Batista: I Was Told By WCW Trainers That I Would Never Make It In Pro Wrestling After My First Tryout

Batista was told he would never make it in the business.

Throughout the Ruthless Aggression Era, Batista, alongside other key names was part of the rise of the next big generation for the WWE. Batista would join Evolution, led by Triple H and Ric Flair where he’d go on to win the Royal Rumble and then the World Heavyweight title from Triple H at WrestleMania 21.

During an interview with Jimmy Fallon show, Batista revealed that his first tryout was with WCW at the Power Plant where they told him that he would never make it in the business.

“So that’s what I did. I wanted to just lift weights. I thought I wanted to body build. 13 years later, I had nothing to show for it. I was just big and jacked. I was broke, and I thought, ‘what am I going to do?’ (Professional wrestling) I actually failed at that. My first tryout was miserable. They told me to leave, and I’d never be a pro wrestler. That was in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s a place called the Power Plant, which was the WCW at the time. They literally told me to leave. They said you’re not going to make it. You’re never going to make it.”

Batista would go on to prove them wrong by winning two Royal Rumble matches, winning the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania, and having one of the best careers in WWE history.

h/t to Fightful for the transcription.

Want to discuss wrestling further? Join our Discord community by clicking here! 

If you enjoy Bodyslam’s content, you can help donate to the site here. You can also visit our PWTees store and buy Bodyslam official merchandise here.

You can listen to all of Bodyslam’s podcasts by following us on Spotify and subscribing to our YouTube Channel, Twitch, Apple, Google, or any of your favorite podcast platforms.

Follow me on X: @WhoElseButRami
Follow us on X: @BodyslamNet