Raw Magazine December 2004
If working out is an art form, then Batista is Michelangelo.
Much like the Italian Renaissance sculptor created magic with a few lumps of clay, the enforcer of Evolution has molded his body into that of a Greek god. In fact, he is so chisled and cut that perhaps the only physiques comparable to his are seen between the pages of comic books. Think of him as Superman with tattoos and a tan.
But building this masterpiece wasn't easy.
The former world Tag Team Champion's passion for bodybuilding began at a young age, when, believe it or not, he began to grow self-conscious of his appearance. Although he is a hulking he-man today, Batista was actually a tall, lanky teenager. One day, he went down to the basement and began throwing around his father's weights. The rest, as they say, is history.
"When I began, I was about 6-foot-1 and weighed between 150 and 160 pounds. I was real thin." Batista says. "But once I began training, I started noticing results immediately. I took to it like a duck to water. It came natural to me, and I filled out really quickly. By the time I was 18, I entered my first bodybuilding competition, which I did really well in. I took first place to become the new Teenage Mr. Virginia.
"I actually entered the same contest the year after," he says, "But I got really sick because of my dieting, trying to get as lean as possible. I became so dehydrated that I started cramping up really badly. I never even made the pre-judging, and it left a bitter taste in my mouth as far as body-building goes, because I fell to the ground, and the line for pre-judging pretty much just walked right over me -- nobody even asked if I was OK.
"A few years later, after I filled out a little more, I entered the men's heavy-weight division, but I was too tall to be a Mr. Olympia. Most body builders are between 5-8 and 5-10, so no matter how big I got, when I stood next to a guy who was 5-8 250 pounds, even if I weighted 300, he still looked more massive than me, so I got really disillusioned, and I just gave up on [competitive] bodybuilding."