Dave Bautista (@DaveBautista) is an actor and retired professional wrestler. He sits down with Chris Van Vliet in Hollywood, CA to talk about his new movie "The Killer's Game", how he recruited WWE Superstar Drew McIntyre for a role in the film, slimming down to 240 lbs, his early wrestling days as Leviathan and Deacon Batista, why he couldn't do a retirement tour like John Cena is planning for 2025, his friendship with Triple H, if he could have done more in the wrestling world, the botched ending to the 2005 Royal Rumble that saw Vince McMahon tear his quads, Mark Jindrak being in Evolution, his iconic theme music and more!
Quote I'm thinking about: "Time is the only currency you spend without ever knowing your balance. Use it wisely"
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On if he feels he made it to the top of the wrestling world:
"No, I think if I had stayed longer, I might have. There's a part of me that always thinks right guy right time. But I don't know what I would have achieved if I had been like a John Cena or Randy Orton, been the 13, 14, 20-time World Champion, I don't know. But I think what I did in the short period of time that I was actually there, my run between 2005 and 2010 I'm proud of. I can say that I'm proud of it. I've had the conversation with Hunter about going to the Hall of Fame and there was always a part of me that makes me feel like my career is not worthy of going into the Hall of Fame. Well he said this to me, and this makes sense. He said, you accomplished a lot in the short period of time you were there, I think it's worthy. But if you don't feel like it's worthy, look at it this way, what you've accomplished outside of the company makes you a Hall of Fame WWE wrestler, and I would tend to agree with that. I think I've accomplished a lot, and I've never turned my back on my roots. I've always been very proud of it, been very open about being a WWE superstar, and I think I'm a good ambassador for the company. I think if on those merits if they want to put me on the Hall of Fame, I'd be proud to accept that."
On why he couldn't have done a retirement tour like what John Cena is planning:
"I get along with John. I respect John a lot, a lot more than people think I do for some reason. I think the internet and I think fans have built this rivalry between us, which there really isn't, but this is how we're different. I would never do this [retirement tour]. I wouldn't, I couldn't. It would feel disingenuous to me to go around and I just couldn't. But where I see his point where he wants to go around and he wants to personally thank all the fans, but there's just something in me where I just couldn't do it. It would feel uncomfortable to me, accolades feel uncomfortable to me. I could never be the type of babyface who was saying good stuff because I wanted to get the crowd to cheer for me. I couldn't be that guy. So I love and respect what he's doing with his whole tour to say thank you to the fans, but we're just different that way. I couldn't do it. I went out the way I wanted. I retired the way I wanted. I didn't want to make a big deal out of it. I announced my retirement on Instagram and I knew I was going to do it. I just didn't want to tell anybody I was going to do it because I didn't want anybody to say, no, no, you got to come in, you got to give a speech, you know, the fans. I don't know, just something about it would have felt false to me. I couldn't do it."
On thinking he was going to get fired on the day of the Royal Rumble:
"Well, the whole day I thought I was getting fired. The whole day was just a nightmare. [They didn't tell you you were winning?] No, I knew I was winning. But what happened was, so I think we were in San Francisco the night before, and so I stayed there instead of driving to Bakersfield. I stayed there because my mom lives there, and I want to stay and I want to spend time with my mom. So I got up the next day, and I drove and I was really late to the show. I was really late to getting there, and I knew that I was supposed to go over that night and it was like a big deal and I was going to go to WrestleMania. Vince thought that I was being super disrespectful by showing up late, and he was pissed. I thought he was going to change his mind and it was going to change, like the whole storyline. So I got there, and he ringed me out as soon as I got there. But then we [had] the match, and it was botched, and I totally take the blame for it, because I went over. I knew what the finish was, and I just went over. I just went over and thank God we landed when we did kind of at the same time, it was a miracle. Then when I saw Vince coming down, I was like, I’m getting fired. Most of my career, until later in my career, throughout my career, especially in OVW, I thought any day now I'm getting fired. I'm getting fired. I was just so happy to be there."
When did he realize Vince tore his quads:
"I think later on, I didn't realize during the match, I didn't know why he was sitting there. I had no idea what was going on, I was just worried about the match. Then they got him out of there. I think I found out later on. The funny thing was, so I can't remember where we were at the next day. But it was the next day, and I got to the building and somebody immediately said, 'Vince wants to see you in his office.' I was saying, Ah, here it comes. So I went to his office, and my heart is beating, just in my head I’m packing my bags. I walk into his office, and he's sitting, he's got his crutches beside him, and he's all bandaged up. He just starts laughing. He's laughing at the top of his lungs, ha, ha. I was like, 'You're not gonna fire me?' And he goes, 'No, I loved it! It was real! It was so great, and it was real, and nobody knew what was gonna happen.' He loved it. I think that Vince thrives on chaos. When you think about some guy, he's a billionaire, he's accomplished everything it could. He's bought everything that he could ever buy. So what's he got left, excitement! I think because that moment was so chaotic, I think it just excited him and it exhilarated him. So even though it was a total botch, I think he just had so much fun in that exhilarating, exciting moment that he kind of thrived on it and he forgave me."
