Batista Claims He "Starved For 3 Years" After Leaving WWE In 2010

Let's hope his WrestleMania 35 match paid well...

Batista Raw
WWE.com

Life must be good for Dave Bautista in 2019, with WrestleMania 35's gritty war with Triple H allowing him to end his wrestling career on his own terms and his Hollywood career booming, but things weren't so peachy the first time he decided to walk away from WWE in 2010.

Speaking at Denver Pop Culture Comic Con this weekend, Batista claimed that the struggle to establish himself as an actor saw him fall on hard times before things really took off.

"I starved for three years," he said (h/t Complex). "I went broke, I lost everything. I couldn't get a job and I said I will never go back to wrestling until I prove what I set out to prove, and that was that I can make it as an actor."

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Batista's first appearance on film came in 2006, but his new career didn't really take off until he took a role as Drax the Destroyer in 2014's Guardians of the Galaxy. It's safe to assume that the multi-time World Champion has now put those hard times in the rearview, though it's something of a shame that he was forced to leave WWE to pursue these opportunities in the first place.

Channel Manager
Channel Manager

Andy has been with WhatCulture for eight years and is currently WhatCulture's Wrestling Channel Manager. A writer, presenter, and editor with 10+ years of experience in online media, he has been a sponge for all wrestling knowledge since playing an old Royal Rumble 1992 VHS to ruin in his childhood. Having previously worked for Bleacher Report, Andy specialises in short and long-form writing, video presenting, voiceover acting, and editing, all characterised by expert wrestling knowledge and commentary. Andy is as much a fan of 1985 Jim Crockett Promotions as he is present-day AEW and WWE - just don't make him choose between the two.