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Brute by choice, goof by natureDate: 13.12.2006
Posted by: Anabolic Info Team United States
Virginia native Batista on the 'privilege' of being a WWE champ
David Batista's opponents know they're in trouble when they find themselves sitting atop his broad, tattooed shoulders.
And they know what's coming next is going to hurt. One Batista Bomb -- the wrestler's notorious move where he drops a fellow wrestler from his shoulders to the mat -- and they writhe in pain.
Batista is the 37-year old, 6-foot-5-inch, 300-pound heavyweight champion of the WWE.
The Northern Virginia native considers Sunday's Smackdown Armageddon at the Richmond Coliseum a homecoming, which means he gets to stay at his home in Ashburn.
Despite his menacing image, Batista says he's not a brute in real life. He spoke about his rise to wrestling fame by phone from Portugal, one stop on a European tour last week. Q: Your roots were in bodybuilding and you still look like you work out a lot. How do you stay in shape?
Most of the workout is in the ring. I get there early and start wrestling. But when I'm at home, I will lift for an hour or so. Back when I was a bodybuilder, I weighed 370 pounds, so this weight (300, plus or minus 15 pounds) is easy for me to maintain. I also watch my diet; keep carbs and sugars real low. But I don't spend lots of time in the gym. Really, it's cardio and maintaining shape. I grew up with asthma, so the hardest part is always cardio. What move do you dread?
The stiffest move I've ever gotten, the most brutal, is the Frog Splash from Rob Van Dam. (He leaps from the top rope, turns in mid-air and lands on his opponent.) One of those things knocks the wind out of you like a car wreck. You're touring now almost every day. And you're coming off a torn bicep muscle. Do you get sore after the shows?
Not at all. It's one of those things you just adapt to. If I am sore, I'm not aware of it. (Laugh). But that's why a lot of guys drop out. You see a lot of bodybuilders go into pro wrestling then drop off like dead flies. And it's because it's brutal. But sometimes you adapt to it and suck it up; bandage this or that. Or you drop out. Do you have a say in the script or in what you're going to do in the ring?
As a character, you always have input. But whatever Vince (McMahon, WWE's owner) wants, Vince gets. In the ring, it's a lot of improvisation. Everyone knows the same moves, but not everyone is going to give you the same match. You feed off the crowd. And with experience and know-how, you decide when you get out there. You never know what will happen. Stuff always goes wrong. And the crowd may want one thing, and you go to plan B, because when it comes to the bottom line, we want to entertain the crowd. A few months back, you got in an actual scuffle with King Booker (formerly known as Booker T), your opponent on Sunday night. Does that make facing him harder?
Nah. We worked that out a while ago and have worked together a lot since then. We've really developed a mutual professional respect for each other. We're always going to be different people with different opinions, but we have the same objective. And with all that said, with more animosity, it can add to better matches. But we put each other's lives in each others hands. We had to get along. A guy who can't get along is probably not welcome here. As heavyweight champion, do you lug your belt as a carry-on when you fly?
(Laughter.) It's at least 10 pounds but I would never check it because it could come up missing. TSA always wants to take it out, and take a picture, those goofy buggers. But you know, it's a privilege, and I don't mind lugging it around. Pro wrestlers often make the jump to Hollywood. You've already had a role on the CW show "Smallville." Do you want to do more of that?
I never had much interest in it, but when you look back five [or] 10 years, you see guys like Stone Cold, The Rock doing "SNL" ["Saturday Night Live"] and movies and just bringing so much attention to it. I'd love to be in that position. People watch me on our show and they see me as this big brute. But that's not my personality at all. I'm very mild mannered and kind of a goof. |
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