Batista Unleashed

by Dave Bautista, Jeremy Roberts

Dave Batista's story is that of a kid who could have gone either way; and it was wrestling that provided him with a way out and up. As a teenager he found himself in trouble with the law, later drifting from job to job until, while working as a bouncer, his temper got the better of him and he attacked two patrons who were giving his colleagues a hard time. It was this incident that made him decide to turn his life around. A hardscrabble wrestler who had been told that he didn't have what it took to make it in professional wrestling, Batista took that as a personal challenge and signed with WWE. His determination to come back from injuries and the heart he shows in the ring have won him countless fans. More than once, on the brink of success, he has had it torn from him until finally, in 2007, he became WWE World Heavyweight Champion. Batista is also renowned for him forthright opinions of his fellow wrestlers. Tough and uncompromising, this book says it all.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, Sports, Autobiography, Memoir

305 pages, Hardcover

First published October 16, 2007

Reviews

[BookMarc · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dear Dave,
I am contacting you in regards to your biography that I read a little while back. Had your book been an item of food I would have returned it to the place it was purchased and demanded a refund due to it being stale, lifeless and stomach-churning. As it happens my local bookstore refuses refunds, or an exchange, based on the fact that a book is stale, lifeless and stomach-churning. Perhaps the laws regarding food should apply to books also? After all we do digest both.
Standing at 6ft 6in tall and being 290lb of muscle, natural or otherwise, you are indeed an impressive looking specimen. The fact that your biography is damn near constant bragging about female sexual conquests isn't so impressive. You claim to be a reformed sex addict but then revel in the fact that you can get beautiful women at the drop of a hat and continue to do so. I wonder who these revelations are aimed at? I know, as a male, I don't wish to keep reading how good looking you are and how easy it is for you to hop from one woman to the other. Is that jealousy on my part...perhaps. I would guess the female audience doesn't appreciate it either as very few women wish to be viewed as pieces of meat that you can conquest at will. I would suggest, Dave, that your abrasive gloating is aimed at yourself and although I am no psychologist I would theorize that although you never have to stroke your manhood yourself you very much have to stroke your own ego to make you feel like a man. Strangely though, for someone who is all too willing to speak about his sexual life, your biography never covered your alleged groping of former WWE diva Shelly Martinez against her wishes or the time you posted nude pics of WWE diva Mickie James all over the locker room to embarrass her. Yet you did give us this wonderful insight into the human you are...

"Now, don't get me wrong, my ex-wife is the love of my life and I would never knowingly hurt her. However, while I was busting my butt on the road like a dog, she would sit around the house and do nothing. I mean, yeah, she had cancer, but she couldn't vacuum? And since the chemo made her "not in the mood", I had no choice but to have threesomes on the road. I mean, she's talented and I hated to see her waste her life like that when she could be a dancer, or maybe a nurse. But she's not a bad person and I take full responsibility for my actions, even though it was her fault."

The only thing that comes close to your sexual bragging is your tendency to mouth off about how tough you are and how many guys you have beaten up outside of the wrestling ring. Being a former bouncer gave you the opportunity to do this and if it can be considered tough for someone 6ft 6in and 290lb to intimidate and brutalize 'normal' sized guys at will then so be it. However, and I don't recall you mentioning this in your biography, when you tried such tactics on fellow wrestler Booker T, a guy who is 6ft 3in and weighs 250lb, in a legitimate backstage confrontation he kicked your ass. Just saying.
Ultimately I found your biography distasteful, shallow and a complete waste of a good tree. If only the paper used in your book had been softer I would have used the pages to wipe my ass with but as it happens at least some good came out of 'Batista unleashed' when I had it recycled.
Sincerely,
BookMarc Blogpants

[Brandon · Rating 1 out of 5]

I hated this book.

It now has the distinction of being the first book that I've ever started, that I could not bring myself to finish. Oh GOD, I hated this. If I had anything else on my shelf that I could have picked up to read before my next splurge of reading material, I would have. I probably should have read the phone book.

This man is a grade-A douchebag. He is such an asshole in the first 75 pages that I wanted to punch this book in the face. I've never, EVER, read anything so self-centered and offensive in my life. I am a massive, MASSIVE fan of the "sport" of pro-wrestling reading my fair share of autobiographies over the years and I can't say that anything comes CLOSE to being this terrible.

