Bix Posted July 26, 2007 Report Share Posted July 26, 2007 Seems somewhat legit... People around the world know Dave Batista as World Wrestling Entertainment's "the Animal," the rope-shaking, spine-busting World Heavyweight Champion, one of the most popular Superstars in recent years.The crowd turned Batista from heel to babyface after they were electrified by his awesome physique and physical wrestling style. Few fans, however, know that Batista didn't join the profession until he was thirty years old -- an age at which many wrestlers are thinking about hanging up their boots. Nor do most fans know the tremendous toll the climb to the top has taken on Batista's personal life. While successfully staying away from hard drugs and -- usually -- liquor, he found sex too tempting to resist. "Women were my drug of choice," the Animal confesses. That addiction cost him his marriage, destroying a relationship that had helped him climb from poverty to the pinnacle of sports entertainment in less than two years. Now, in Batista Unleashed, the WWE Superstar comes clean about the choices he made and the devastating effects they had on his family. He talks about the injury that stripped him of his title -- an injury he blames on Mark Henry's carelessness. While being sidelined cost Batista untold hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost income, it also set the stage for a tremendous comeback that cemented the Animal's reputation as a true champion. Batista talks about growing up in the worst part of Washington, D.C., where three murders occurred in his front yard before he was nine. He speaks lovingly about his mother -- a lesbian -- and how hard she worked to keep the family not just together but alive. He talks candidly about his own criminal past: a conviction on a drug charge and another, since overturned, on assault. He speaks of his days as a bouncer and a lifeguard, and tells how bodybuilding may have saved his life. Once he made it to the WWE, Batista realized he wasn't really ready for the big time. His career seemed headed for a fall until Fit Finlay took him under his wing. But his real education came when he joined Evolution and rode with Triple H and Ric Flair, two of sports entertainment's all-time greats. Batista talks about what they taught him, and details some of their wild times on the road. But the champ also reveals a kinder, gentler side. While his soft-spoken manner in the locker room has sometimes been misinterpreted as arrogance, in truth Batista's always been somewhat shy and quiet. Emotional by nature, he reveals for the first time that the tears fans saw at WrestleMania 21, when he won the World Heavyweight Championship for the first time, were very real. And he speaks movingly about his problems with his ex-wives and teenage daughters, and how it felt to become a grandfather. While his straight-shooting mouth has occasionally gotten him into trouble -- most notably in a backstage confrontation with Undertaker after some remarks about SmackDown! -- Batista is his own harshest critic. He explains his early limitations as a wrestler and the work he has done to overcome them. Interspersing his memoir with accounts from life on the road, Batista lightens the narrative with a surprising sense of humor. An Animal in the ring, he reveals himself as an honest and even humble man in everyday life. Whaaaaaa? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S.L.L. Posted July 26, 2007 Report Share Posted July 26, 2007 Seems somewhat legit... This line.... He talks about the injury that stripped him of his title -- an injury he blames on Mark Henry's carelessness. ...which is verifiably false, and only believed by those on the internet with a fear of a black, fat, sweaty planet, makes me think it isn't, though maybe it's just WWE subtly burying Henry to the media. I'm guessing not, though. "Women were my drug of choice," the Animal confesses. Sure they are, Dave. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bix Posted July 26, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 26, 2007 Seems somewhat legit... This line.... He talks about the injury that stripped him of his title -- an injury he blames on Mark Henry's carelessness. ...which is verifiably false, and only believed by those on the internet with a fear of a black, fat, sweaty planet, makes me think it isn't, though maybe it's just WWE subtly burying Henry to the media. I'm guessing not, though. It's possible he blamed Henry when nobody else was. I recall the WON items saying that it wasn't Henry's fault and the company wasn't blaming him, not that Batista himself wasn't blaming him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxpower Posted July 26, 2007 Report Share Posted July 26, 2007 I want to read about his "confrontation" with Undertaker just to see how he puts himself over without burying UT one single bit. Plus, how could he be his own harshest critic and at the same time call last year's comeback triumphant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cox Posted July 26, 2007 Report Share Posted July 26, 2007 There is almost no way that this is real. How would they mention the confrontation with the Undertaker, but not Booker T knocking him the f out? Also, has WWE ever mentioned terms like "heel" or "face" in a release like this? I am calling BS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bix Posted July 26, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 26, 2007 There is almost no way that this is real. How would they mention the confrontation with the Undertaker, but not Booker T knocking him the f out? Also, has WWE ever mentioned terms like "heel" or "face" in a release like this? I am calling BS.Ooh, I missed that... