Dave Bautista Biography – David Michael Bautista Jr., better known as Batista, is one of those rare guys who made wrestling look effortless while somehow pulling off a legit Hollywood career—seriously, he’s that big and magnetic in both worlds. Born January 18, 1969, he got his start in wrestling in ’99 and hit WWE in 2000, but it wasn’t until he joined Evolution in the early 2000s that people really noticed—he had that presence that just makes you pause, whether you’re watching or scrolling.
Dave Bautista Biography 2026
Born: 18 January 1969 (age 55 years), Washington, D.C., United States
Spouse: Sarah Jade (m. 2015–2019), Angie Bautista (m. 1998–2006), Glenda Bautista (m. 1990–1998)
Height: 1.94 m
Upcoming movie: In the Lost Lands
Children: Keilani Bautista, Oliver Bautista, Athena Bautista
Parents: David Michael Bautista, Donna Raye Bautista
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| Born |
David Michael Bautista Jr.
January 18, 1969 Washington, D.C., U.S.
|
|---|---|
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1999–2019 (wrestling) 2006–present (acting) 2012 (MMA) |
| Spouses |
Glenda Bautista (m. 1990; div. 1998)
Angie Bautista
(m. 1998; div. 2006) Sarah Jade
(m. 2015; sep. 2019) |
| Children | 3 |
| Ring name(s) | Batista Dave Batista Deacon Batista Khan Leviathan |
| Billed height | 6 ft 6 in (198 cm) |
| Billed weight | 290 lb (132 kg) |
| Billed from | Washington, D.C. |
| Trained by | Afa Anoaʻi Marrese Crump |
| Debut | October 30, 1999 |
| Retired | April 8, 2019 |
| Height | 6 ft 4 in (193 cm) |
| Weight | 265 lb (120 kg; 18 st 13 lb) |
| Division | Heavyweight |
| Team | Gracie Fighter Tampa Cesar Gracie Jiu-Jitsu |
| Rank | Brown belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Cesar Gracie |
| Years active | 2012 |
| Category | WWE News |
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Early Life
David Michael Bautista Jr. grew up in Washington, D.C., in a family that was complicated, messy, and oddly formative—his mom, Donna Raye, is Greek, his dad the son of Filipino immigrants, and his grandfather had served in the Philippine military while hustling through whatever jobs he could find to keep the family afloat.
Life before wrestling was chaotic—bouncing at nightclubs, landing in legal trouble after a fight, doing a year on probation, trying lifeguarding, and finally discovering bodybuilding, which he calls transformative. By 30, after a serious financial and personal low, wrestling stopped feeling like just a dream and became a real chance to flip his life around—a gamble that, looking back, ended up rewriting everything.
Career
Taming wild animals is best left to trained professionals. Taming “The Animal” is another matter entirely. If Batista always appeared in control of his meteoric rise through the ranks of WWE, that’s because you’re not counting his tempestuous formative years. What would ultimately bring the 6-foot-6, 290-pound brute to the top was his ability to avoid the perils and violence all around him in his troubled youth. He didn’t ask to be born into a rougher part of Washington, D.C., which delivered three early reality checks in the form of homicides committed on his parents’ front lawn. He cannot undo becoming estranged from his parents by age 17 or the assault charges he accrued and probation he served for unleashing his ferocious temper on two unruly patrons at a club where Batista worked as a bouncer.
Batista led Team SmackDown! against Team Raw in an inter-brand feud before Survivor Series. The feud saw Big Show and Kane chokeslamming Batista several more times in the weeks leading up to Survivor Series in an on-camera explanation for Batista’s injury.
Mixed martial arts
After being released from the WWE, Batista attended StrikeForce: Los Angeles on 16 June 2010, having previously registered an interest in competing in Mixed martial arts. On 21 June 2010, Batista announced to TMZ.com that he would be embarking on a MMA career. Batista had announced that he and StrikeForce had agreed on a price and were negotiating a contract. With Batista’s MMA debut still on for the event, Evans was replaced by journeyman and 40 fight veteran Vince Lucero. Batista would go on to win the fight by TKO at 4:05 in the first round.
In addition to wrestling, Batista has been in several commercials and on several magazine covers. He was shown breakdancing in a commercial promoting WWE SummerSlam in 2004 where he did his take on a “floor routine”, a routine that parodied the floor routines shown at the Olympic Games. He was also on the cover of the April 2005 Flex magazine and Muscle & Fitness for September 2008. Moreover, Batista has acted and has guest starred in several television shows as both himself and in-character as Batista.
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Dave Bautista Net Worth
Dave Bautista, the hulking presence who went from wrestling rings to Hollywood blockbusters and even dabbled in mixed martial arts, has built a pretty solid fortune along the way—rumor has it he’s sitting on around $16 million.
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Personal Life
Before the age of 40, Batista had already become a grandfather of two grandsons: Jacob and Aiden by Keilani, his first daughter. This collection started when he bought Angie an ET lunchbox and she did not want to break it, so he bought a second one. Batista revealed that he and Angie were separated in the August 2006 edition of WWE Magazine. He later revealed, in his autobiography, a relationship with WWE Diva Melina Perez after the divorce from his wife in 2006, which led to a brief angle on SmackDown! during a feud with MNM.
