Dave Bautista Discusses 'Stunted Growth' In OVW, Former WWE Star Changed His Life

Dave Bautista entered the professional wrestling business later in life than most performers do, starting training in his late 20s. Though Bautista was rejected by the WCW Power Plant, he had enough talent and charisma to get signed to a WWE contract just a short time into his career.

Like many young WWE wrestlers in the early 2000s, Bautista was assigned to the company's Ohio Valley Wrestling developmental territory. During a recent appearance on "Insight with Chris Van Vliet," the wrestler revealed that, at one point, he wasn't sure if he was going to make it out of OVW. The reason for that was the character Bautista was playing — a monster known as Leviathan.

"That character, it stunted my growth in OVW, because I had nothing but squash matches," Bautista said. "I went out and [did] two [or] three moves and my matches were over. I had Goldberg matches. I didn't progress like the rest of the guys."

There's no denying Bautista was surrounded by some incredible talent at the time in OVW. In addition to Bautista, the 2002 OVW class included future stars like John Cena, Randy Orton, Brock Lesnar, and Shelton Benjamin. Bautista credited each of them for helping him grow in the ring, as well as one more senior WWE star who helped the big man take things to the next level.

When he was at his lowest in OVW, Bautista felt as though the company was getting ready to let him go. As a "last-ditch effort" to keep him onboard, Bautista was sent to work directly with several of the company's veteran wrestlers and trainers, including Dave Taylor, William Regal, and 'Fit' Finlay.

"'Fit' Finlay, in a day, changed my life," Bautista continued. "'Fit' just took me aside and started talking to me, like, 'What's wrong with you, dude?' More than the physical stuff, he just got in my head a little bit and made me see things differently, and a lightbulb just went off in my head."

Looking back at OVW, Bautista brought up the controversial Jim Cornette, who was booking the promotion at the time. Though he said fans often believe he dislikes Cornette, the "Guardians of the Galaxy" star stated that he has a lot of respect for the former wrestling manager, mainly because Cornette taught him a great deal about wrestling's history.

Bautista made his WWE main roster debut in 2002, initially serving as muscle for Reverend D-Von. However, he quickly joined the group Evolution alongside Triple H, Ric Flair, and Randy Orton, and his career took off from there.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Insight with Chris Van Vliet" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.