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bix Posted July 26, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 26, 2007 For what it's worth, I emailed Dave Meltzer and he said that the summary meshed with what he heard about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CodySave Posted July 26, 2007 Report Share Posted July 26, 2007 and how it felt to become a grandfather. Wha....how old is he again? I want to say 43. Still, is Ric Flair even a grandfather yet? It's just very strange that a guy who's jacked up and considered a viable contender for the World title is already a grandpa. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bix Posted July 26, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 26, 2007 and how it felt to become a grandfather. Wha....how old is he again? I want to say 43. Still, is Ric Flair even a grandfather yet? It's just very strange that a guy who's jacked up and considered a viable contender for the World title is already a grandpa. He's believed to be 41 but he's "officially" 38. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted July 27, 2007 Report Share Posted July 27, 2007 Assuming the median on his age is 40, and he's already a grandfather, is this some kind of father-daughter Gilmore Girls thing going on? How old was Big Dave when he became a father? Also, if this is real, I want to hear how they handle the Batista: Wacky Womanizer approach they seem to be going for with his wife having cancer during it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted July 27, 2007 Report Share Posted July 27, 2007 There's also the implication that that phase of his life is over, when something happened recently where he got a Diva fired who he thought was a prude or something like that. I don't remember the details. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boondocks Kernoodle Posted July 27, 2007 Report Share Posted July 27, 2007 That was Shelly Martinez. Allegedly he tried to hit on her and she rejected him, but her release was supposedly mostly due to the fact that A: Vince didn't like her look and B: She was a Heyman pet project and Stephanie, in taking over as head of talent relations, had no use for her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bix Posted October 14, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 14, 2007 Via Keith Lipinski: My wife thought I was sleeping with Melina right off the bat, while we were still married. It wasn't true, but it did make me feel guilty about being friends with her). Since then, as I've said, Melina and I have gotten closer and our relationship has become physical. That's caused a bit of controversy, but I don't give a shit. She's my friend, and I love her very much. Oh boy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoe Posted October 14, 2007 Report Share Posted October 14, 2007 Via Keith Lipinski: My wife thought I was sleeping with Melina right off the bat, while we were still married. It wasn't true, but it did make me feel guilty about being friends with her). Since then, as I've said, Melina and I have gotten closer and our relationship has become physical. That's caused a bit of controversy, but I don't give a shit. She's my friend, and I love her very much. Oh boy. In one of the WWE books has anybody mentioned they were haveing a "physical" relationship with a co-worker? I know all about the Hardy,Edge, and Lita stuff. This makes Morrison look like a big pussy; and that no rules apply to Dave. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted October 15, 2007 Report Share Posted October 15, 2007 Mick Foley also seems to have a weird relationship with Melina. If it was anyone else, you'd just assume they were sleeping together but Mick comes off as such a manchild sometimes that I could picture him going over to her house just to read comic books and eat pizza. Also, while Dave mentions the "while we were married" part; he fails to mention the "while my wife was undergoing cancer treatment" part. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bix Posted October 15, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 15, 2007 http://www.wrestlingmarks.com/blogs/The_Di...l_Unleashed/105 The Dirt on the Animal Unleashed by bpapa on 10/14/07 8:47 PM For those that haven't been keeping up, both Chris Jericho and Dave Batista have biographies dropping this week. In fact, if you have a local major bookstore such as Barnes and Noble, you might want to check it out because the books may be on shelves already. They were for me! Personally, I was much more interested in Batista's book that Jericho's. Perhaps it's just because I had heard earlier this year that Batista's book was going to be filled with a lot of dirty stories and shit talking about people in the business that he hated, and all of the women that he had slept with. So, I got Batista's book, hoping to eat up all of the juicy details. Thing is, it wasn't that bad. In fact, it was no more salacious than Ric