Batista Unleashed

by Dave Batista

Of course, most of that got cut out. They even dubbed in a line that I never said, in a totally different voice.

  We spent a whole day setting up an elaborate stunt where I threw Superman into a big cargo net and there was a real cool explosion. It made me look a little cool, because I was pretty much kicking Superman’s ass. But when it aired, all you could see was me throwing Superman up—then he flew over the crane and he came back down. All the cool effects of the shot were completely lost, and I looked like a little wuss.

  I was hoping for a little more.

  He was lucky to get out in one piece.

  Another dream of mine is to own a nightclub. I’ve got a couple of friends who own nightclubs, and they’ve offered to go into business with me. One of them is David Kareem, who’s been a friend of mine since my bouncing days. Back then he was finishing up his education at the University of Maryland. He’s gone on now in the business and owns his own clubs. Every time we see each other, we can’t believe how far we’ve both come.

  I wear a sentimental bracelet on my wrist all the time—people ask me about it a lot. It actually belonged to Dave. I always told him how much I liked it. One night he took it off and gave it to me.

  “Here,” he said. “My father made that for me right before he died.”

  It was a real sentimental gift. In return, I gave him my wedding ring, which I used to wear around my neck after my divorce. It cost me $26,000 and is completely covered in diamonds, but every time I looked at it, it kind of broke my heart. So I think I got the better end of that deal.

  In some ways, it’s tempting to go and open a club right now. But so much of my time is focused on wrestling, I just wouldn’t be able to. I want to be hands-on. So I think I’ll wait until I leave the ring before taking them up on the offer.

  I’ll definitely be hands-on. You never know, I might throw on the security shirt and stand at the door for a while. Bounce at my own nightclub. That’d be great.

  FIRST LOVE

  Wrestling, though, will always be my first love.

  Triple H said something to me one time that made so much sense I’ve repeated it over and over. He said he wanted to branch out and do other forms of entertainment because it would help bring viewers into wrestling. I thought that just made so much sense. Wrestling really is where my heart is. It’s my passion. There’s nothing like the thrill of the live crowd. Coming out and performing in front of a wrestling crowd is just incredible. It’s a challenge every night to make the crowd stand up on their feet and scream and yell. I can’t tell you how thrilled it makes me to meet that challenge.

  I hope I’ll always have a job in this business in one way, shape, or form. That’s what I hope for. When I hang up my boots and leave the ring, I hope that the company will keep me on in some aspect behind the scenes or working with younger talent. I love this company, and I’d love to always have a job here.

  But otherwise, most of what I dream about the future holding are good things for my family. I want to be able to give my mom a good life, which she deserves. I don’t want her to worry about bills. She struggled so hard for us when we were young. She did her best to keep me alive and out of jail and off the streets. I want to return some of that. I’ll never be able to do enough for my mom.

  Or my daughters. I have high hopes for Athena. I think she’s going to go far in life. And for my older daughter, Keilani, I want her to find happiness. I don’t know what she’s searching for or what she wants to do with her life, but I hope she finds it.

  ROLE MODEL

  One of the great things about being a celebrity is that you get a chance to help people in unexpected ways. Nobody told me about it when I started wrestling and it certainly wasn’t why I became a wrestler, but it’s just very cool.

  If you recall, I said I spent some time in a group home when I was a kid. It happens that that group home is still around. A judge there invited me to come up and talk to some of the kids there recently. I did and it was just an awesome experience.

  I was quick to point out that I haven’t been an angel in my life. I’m not a perfect citizen. If I can be a role model, it’s by helping people learn from my mistakes. This way, maybe they can bypass the errors I made. Learn from them. Avoid my problems. Because they may not be as lucky as I’ve been in the end.

  Teenagers have to understand that there is a big world out there, with tons of opportunities. You can’t just live in your own small world and ignore everything else. You can’t ditch school or get into fights or whatever, just because it feels good at that moment. You have to have your eye on the rest of the world, and your future.

  I tell kids to get out there and find that one positive thing in their lives that will make them happy. Start small, with one pursuit. Let it build.

  For me, it was weight lifting. It was a way to feel better about myself. It took out some of my aggression. It was therapy, really. And it helped turn my life around.

  A lot of kids will find that in sports, through athletics. Some will find that in books. Some will get what they need by educating themselves. Others may have a passion for entertaining people, acting or singing or dancing. Whatever it is, you want to find that one positive thing that you love and pursue it. That will keep you out of trouble.

  HEROES

  I still feel like the same guy I was ten years ago. A lot of times I feel insecure, or like a goof. I grew up really tall and kind of gangly; I always felt goofy and awkward. That’s why bodybuilding made me feel more confident.

  But people now see me as a hero. That has everything to do with wrestling.

  Part of it, I think, is the sports connection. We all look up to sports figures, guys who can do incredible things with their bodies. I understand that—baseball great Lou Gehrig, “the Iron Horse,” who starred for the Yankees in the 1920s and 1930s as a first baseman and played so many games in a row, shrugging off minor injuries, is my personal hero.

  But there’s more to it than just the fact that wrestlers have to do wild things with their bodies. At its most basic, pro wrestling is all about good and evil. It’s really simple to see. Turn on a show and watch it with no volume. You’ll understand what’s going on because it’s so obvious from the way we tell the story in the ring.

