Batista: Hollywood is a ‘cakewalk’ compared to grind of pro wrestling

Dave Bautista’s in-ring past has more than prepared him for his current life as a Hollywood star.

While speaking with Film Inside during the press tour for his movie “In the Lost Lands,” Bautista discussed being a lifeguard, bouncer, and WWE star before becoming an actor. Bautista said that, with the work ethic he developed in WWE, Hollywood life is a “cakewalk.”

“More than anything, I have a strong work ethic — and my work ethic really came from the WWE,” the 56-year-old Bautista said. “WWE, if nothing else, they’re not only durable people but it’s just the hardest grind that I could ever imagine. Being in Hollywood and being on a film set, it’s long hours, but compared to the grind of being a professional wrestler, it’s just a cakewalk. It’s night and day. I’m in this business and I find it hard to relate to people who are just always unhappy on set and always complaining about something. I don’t relate to that at all.”

Bautista has been retired from WWE since facing Triple H at WrestleMania 35 in 2019. He misses wrestling and there is always the temptation to come back, but he knows that his time in the ring is over. He is not willing to tarnish the storybook ending that his career had.

A WWE Hall of Fame induction of Bautista was originally set for 2020, but the ceremony couldn’t happen that year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He will be inducted in the future when his schedule allows him to be in attendance.