Awful. Just awful.

[Zachary Naylor · Rating 2 out of 5]

From a dude nicknamed "the Animal": something quite sedate.

This autobiography, I can't help it, leaves me constantly comparing it to Bret Hart's "Hitman: My Real Life in the Cartoon World of Pro Wrestling." They cover two radically different career paths and styles of wrestling, in very different zeitgeists and from radically different people. And yet, parallels remain, the sort of which I find relentlessly captivating. It's these, among a few other bits and bobs, that gives me a pretty casual relationship with this work.

Where Bret came from a wrestling family and found his calling early, Dave came from a bad neighbourhood and didn't get his start until 30. Where Bret experienced his rise and fall before and during pro-wrestling's zenith, Dave came to the business after that boom period would never be repeated again. Bret writes in incredible recall, with hindsight tempering his vision; Dave writes with a ghostwriter, struggles to remember fine details, and brought this to the table shortly after his big surge of popularity. Bret was an outspoken company man, Dave a surprisingly quiet outsider.

If it seems like I'm shying away from actually talking about the content, it's in part because there's not a whole ton to talk about: he had only been "big" for about 4-5 years at the time, after all. Though numbering about 300 pages, the organization of chapters and typeface--alongside Dave's typically-reserved speech--makes this really easy reading, almost too easy: it's pretty forgettable once we get past his tough childhood about a third of the way in.

There's a fair few things one could lambast: yet another wrestler whose "drug" of choice was women (and infidelity)? A guy strapped to a rocket so quickly that his aloofness about the business alienated every other co-worker he met for years? A career then so brief that a book about it is forced to be padded with shallow aphoristic gratitude for tons of faceless, undeveloped friends? It's that last point that to me sticks out.

Indeed, it's that last point which makes it hard for me to hate this book at all! Dave himself openly questions to need for such a thing almost immediately, exposing the product as pretty much irrelevant and that his arm was probably twisted a bit. As such, I'm kind of willing to forgive Dave's withdrawn attitude. He doesn't seem to hold anything about himself but his physique in any high regard, and every so often an amusing passage in hindsight (like enjoying performing, years before his memorable turn as Drax the Destroyer) or a fun nugget about another wrestler (like the Undertaker) makes it clear that there are some things he clearly enjoyed about making this... even if it was pushed out for a quick buck. In some ways I almost feel bad for the ghostwriter, Jeremy Roberts--Dave's not a chatty man, so he probably had to really massage out anything of substance. Knowing that, the fact this is readable at all is kind of a small miracle.

So, is it any great shakes? No way, and it's not going to replace "Hitman" as the tell-all insight into pro-wrestling. But it's a very quick glance into a different life and different time in it, by (some of) a hand with a perspective which, it itself, had to be strong-armed into being shared. Say what you will about the cynicism of that decision, but that alone was more intriguing to me than much else in the biography itself. Your mileage will vary.

[Jed Adao · Rating 1 out of 5]

Rags to riches story of an underprivileged kid who came from a deprived family and a bad neighborhood. Sounds like a cliche, but the idea for the plot is decent at the very least.

Sadly, the end product did not live up to the OK premise. With stiff narration, and the unusual segmentation of chapters, each chapter dealing with a certain theme or subject, Batista's lack of character and wooden narration made the entire book seem like a collection of lackluster essays you submit as homework.

Also, it would not hurt (at all) to add a bit more detail on the more scandalous topics mentioned, instead of suddenly hitting pause right after it's teased.

All in all, moving to this from Chris Jericho's A Lion's Tale (due to my recent curiosity on what happens behind the titantron) fell under the sequel curse, where the second entry is just purely awful. Hope the next Chris Jericho entry completely washes the bad taste this one left.

[Miles · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a very captivating autobiography about a wrestlers life. His name is Dave Batista and he is a wwe (world wrestling entertainment)superstar. The book explains his whole entire life and all the problems he had growing up. When he was growing up in Washington D.C., he had a lot of trouble and school and his personal life. This book takes you through all his struggles and triumphs in his carrer. The book just makes you want to keep on reading. I highly recommend this book to wrestling fans and anyone who likes and interesting story.

