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After stepping away from the squared-circle 19 years ago, Stone Cold Steve Austin wrestled in his first match for WWE at WrestleMania 38. During the gap in between, he was still relevant owing to his massive popularity, and in the media with The Steve Austin Show and Broken Skull Sessions, among others.
He is a WWE Hall of Famer and legend who is admired by even his peers. One such wrestler who rose to prominence after Austin's retirement in 2003, was The Animal, Dave Bautista (Batista). The latter wants to be remembered as an actor first, then a retired professional wrestler.
The former WWE Champion's road to reaching a successful acting career involved major struggles initially, and apparently, he almost lost everything. And the behind it all reason was that Batista was following advice from Austin. Dave spoke to GQ:
"Before I left WWE, Stone Cold Steve Austin pulled me aside and said, 'You're going to get offers for horrible scripts. The money will be tempting. Don't get caught in that trap.'" [H/T: GQ]
After being part of some low-budget and direct-to-video films, Batista's career break came when he scored the part of Drax the Destroyer in the MCU's Guardians of the Galaxy.
However, in 2023 he has evolved a lot over the years and has taken a different route as opposed to fellow wrestlers who have also made in Hollywood. You can read more about it here.
The former WWE Champion is a very busy Hollywood Actor today
After Army of the Dead and Dune in 2021, and Glass Onions: A Knives Out Mystery in 2022, the top superstar of the Ruthless Aggression Era alongside John Cena, already has three releases this year.
Along with sequels to GOTG and Dune, Batista will also be seen in the M. Night Shyamalan film Knock at the Cabin, which is set to release on February 3, 2023.
The Animal has had quite the career with the Stamford-based company, within a short span, and with being prominently featured in big-budget and well-anticipated movies like these, Batista might just get his wish as eventually being remembered as an actor first, wrestler second.
Where does The Animal rank among your favorite superstars of the Ruthless Aggression Era? Sound off in the comments section below.
