall (2012).
- Admits to having grown up very poor.
- Was trained by the legendary Afa Anoai, aka "The Wild Samoan".
- In Spectre (2015), he only has one word of dialogue.
- Got into wrestling after meeting Joe Laurinaitis (aka "Road Warrior Animal") and Curt Hennig at a bodybuilding show in Minneapolis, MN.
- Last name means "Baptist".
- Has a son named Oliver, who was born after the divorce from his second wife.
- Shares the same birth name as his father, David Michael Bautista.
- The third pro wrestler to go by the stage name, "Animal". The other two were George 'The Animal' Steele and Joe Laurinaitis (aka "Road Warrior Animal").
- On 3/1/03 at a WWE live event, he and Randy Orton teamed up to face the Dudley Boyz. This was famous for being a match that nearly no one walked away from unhurt. Batista tore his bicep, Orton broke his leg and Mark LoMonaco (aka Bubba Ray Dudley) injured his back. On 5/1/03, Batista re-tore his right tricep muscle when he fell while running with his wife. He returned to the WWE on 10/20/03 where he attacked Bill Goldberg.
- Started his career in Ohio Valley Wrestling, a WWE developmental territory. He wrestled there in 2000-02 under the name Leviathan. He was a member of OVW's Disciples of Synn. Won the OVW Heavyweight Championship title in November 2001. A few months later, he joined the WWE. He debuted in WWE as a bodyguard to Devon Hughes (D-Von Dudley) on the 'SmackDown!' brand. He later moved to WWE Monday Night RAW (1993) and began wrestling with Ric Flair as his manager.
- WWE Hall of Famer.
- Is a registered Democrat.
- Has a younger half brother named Michael, from his father's second marriage.
- Bautista tried out at the World Championship Wrestling (WCW) Power Plant, but was told he would never make it in the wrestling business by Sgt. Buddy Lee Parker.
- His sister was named after his mother, Donna Raye Bautista.
- #1 on the PWI top 500 wrestlers list in 2005.
- Although standing 6'4", the WWE SmackDown vs. RAW 2008 (2007) claims to have him measured at 6'5".
- Storyline-wise was responsible for Steve Austin losing the RAW Co-General Manager post at Survivor Series 2003 (he interfered in the Team Austin v. Team Bischoff match by delivering the Batista Bomb to Shawn Michaels).
- Won the WWE Royal Rumble (2014). Lost to Bryan Danielson (Daniel Bryan) at WrestleMania XXX (2014) in the WWE World Heavyweight Championship match.
- Former member of Evolution with Paul Levesque (aka "Triple H"), Randy Orton and Ric Flair.
- Left his second wife Angie while she was suffering from cancer.
- In July 2006 he returned to Smackdown! by attacking Mark Henry, the man who put him on the injury list.
- In June 2005 he was the final-draft lottery pick from RAW to go to Smackdown.
- In December 2003 he won the title World Tag Team Champion with Ric Flair (as Evolution) at WWE Armageddon (2003). They lost the title to Booker Huffman (Booker T) and Rob Van Dam at WWE Monday Night RAW (1993) in February 2004, but regained it next month at "Raw".
- In June 2008 he received several stitches in his scalp for injuries sustained in a head-on skull butt from Edge on "Monday Night RAW: 2008 Draft". On the 29th of that month, he again faced Edge on "Night of Champions".
- November 2006 he won back World Heavyweight title from Booker Huffman (King Booker) at WWE Survivor Series (2006). In April 2007, lost the title to Mark Calaway (The Undertaker) at WrestleMania 23 (2007).
- In August 2004 he teamed up with fellonm1169315w Evolution members Triple H Paul Levesque and Ric Flair to attack former Evolution member, [xxxxxx] just a few minutes after he defended his World Heavyweight Championship against Chris Benoit one day after he won it.
- In September 2007, defeated the Dalip Singh (The Great Khali) and Rey Mysterio in a triple threat match at WWE Unforgiven (2007) to win his third World Heavyweight title. In November, successfully defended his title against The Undertaker in a 'Hell in a Cell' match at WWE Survivor Series (2007). In December, lost his title to Adam Copeland (Edge) in a triple threat match against at WWE Armageddon (2007).
- Won WWE Royal Rumble (2005) and his first World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 21 (2005) when he defeated Triple H (Paul Levesque) in the main event. Defended successfully his title at WWE Backlash (2005) on 5/1/05. The match was called "Batista/Triple H 2". Defeated Triple again at WWE Vengeance (2005). This marked Triple H's first-ever loss in a "Hell in a Cell" match. In July, lost to JBL (John Layfield at The Great American Bash (2005), but retained his title via disqualification. In August defeated JBL in a "No Holds Barred" match at Summerslam (2005). In January 2006, after suffering a serious tricep injury, was forced to surrender the title, ending his nine-month reign as champion.
- In December 2005, with Rey Mysterio, defeated MNM (Adam Birch and John Hennigan) for the title of WWE Tag Team Champion at WWE SmackDown (1999). In August 2008, with John Cena, won the title of World Tag Team Champion on Monday Night RAW, defeating Ted DiBiase & Cody Rhodes (Cody Rhodes) after Batista pinned DiBiase.
- In April 2008 he lost to Shawn Michaels at WWE Backlash (2008).
- In October 2008, won his fourth World Heavyweight title at WWE Cyber Sunday (2008), defeating Chris Jericho. However, Jericho won his title back in a Steel Cage match at WWE Monday Night RAW (1993).
