“Didn’t have that much of knowledge” WWE legend recalls his experience mentoring Dave Bautista in WWE

D-Von Dudley spoke about the time when he mentored Dave Bautista and taught him the ways of the squared circle.

“Didn’t have that much of knowledge” WWE legend recalls his experience mentoring Dave Bautista in WWE

Dave Bautista in 2002 (via WWE)

The Animal Dave Bautista is one of the most successful wrestlers from the Ruthless Aggression Era of WWE. Apart from a successful wrestling career, he is also a big Hollywood star, with numerous superhits associated with his name. He made his debut in 2002, playing a bodyguard for D-Von Dudley while also training under his guidance. Dudley recalled the same in an interview, as he stated his experience mentoring the former Evolution member.

While speaking with PWInsider Elite, D-Von stated that he had a great time working with Dave. Dudley added, “I remember Dave telling me that he really didn’t have that much of knowledge in terms of working in the ring!” because he came from Ohio Valley Wrestling. But the Ohio promotion did not put him into full matches and made him do run-ins to train him for the ring. He continued, “And if he did have a match, it was like what they did with the Ultimate Warrior.”

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Dudley played his Reverend D-Von gimmick and taught Bautista from his experience of the squared circle. The 51-year-old explained, “He was very eager to learn, so that was the one thing that I was very happy with Dave!”. D-Von mentioned that Batisat impressed him with commitment.

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Batista’s first-ever appearance on WWE programming happened on SmackDown on May 9, 2002, as Deacon Batista. He was appointed as the Reverend’s enforcer and looked after a box that D-Von filled with the money collected from preacher deals. His debut match had him partner up with D-Von to face Randy Orton and Farooq, in which he was victorious.

Related: Dave Bautista expands his million-dollar portfolio with a new venture outside the realm of Hollywood

John Cena was second choice for Peacemaker after Dave Bautista’s rejection

WWE John Cena and Dave Bautista
John Cena and Dave Bautista (via Koimoi)

The past few years have seen WWE stars gracing the big screen and leaving their mark on Hollywood. Two well-known names are John Cena and Dave Bautista, who have contributed as superheroes for rival companies. In Suicide Squad, Cena played the character of Peacemaker, originally offered to Dave.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Bautista said, “I had this chip on my shoulder and was looking for juicy (dramatic roles). Then I read the script, and it was a lot deeper and had more layers than I thought. And also, to be quite frank, I wanted to work with Zack.” The Animal revealed that he rejected the James Gunn movie for a juicy role. He was invested in Scott Ward’s character in Zack Snyder’s Army of the Dead and needed such a script to work on for a long time.

Gunn then had a second choice, which was to reach out to Cena for the role of Peacemaker. The Cenation Leader readily accepted the role without any hesitation about the history that came with it. Both movies were released in 2021, with Cena’s movie being in theaters and Bautista having a Netflix release because of the pandemic.

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