Flair's book, Mick Foley's book, or any other. Originally I envisioned myself blowing through the book in an afternoon and making a huge bullet point list of all of the shit Batista talked. However, the real dirt wasn't there in huge doses. So instead of presenting the entire Cliff's Notes, here's just a recap of the saltier details. - Batista is a grandfather. Yep, that's right. His older daughter had a child at the age of 16. And that's not the end of that story, no - after a dispute with the father of the child, the babydaddy moved away from Florida to Virginia. There, he unfortunately died in a car crash. Batista is very sympathetic to the father of his grandchild, saying he respected him for trying to be a father but understood why he had to move away (Batista's daughter decided to get a new boyfriend). Batista cites Eddie Guerrero as somebody who really helped him through this difficult time. - Batista talks about his wife's cancer. He admits he was unfaithful to her but they had a rocky relationship before and after her cancer. The only woman we know that he admits to having physical relations with is Melina. No mention at all of Shelly Martinez (the former Ariel of ECW who is said to have had an argument with Batista that may have led to her firing). - Batista hates Bubba Ray Dudley (he loves D'Von though). Specifically, Batista cites the match against the Dudley Boyz in early '03 where both he and Randy Orton were injured. Even though Orton and Batista were both on their way to the hospital, Bubba was giving the Evolution rookies a really hard time about his own injury. Batista likened Bubba to a bully. - Batista admits that he wasn't very respectful to Booker and that's what led to their infamous fist fight last year. - He is a good friend to JBL, but admits that they had very poor matches together (Batista has actually been doing this publicly for a long time). - When he first went to Smackdown, he had a run-in with the Undertaker, after making some public comments about RAW's roster being harder working than Smackdown's. Undertaker understood how Batista was trying to put over the competitiveness between the two brands, but at the same time was pissed that Batista was publicly burying half the company. - There a couple of parts where Chris Benoit is mentioned in the book. Of course, right after those mentions, there is a paragraph about how Batista can't believe that Benoit commited those heinous acts. Aside from that, the book is overall very positive. I would recommend it if you're interested in learning more about Batista. Forgot to mention - Batista says he likes Mark Henry, but completely blames him for doing a spot he wasn't proficient at, causing the injury where Batista surrendered the title. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted October 15, 2007 Report Share Posted October 15, 2007 So it sounds like the subtitle of this book could have been "Big Dave Throws His Co-Workers Under the Bus". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strummer Posted October 15, 2007 Report Share Posted October 15, 2007 Johnny Nitro must be a very understanding boyfriend to let his girlfriend bang another guy who he happens to work with. You have to love the wrestling business Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kjh Posted October 15, 2007 Report Share Posted October 15, 2007 Hopefully the Johnny Nitro and Melina story ends much more happily than the Skip and Sunny story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cox Posted October 15, 2007 Report Share Posted October 15, 2007 Hopefully the Johnny Nitro and Melina story ends much more happily than the Chris and Nancy story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest *FH* Posted October 15, 2007 Report Share Posted October 15, 2007 Batista strikes me as a 40 year old manchild who never had much going on, lady-wise, and then was suddenly hugely successful and had a whole new world of poontang open up to him and didn't know how to handle it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S.L.L. Posted October 15, 2007 Report Share Posted October 15, 2007 Batista strikes me as a 40 year old flamingly gay man who is openly bragging about his female sexual conquests in a desperate attempt to deflect attention from his flaming gayness. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest *FH* Posted October 15, 2007 Report Share Posted October 15, 2007 Well yeah, there's that, too. Of all the women he brags about bagging, he picks to most mannish, lanterned-jawed one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S.L.L. Posted October 15, 2007 Report Share Posted October 15, 2007 Well yeah, there's that, too. Of all the women he brags about bagging, he picks to most mannish, lanterned-jawed one. Well, I imagine sleeping with WWE Divas is a pretty good intermediate step to coming out of the closet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bix Posted October 15, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 15, 2007 Well yeah, there's that, too. Of all the women he brags about bagging, he picks to most mannish, lanterned-jawed one. Well, I imagine sleeping with WWE Divas is a pretty good intermediate step to coming out of the closet. As is this: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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