Dave Batista on Not Being Ready For His Push, Match w/ Taker at WM 23

Former six-time WWE World Champion Dave Batista recently spoke to WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross on the Ross Report Podcast.

Not being ready for his WWE push:

“There [were] a few people that believed in me and there [were] a few people that just didn’t know what the hell to make of me. And sometimes, I didn’t know what the hell to make of myself. I tell people I got into [pro] wrestling for all the wrong reasons. I was desperate, man. I was going on 30 [years old] and I didn’t have a dime to my name and I just didn’t know what to do with myself. I was somewhat of an athlete and I had somewhat of a look. I had some athletic capability, so I gave it a shot. And then, once I did, I just fell in love with it. I was obsessed with it, but often times, I found myself lost. I didn’t know what to do with myself, who to be. It was a big puzzle I was trying to figure out.

“Even when I moved up in WWE, I wasn’t ready. It took me a long time to figure out things. I just kind of… I just kept putting my best foot forward and kind of tried to show people I was working hard and that I really wanted it, but I was still trying to figure out that puzzle of being very much an introvert and it wasn’t easy. A lot of times, people took me the wrong way, so, no, it definitely wasn’t easy and I have to be the first to say I wasn’t ready.”

Coming into his own around his WrestleMania 23 match with The Undertaker:

“It was weird because by the time I came in for my first run with Take, going into WrestleMania 23, I believe it was, I was really starting to come into my own. And I think that match we had at WrestleMania was when I actually felt like I had really come into my own and I could really carry my own weight. I didn’t feel like people were carrying me through matches anymore or building me. It was actually that time that I could start to build other guys. That was that time when I felt like the company’s investment in me had paid off, that I was really going to start making some money for them, serious money for them.”

Being upset with WWE that his match with The Undertaker didn’t close WrestleMania:

“I was really upset that we weren’t the main event. I just felt like we should have been. We deserved to be. We set some milestones with that and I know with the exchange of title and everything, it was just more significant of a match. And I also just felt like Take deserved that to be the main event and should’ve gone on last. So I had a bit of a chip on my shoulder. It was [John] Cena/ Shawn [Michaels], I believe. And I just didn’t.. I felt like we got robbed of that top spot and we should’ve had it. And I felt like our match speaks for itself. I think we had the match of the night. And I just felt like Taker should have been the last thing that people saw that night, so I had a chip on my shoulder and I was a little bent out of shape that we didn’t.

“It was just a special night. It was the first time [Undertaker] held that particular title. And I still feel like we should’ve [closed the show]. Again, I say our match speaks for itself. I believe personally that we stole the show that night. I’ll just kind of leave it at that.”