"I don't appreciate you hitting on my girlfriend" – Batista allegedly warned wrestling veteran after "cute little girl" remark
Dave Bautista, known in WWE as Batista, once gave a warning to Kenny Bolin after the wrestling personality made a comment about his ex-wife.
The 53-year-old was part of WWE's Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) developmental territory between 2000 and 2002. During that time, Bolin performed on the promotion's weekly television shows as an on-screen manager.
On Rene Dupree's Cafe de Rene podcast, Bolin recalled a time when several OVW stars were set to attend a Cincinnati Reds baseball game. The Animal asked if he could tag along, prompting Bolin to make a joke about the wrestler's then-wife Angie:
"I said, 'Dave, I don't think we've got room for you in the car. I think we can take that cute little girl to Cincinnati with us.' [John] Cena's laughing, Rico's laughing, like she's [obviously not] gonna dump Batista for me." [1:56 – 2:07]
Wrestling veteran Jim Cornette oversaw the OVW system at the time. Batista risked the wrath of his bosses by confronting Bolin about his remark:
"Knock on my window, Batista's there," Bolin continued. "I look at Rico, I said, 'Well, this can't f***ing be good,' so I rolled the window down, I said, 'Can I help you?' He says, 'Mind if I have a word with you for a minute?' I said, 'Sure,' so I get out the car. He says, 'I know this is probably gonna get me some heat with Cornette, but I just want to tell you I don't appreciate you hitting on my girlfriend.'" [2:12 – 2:31]
The movie star was known as Leviathan in OVW. He held the company's Heavyweight Championship between November 2001 and February 2002 before losing the title to John Cena, then known as The Prototype.
How Kenny Bolin responded to Batista
Although his comments were only intended to be a joke, the wrestling manager promised Batista he would never speak about Angie again.
Batista • "The Animal" • Deacon Bautista • Leviathan
6'6" • 278 lbs
Evolution • Disciples of Synn
OVW Heavyweight • WWE Tag Team • 3x WWE World Tag Team • 4x WWE World Heavyweight • 2x WWE Champion
Royal Rumble 2005, 2014
Batista Bomb (Sit-Out Powerbomb) https://t.co/dywg4XTVHU
From that moment on, the two hardly interacted with each other for the remainder of their time in OVW:
"I said, 'Well, I tell you what, I patted him on the shoulder, and I said, 'It'll never f***ing happen again. All right? We're good,'" Bolin added. "And I got back in the car. I said, 'I'll never speak to that stupid motherf****r again,' and I didn't until I had to hit him in the head with a briefcase." [2:31 – 2:45]
Batista joined WWE's main roster in May 2002 after two years in OVW. He became one of the company's top stars before leaving in 2010 to begin his Hollywood movie career.
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Please credit Cafe de Rene and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.