[Robert Risher · Rating 1 out of 5]

I could've given this a generous 2 stars, but I remembered I recently gave the Goldust bio 2 stars and it was better than this. The main problem was that Batista just isn't an endearing personality for me, and the book does capture his voice correctly. Whatever success he's had as a wrestler doesn't translate to authoring a book. The ideas were jumpy, and his back-stage stories didn't have the hook or fresh incite I sought.

[Marck Jendrac · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book has single handily ruined my life.

[ERIC FOWLER · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book tells you nothing

[Larry McCloskey · Rating 4 out of 5]

It has been a long time since I watched, or even cared about, professional wrestling, so I’m not really sure why I decided to pick up this book. But, I’m glad I did.

While there’s a shared writing credit, the book reads as though it was written pretty much by Batista himself. There’s not much eloquence and everything is pretty matter-of-fact and to-the-point. From his humble beginnings, growing up on the wrong side of Washington D.C., to his struggles as a kid and even later in life, to trying to find his way, and then eventually stumbling onto his dream, this is a pretty personal look into Batista’s life. There’s a bit of soul searching, which really personalizes the story and makes it relatable, in spite of the fact that his meteoric rise to superstardom isn’t very relatable for the vast majority of us. He acknowledges a lot of faults, the fact that he got where he is largely because he was born with the right look (and despite his admitted lack of talent) and because of help he got along the way. Some wrestlers have the pedigree, the family history, or are otherwise just destined for the life of a pro wrestler. Here, though, we have a guy who happened to be born big, managed to make a living off of that by bouncing at bars and the like, and then decided – at an admittedly old age – to chase a dream that might allow him to “cash in” on what he saw as his only marketable trait. And it worked. By the time he reaches the top, you really do find yourself rooting for him.

There are also brief vignettes to start each chapter which give a glimpse into a day in the life of a professional wrestler which adds an extra layer of personalization to the book, taking the reader not just through his story, but out on the road with him as he tells it. Maybe that’s why this autobiography clicked so well: it really does read as if Batista sat down with the reader on a plane or at a bar or wherever and told his story. There’s a stream of consciousness approach that may not sit well for some people, as the story isn’t always linear – it’s one man’s story, bare and unabridged. Unleashed.

[ReadinRasslin · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Animal really tried here at points, but Batista Unleashed commits the golden cardinal sin of wrestling autobiographies - containing more about his personal life than actual wrestling. It takes until about the 100 page mark to even reach the start of his wrestling career. You'll hear a lot about Dave's bouncing career and his past exes, his kids, his family. Batista treats his autobiography as more of a therapy session at some points than a book, and there's a lot of time spent confessing to adultery and bar fights. This was finished up just before WrestleMania 23 in 2007, so it's not like Batista's WWE career was all that new or fresh - Kurt Angle released his book just two years into his career and it was far more interesting and expansive than this, yet Batista Unleashed struggles to detail an otherwise landmark wrestling career in compelling detail. Dave will start to say something interesting, then sidetrack into a time his ex-wife was mad about something. His heart just doesn't feel entirely into it, and I wish this was better than it is. Normally I say something in these reviews like "with the career rise that Batista has had in acting, I'd like to see an updated second book" but I feel a foll0w-up would only be filled with more drawn-out stories. A true Batista bomb.

[Kris Blackburn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Found this one to be quite enjoyable, considering it was written by the same guy who did Rey Mysterio’s, with which I had several issues regarding layout.

Batista is very open and honest here, and dives deep into the issues he had growing up and as an adult. What makes this more refreshing is that he doesn’t blame anyone, ever, for how his behaviour became an issue for him. He owns it, and accepts that he can control the narrative, instead looking at how he can use his experiences to better show empathy for others and become more understanding.

Very interesting read, and shows a different side to a lot of the veterans around in WWE during the early 00’s. Everyone was very gracious towards him, which could be because he’s absolutely huge, but also he entered wrestling in his 30s, and wasn’t just some kid trying to prove themselves. Therefore his own attitude was to be mature, listen and learn, and this probably bought him some extra grace with the locker room.

[Thomas Beeston · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn't need to be written and, being released in 2007 at the height of his popularity, feels like WWE trying to capitalise. You don't learn a great deal about the business, his memory of even recent events is hazy, and it's heavily padded out (Dave explains break-dancing, septums, and KISS).