  People today need heroes. It doesn’t matter where they are in the world. They want to identify with good. And that’s why wrestling continues to be so popular, and so powerful a form of entertainment.

  I went to the Philippines not too long ago. I’d heard from some Filipino people that I was very popular there. I am half Filipino and I’m proud of my heritage; I have a Filipino flag tattooed on my left shoulder. But I had absolutely no idea how popular I was there because of my background. When I got there, I was mobbed. Everywhere I went, thousands and thousands of people showed up for my appearances. It was unlike anything else I had experienced in the world. They stuck me on the roof of this car and paraded me around the streets of Manila. People by the thousands showed up, cheering and waving, just because I have Filipino blood. It was a proud moment for me.

  A star.

  And for them. Because I represent hope, good triumphing over evil, a guy overcoming bad stuff in his past to do the right thing and be successful at it.

  That’s what people want. That’s what heroes are about—showing us the way we can overcome all the bad things that happen to us.

  A PRIVILEGE

  It’s awesome and flattering to be someone who gives other people hope. That’s truly a special privilege.

  Some of my most touching moments have come while I was working with the USO. I went down to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Maryland and the Bethesda Naval Hospital in Maryland to visit with soldiers and sailors who’d been wounded. It was humbling to walk in there. These guys have shrapnel in them, or they’re missing a limb, but they were all smiles when I walked in.

  Now, to me they’re the real heroes. They put their lives on the line for us, protecting our freedom. There’s no way to repay them. But they w
ere so happy to see me and tell me what big fans they were. It was just awesome.

  BEYOND WORDS

  There are times when being a wrestler touches you so deeply you can’t put it into words.

  There was this one kid in Tampa. His name was Alex. He was seven years old. Fit Finlay called me and told me that this little boy had terminal cancer and the doctors had really given up hope. He didn’t have all that long to live.

  All the kid wanted out of the rest of his life was to meet me.

  The funny thing is, he lived about a mile down the road. So I went over to see him.

  I was dreading it the whole day. I was thinking, I’m going to go over there, and this kid’s going to have tubes in him, and he’s dying, and it’s going to break my heart.

  But they had him outside the house. His whole family was there, and they were playing and having a good time. He knew he was sick, but he was happy. He wasn’t down and depressed.

  A few weeks later, I took my truck over. He wasn’t in as good shape, but he was still happy to see me, and he was real impressed with the truck. We had a good time talking, and I really enjoyed being with him.

  I told him that the next time I came, I was bringing my motorcycle and we’d have a ride.

  I guess if I was a real superhero, I’d’ve found some way to cure his cancer. The best I could do was make him smile.

  And he did.

  I was looking forward to coming back with the motorcycle. Unfortunately, Alex died a few days later.

  I still remember his smile. For a guy who was once pretty much nothing but a street thug, a guy who’s made his living by beating up people and being beaten up himself, it was something like a gift from God.

  Photo 8

  On the Road 2/6/07

  OMAHA

  SmackDown! over, I head out into the parking garage at the back of the stage area. A couple of production guys look like they need a lift to the hotel, so I have them hop in with me. We thread our way through the traffic and get over to the Doubletree hotel, where most of the WWE contingent is staying. Some of the production people end up down at the bar, but I go straight up to my room. I order a room service meal, have something to eat, and then work for a bit on this book.

  Remembering all of these things has really put my life in perspective, even made me a little philosophical, I guess. Here’s a poor kid who had to eat burnt bean soup all week, a guy who up until eight years ago didn’t have two nickels to rub together. Now he’s doing things like getting a police escort in Bangkok, motorcycle cops kicking cars out of the way, sirens blaring…or going to the Pentagon as the honored guest of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, eating with all these four-and five-star generals—it’s just unbelievable.

  I’ve traveled the world and entertained millions of people. In Europe, where I’ll be flying to in a few weeks, I’ll be working the crowds like I’m a conductor. They’re really big on participation. You point at one side of the audience and they roar, then the other and they roar louder. Sometimes I’ll stand in the corner of the ring and realize the crowd is singing. I just watch them. It’s like I’m in a dream. And I wonder how I got to be there.

  The past four years have been just amazing. The places I’ve been and the experiences I’ve had, with bigwigs, dignitaries—it’s just amazing for a guy who didn’t even finish high school.

  People look at the financial success, but that’s probably the smallest part of it. It does let me do one thing I really, really love: I always wanted to spoil people. Now I can.

  So how did I get here?

  There were tons of components, but it started with people believing in me: Angie, Richard Salas, Jonathan Meisner. The list goes on and on. Afa, Jim Cornette, Fit Finlay, Ric, Hunter, and Vince.

  And I believed in myself. There were times when I was down, a lot of times, but I dug in. Some of it was out of fear that if I didn’t make it, I didn’t know what else I would do. But it was more than that. A lot of people were depending on me. I had to do it.

  In my heart, I’ll always be that poor kid from D.C. At least I hope I will. Because I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that—I wouldn’t want to be anyone else.

  But tonight, I’m so tired that my eyes are just about hanging out of my head. This has been a typical, exhausting week. All I really want to do is get on the plane tomorrow and go home. My mom will be there, and most likely she’ll have spent the day cooking. She makes these great oatmeal raisin cookies, cakes, you name it. Her meatloaf is great, too.

  Finally, I’m done for the night. I close down the laptop. My eyes have shut before I hit the pillow.