Batista opens up about his weight loss; explains why he had to gain 315 lbs
Batista commented on losing a lot of weight and explained why he had to gain 315 lbs. The WWE legend underwent a major transformation and looks unrecognizable to some fans.
The Animal is one of the biggest names to have ever come out of WWE. He held numerous world titles during his run in the company and shared the ring with many renowned stars such as John Cena, The Undertaker, Randy Orton and Shawn Michaels. He transitioned to acting and became a major Hollywood star.
Batista recently appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live and stated that he had to gain a lot of weight for a movie he was filming. He revealed that he's now 240 lbs.
"Since my, well a couple years ago, I put on a lot of weight for a film called Knock at the Cabin and I went up to 315, and I'm about 240 now. I've been trying to shed that weight since and I've just now kind of gotten to the point where I'm like, 'I feel good man.' And I'm still 240 lbs and people talk about me like I'm anorexic. Six-four 240," he said. [0:41 - 1:17]
Batista reveals that John Laurinaitis wanted to fire him from WWE
The Animal was part of a villainous faction known as Evolution, which included Triple H, Randy Orton and Ric Flair. After he left the group, he had a successful run as a singles star.
However, speaking to Chris Van Vliet, Batista stated that John Laurinaitis wanted to fire him when he was still in OVW.
"A lot of people didn't believe in me. Even when I was in developmental camp down in OVW, there was people with the WWE—John Laurinaitis—who wanted to fire me. But I just kept digging in and digging in and digging in, until I finally got my real first opportunity with Evolution. And I had access to Triple H and Ric Flair, I mean, two of the greatest professional wrestlers ever. And I wasn't going to blow my shot, man. So I just put everything else on the backburner and focused on my wrestling career," he said.
Batista's last match in WWE was at WrestleMania 35, where he wrestled Triple H. He announced his retirement after the bout.
If you use the quotes from the first half of this article, please credit the Jim Cornette Experience and add an H/T to Sportskeeda for the transcription.