Batista claims he hated his initial gimmick, feared getting released by WWE for it

During his prime in WWE, Dave Bautista (aka simply Batista) established himself as one of the marquee Superstars of the business. Introduced as a member of Evolution, Batista went on to headline WrestleMania 21 and eventually captured the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at The Grandest Stage of Them All.

However, before the Batista gimmick, 'The Animal' was known as Deacon Batista and served as Reverend D-Von's sidekick. During an episode of the Ruthless Aggression documentary on the WWE Network, the former WWE World Champion revealed his honest opinion about his initial gimmick.

Batista gives his honest opinion on 'Deacon Batista' gimmick

In the third edition of the weekly documentary, Batista claimed that he hated the idea of the Deacon Batista gimmick, saying: (H/T: Fightful)

“I thought it was the dumbest thing I’d ever seen. I hated everything about it. I didn’t like the suit. I didn’t like the box. I didn’t like the nature of it. Sometimes, it was fun, working with D-Von was fun.”

He further claimed that he feared he would get fired by WWE due to the gimmick, as he was making no progression and wasn't performing well.

“But there were more than a few occasions where I thought I would lose my job. I just put all this pressure on myself and I wasn’t performing well. I wasn’t progressing. I wasn’t the guy that they needed me to be."

What's next for Batista?

Having retired from in-ring competition in 2019, Batista is set to get inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame this year.