Dave Batista Opens Up On WWE Character He Believes ‘Stunted His Growth’

WWE

WWE legend Dave Bautista has opened up on a WWE character of his that he believes ‘stunted his growth’ in the company.

Having already conquered the WWE ring, Dave Bautista is currently on his course to conquer Hollywood, with his latest movie the Killer’s Game set to release.

However, before there was Dave Bautista, or even ‘The Animal’, there was his time in OVW under Jim Cornette, where he worked as is initial character ‘Leviathan’.

Speaking on Insight with Chris Van Vliet, Batista opened up on the character, and how he believed it ‘stunted his growth’ in OVW ahead of his call-up.

He said:

“What hurt me was my character that I had in OVW (Leviathan), because I really had – and I always get grief about this because people think that I don’t respect Jim Cornette, and I really do. And the reason I do is because Jim Cornette taught us so much about the history of wrestling. He taught us so much about the traditions of wrestling.

“But I won’t back down when I say 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. And 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. I spoke on the mic a few times and it was me screaming into the mic, but I think my growth there was a little bit stunted, and I went into the WWE completely unprepared.”

If you use this transcription or any portion of it please credit WrestleTalk.com and link to this page.

Batista comments on working in OVW under Jim Cornette, saying he respects Cornette, but the Leviathan gimmick stunted his growth and left him unprepared for WWE:

"What hurt me was my character that I had in OVW (Leviathan), because I really had – and I always get grief about… pic.twitter.com/6LPi2jDaDw

— WrestleTalk (@WrestleTalk_TV) September 10, 2024

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• leviathan
• dave bautista
• OVW
• Batista
• Jim Cornette
• wwe

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