Hearing his story NOW, with no company "endorsement", no ghostwriter, and the hindsight of his second run and his acting career (which he can only hint at here) would make for a better book. But aside from speaking on Benoit - which was controversial at the time - this book is pretty easy and forgettable

[Monteiro · Rating 3 out of 5]

Starts bad and unlikable then I got used to the style and my love of wrestling took over just enjoying the tales and the atmosphere of such a world, especially I've learnt a few things about Batista career and personal life wise, that I didn't knew which becomes rare as a long time fan... In all Batista is lucky to look like a beast and he's smart enough to catch his chance. Thank you for the entrainment.

[Aaron Jones · Rating 2 out of 5]

He seems like a decent guy, but some of the stuff he writes makes him 1) sound like a twat, and 2) spund dishonest, so many parts just contradict.
That being said, there are some interesting pieces about other wrestlers and his journey, and some tragic parts of his past.
But really he just sounds like someone I would say hi to, not have anything in common with and just walk away from. R.i.p eddie "Latino heat".

[K.D. Bissonette · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked it...I like Bautista more now ❤

[Alexa Galic · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wwe unleashd

[Andrew · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's a very drab and dull read.

[Jesse Hamrick]

The best

[Suzy Says · Rating 5 out of 5]

His life wasn’t easy, but he persevered and overcame!

[Manda Marigold · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.75 stars. This book's content was decent however the structure of the book was not really linear. It was a bit all over the place.

[Mariasole Boso Masarin · Rating 5 out of 5]

That was interesting, I only knew a part of his life, this book helped me to understand him in a deeper way than before, I'm glad I read it.

[Willie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Batista himself said he wasn't much of a writer, so you're warned from the very start that it's not going to be the best autobiography. His writing style is direct and to the point, and I can just picture these words coming from the usually silent Batista. My main problem with the book is that as far as wrestling autobiographies go, this was pretty short. I breezed through this in a single day. I kinda got the sense that they just paid him to write this at the height of his fame to take advantage of it. Maybe it would have been better if he wrote this a couple of years later, that way he wouldn't have to scrap the bottom of the barrel and he'd actually have a lot more stuff to tell.

Typical stuff. He tells how he grew up, how he got into wrestling and his struggles in becoming the champion. I get that he became the champion really fast, compared to the other wrestlers, so there's not much in there, but maybe he should have toned down the Ric and Hunter worship and just added more details for the readers. Along with his life story, there's also some chapters narrating in real time his daily routine, how he travels from one location to another with all the hassles and weird stuff that happens in between. It's amusing, but it kinda ruins the flow of the reading when it just pops in and out between chapters.

I'd probably recommend a fellow wrestling fan to read it since it's a very quick read, not because of the quality of the content. For a better read I'd vouch for Ric Flair's To Be The Man instead. And before I forget, Batista's book has a chapter dedicated solely for wrestling road stories, so that's something at least.

[Jamil Labaky · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about David Michael Bautista Jr.,known as Dave Batista,a former WWE superstar.It explains his life in his own words and some quotes from his familly,mostly his mother because he spent mostly all of his childhood with her.He also explains how he grew up in the filthy and dangerous streets of Washington DC,which he sometimes found dead people in.His life was pitful at first,but he later became one of the best wrestlers in the world.From poor to rich,he witnessed many stuff in his life,and some not plesant at all.Also,he explains how he was sometimes bullied in his childhood,but he always used to defend himself against anyone.He was the only white kif in his neighbourhood.His parents were divorced.He only lived with his mother and never got to feel that he got a father because his father was a bad guy.He married once after he won the world title in wrestlemania,and dedicated his huge win to his wife,angelina.When he was in WWE,it was a tough life.He had to travel and cant see his family and kids which he later had.So this led to a divorse between him and his wife.He met many girls in his life,but explains that he loved Angelina the most.Then he became a grandfather because his daughter slept with her boyfriend.Batista liked the guy, but the sad pat was that his son in law died later,and he knew what it ment for a kid not to live with his father.He was and still will be a great competitor,and also funny.He used to spend 12 hours everyday in the gym,and really liked to have a fit body. He also entered bodybuilding competitions.

