Dave Batista wrestles to fitness

Say "Batista Bomb" and I might panic and relate it to something really explosive. My kids find this a big joke as they try to demonstrate to me the signature move of the 2005 Royal Rumble winner Dave Batista, who also has World Heavyweight Championship, WWE Tag Team Championship and World Tag Team Championship titles under his belt. He is also Pro-Wrestling Illustrated’s 2005 Wrestler of the Year, the 2005 Most Improved Wrestler of the Year, 2005 Most Powerful Wrestler of the Year, as well as holding the number one rank in 2005. I would never have guessed that the Batista Bomb, a sit-out powerbomb maneuver, is the signature wrestling move of Batista. My kids lectured that there are other Batista signature moves like the spine buster, the spear, the running power slam, the strong clothesline, repeated turnbuckle thrusts, and the two-handed choke lift. The Batista Bomb is preceded by Batista violently shaking the ring ropes and doing the infamous "thumbs up, thumbs down" gesture.

The spotlight is on a Filipino-Greek, six-foot-five, 300-pound superstar wrestler, David Michael Bautista, a.k.a. Dave Batista. He was part of a stable called Evolution with wrestlers Ric Flair, Triple H, and Randy Orton. Despite his whirlwind success, Batista remains grounded, saying in an interview: "Enjoy the ride. Let it come, don’t think about it, don’t overanalyze. It’s day by day because you never know in this business. You can be here today and gone tomorrow. You need to realize that every time you go out there and not take anything for granted." 

I met the big guy in Las Vegas during a convention where he promoted the new WWE magazine with him on the cover. When we mentioned we were from Manila, he promptly mentioned that his father is Filipino and that he’ll be in Manila soon (he was here last weekend for a promo tour and will be the main feature on October 20 and 21 at the WWE Smackdown Survivor Series Tour at the Araneta Coliseum). 

From Bodybuilding To Body Bombing

Batista was into bodybuilding and a little power-lifting before he started his career in wrestling. His first attempt at an open tryout with the WCW did not work out well, but this did not stop him from trying his luck at WWE. Batista’s strength and physical attributes are the aces that allowed him a great start. The mentorship of Ric Flair and Triple H taught him the game of wrestling. 

"It’s not just learning in the ring from those guys. We have a saying that you really learn the business in the car; not so much in the ring, but talking about it afterwards. What you did wrong, what you did right, and things you could have done. Since I travel with those two guys as well as wrestle with them, I’ve really been able to learn a ton," he said.

Batista was always athletic, but there was a time in his life when all he wanted was to be big. He was very tall and muscular but lean while growing up. That got him into lifting weights to fill out, to which his body responded very well, as he naturally got bigger and bigger. His heaviest was 367 pounds, at which point his agility and cardiovascular training declined. For wrestling, he had to retrain his body and improve his flexibility and endurance.

A Superstar’s World

The WWE superstar has a punishing work schedule.  Batista splits his time doing the television show plus globetrotting to promote the tours through pre-event press conferences and activities. It is not unusual for him to take the plane after the show to another US City, then take a flight to Asia or Europe, sometimes spending only a day or two in each stop before proceeding to the next. He gets to go home and rest one or two days before repeating the routine again. Batista’s problem with being on the road all the time is finding healthy food on the go. The hectic schedules and constant traveling, through airports and on the road, compel him to make do at times with fast food when that is the only option. 

"It’s just hard to eat healthy when you’re traveling so much," he said. 

What gives Batista a sense of accomplishment is being able to entertain a multitude of people. "There’s something about walking through that curtain, and the adrenaline rush of 10, 20, 30, 40,000 people screaming, yelling, chanting, I mean that’s a natural high that you couldn’t find anywhere else," he said, saying the phenomenon is the closest thing an athlete can get to being a rock star – without the music.

To win in the ring, Batista said that, as in anything, you have to have a very strong desire and determination to be a professional wrestler. You have to love it, have the passion for it. You also have to be tough, not only to take the blows, but also the punishing schedules and the constant traveling. A lot of mental toughness is needed as well, according to Batista. Physically, the seemingly indestructible Batista has had his right triceps torn three times and he’s had four surgeries. 

The Fave As A Fan

Batista looks up to Triple H as a role model he would like to follow. He admires Triple H’s all-around ring skills and intensity and refers to him as a total package. Batista also considers Triple H his ultimate opponent. "Like I said, he’s the best, and you always want to pit yourself against the best. It’s time to see if I can carry my own weight, and I think with my physical attributes, I’m an unstoppable force," he was quoted as saying. 

While his greatest all-time hero is Lou Gehrig, the American baseball player, he still looks up to Triple H and Ric Flair as his heroes in the business. Batista recounted that Ric Flair has taught him about life, not just wrestling, and how to deal with the challenges of the business. Flair taught him how to have fun and make the most of his chosen career. "But his leadership, in the locker room, you couldn’t put a price on that. And he’s awesome; he’s a hell of an athlete. He’s still going strong at 50-something. And the things that he can teach, the headlocks and the arm drags, the moves… he teaches you to interact with the crowd, listen to the crowd and what the crowd wants.  Wrestling, it’s an art to him. And that’s what he tries to teach to most guys, (though) some guys don’t get it. But he handed that over to me, I think I got the concept and was able to roll with it," Batista commented on Flair.

On a lighter note, Batista collects tattoos and tin lunchboxes. His favorite tattoo is a dragon on his back.  His thing for dragons, he said, started from idolizing Bruce Lee when he was a kid. As Philippine Star entertainment editor Ricky Lo first reported, Batista recently added a tattoo on his arm showing the flags of the Philippines and Greece merged into one. His passion for tin lunchboxes started when he bought an E.T. original tin lunchbox online for his wife’s first job. His ex-wife (I believe he is separated now) loved it so much that she did not use it, so he bought another one. He was sidelined then because of an injury, and as he recuperated, he found himself buying many tin lunchboxes online and quickly found his collection had expanded from two to 10, 30, 50, and now 70.

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  Stay well! Post me a note at mylene@goldsgym.com.ph.