Dave Bautista (Batista) signed with WWE in 2000 and reported to Ohio Valley Wrestling to begin his training.
Bautista spent roughly two years in OVW before being called up to WWE SmackDown where he was aligned with D-Von Dudley (Reverend D-Von).
Speaking to Chris Van Vliet on Insight, Bautista recalled his training in OVW, and how Fit Finlay helped him.
“I think my growth [in OVW] was a little bit stunted. I went into the WWE completely unprepared, and it was a whole new learning curve. I will say it over and over that Fit Finlay in a day changed my life. I went, and that was kind of a last-ditch effort. John L [John Laurinaitis] sent me down to work with Fit and Steve Regal, Dave Taylor, and Fit just took me aside and just started talking to me, like, ‘What’s wrong with you, dude?’ He just got in my head a little bit and made me see things differently, and a light bulb just went off in my head," recalled Bautista.
Bautista and Finlay worked together throughout Bautista's WWE run on WWE SmackDown, including battles for the WWE World Heavyweight Title.
Elsewhere during the interview, Bautista commented on how things currently are in WWE with Triple H at the helm. Fans can find his full comments by clicking here.
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