[rem · Rating 4 out of 5]

Batista Unleashed by Dave Batista is a tell-all autobiography on the life of Dave "The Animal" Batista. I really enjoyed reading this book because I finally got to read and see the personal perspective of my favorite WWE wrestler during the times of Monday Night Raw Live shows and Friday Night Smackdown shows as well. Reading how time consuming it is to be a professional wrestler changed my views a lot on how dedication in this wrestling business takes you away from your personal life in order to live your dream for other people to watch. One of the stories that Dave mentioned about his hardships included his loss of connection to his first daughter Keilani. Batista explains his "unconditional love" for his two daughters and how he "always tried to make an effort" in being there for them. This part of the book really touched me in seeing that it really is hard to maintain a life in entertainment while also trying to keep a family life in tact. I recommend this book to those who want to know more on what it's like to live such a busy life as a pro-wrestler and that there are a lot of sacrifices being made for those men and women to travel and perform once a week in a different location every single time.

[Johnny Villanueva · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first biography I've ever read, it turned out to be quite good, all bias aside. Yes, I am a WWE fan (off and on), and yes I am a Dave Bautista fan and that is why I was initially inclined to read his book four years ago. It accomplished to capture his voice, his feelings, emotions and experiences from his innocent beginnings as a skinny kid from a broken home - all the way through his life on the streets - bodybuilding endeavors, and wrestling career. All events listed in his book were chronologically ordered with consistency which made this book an easy read, meaning that he doesn't jump around too much about his life from past to present to past again and then to future. Dave turns out to be a very down to earth kind of guy, which is probably why he really didn't sensor much as to what he had to say about people and situations from his past and present. Any fitness and wrestling fan would definitely enjoy this book. 4/5 Rating

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an amazing book about a professional wrestler named Dave Batista. I know that many people think the WWE is all fake and it might even be pointless because the show is mostly about "muscular men in tights." But after you read this book, you'll find out that there is more to the WWE and the professional wrestling industry than just . In this book, Batista discusses the major issues in this industry, how hard the wrestlers actually work and most importantly, about his life. I really have a higher respect for wrestlers now because I didn't know that they had to work full time everyday. Even when they're off the air, they still have to keep themselves fit and work for multiple promotions, so they barely have time for themselves or their families. I would highly recommend this book to people who either look down upon this business or those who really enjoy watching the WWE!!!

[Crystal · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's an interesting book. Batista goes into great detail about his childhood, his wrestling ambitions and his personal life regarding his wife and his affairs. He also talks about his child custody battles with his first wife and raising his grandsons. Just like many wrestling-related books, Batista also dives into what it is really like to be a wrestler and how he started from the ground-up.

He's not a great writer and it's clear by several pages in the book. The book does seem to be thrown together at the last minute with very little editing which is kinda annoying. However, it is a quick read and I enjoyed it.

[Mandy Tanksley · Rating 2 out of 5]

As much as love Batista as a wrestler, I can't say the same thing about his writing. I know that's not something he's good at. He admits that in the very beginning of the book. I haven't yet read the other wrestling biographies sitting on my bookshelf so I can't even compare this one to anything else. There were a lot of parts that seemed to be repeated over and over again (some which were pretty much word for word). Batista seems like a somewhat decent guy at times, but at others he just comes off being a jerk and womanizer. I still like Batista. I'm just now more informed about the truth behind the rumors I've heard and what his life has really been like.

[Paul Schoenberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

The constant accusations of steroids this is just a preview of the struggles that this professional wrestler had to face. Weighing at 300 pounds at a height of six feet six people just automatically infer that you take drug enhancers. This happens to be the case with this all star wrestler. Dave Batista he has done it all he has managed to make a name for himself in the illustrious company called WWE. Batista is just a hero in the eyes of many and he has certainly impacted my mind. I hundred percent suggest reading this biography of this inspiring man.

[Dana]

This sucked. I know that's mean to say, especially about an autobiography. His life didn't suck, the composition of the book did. It was like no one edited the book. Poorly written and it was just everywhere (not in a good Mick Foley way). The structure was like reading a third grader's essay. He was honest but it seemd like he skimmed over everything. "This guy is really funny, I forgot the story but if you heard it, it would be funny." WTF! He skimmed the details of everything and was half-ass. He was honest about some of the things he said. I never knew he was a grandpa.