Batista Reveals WCW Trainers Doubted His Potential After First Tryout

The Animal Batista became a name synonymous with WWE in the 2000s, becoming a 6-time World champion and one of the company’s biggest stars. In the 2010s, Batista transitioned to Hollywood, where he found significant success.

However, the former World Heavyweight Champion shared that his journey to wrestling stardom was far from easy during a recent appearance on The Jimmy Fallon show. Recalling his initial tryout with WWE’s former rival, WCW, Batista revealed that he was told he would never make it in the industry.

Batista recalled his visit to their developmental territory, Power Plant, where he had his first wrestling tryout. However, the WCW trainers outrightly told him to leave and stated that he would never rise to the top of the wrestling mountain.

“I wanted to just lift weights. I thought I wanted to bodybuild. Thirteen 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?’ I actually failed at professional wrestling at first. My first tryout was miserable. They told me to leave, and I’d never be a pro wrestler. That was in Atlanta, Georgia, at a place called the Power Plant, which was the WCW training facility 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.'”

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Batista ultimately proved them wrong, retiring from professional wrestling at WrestleMania 35 after losing to Triple H in a singles match after carving out a Hall of Fame-worthy career. As of now, he is celebrating the success of his latest Amazon Prime film, after earlier revealing the first look.

While it has been years since WWE Universe has seen Batista in the ring in any capacity, we will have to wait and see if The Animal chooses to make a one-off appearance in the near future.

What are your thoughts on Batista being told by WCW trainers that he would never succeed as a pro wrestling star? Are you inspired by the journey of Batista proving his doubters wrong? Sound off in the comments!