Dave Bautista has revealed how Triple H and The Undertaker gave him the best advice in his career.
The wrestler-turned-movie star had a long history with both men in the ring. He was a protégée of Triple H, handed picked to be his pupil in Evolution. The two battled multiple times in the ring, including in Batista’s last-ever match at WrestleMania 35.
Meanwhile, some of his best matches came against The Undertaker. In 2007, the pair fought numerous times over the World Heavyweight Championship, including in a fantastic match at WrestleMania 23. Despite their battles in the ring, Triple H and The Undertaker taught Dave Bautista a lot about life and his career as well.
Dave Bautista talked to The School of Hark Knocks, who asked him about the best advice a mentor has given him. He instantly recalled Triple H asking him if he was in WWE to “make money” or “make friends”, inspiring him to go all out to become the biggest star he could.
“I had a mentor named Triple H and there were a couple of things he said to me that always stuck with me. One of the things was when I first got there, I was so afraid…I didn’t want to piss people off. It was a hierarchy thing and I was so afraid of being disrespectful or pissing somebody off.”
“One day he said, ‘Look man, you want to make money or you want to make friends? This is a business. You have to look at it like a business. You’re a business.’ I always thought about myself as my own commodity. I am my brand. Another thing he said, ‘Always imagine that everybody is pointing a gun at your head. It’s up to you how many bullets you give them”
Dave Bautista Reveals The Financial Advice The Undertaker Gave Him
Dave Bautista continued, recalling a piece of advice The Undertaker gave him about saving money. He told The Animal to always live beneath his means, to save as much money as possible. While this isn’t something he did in his initial WWE run, he soon learnt the hard way and has followed that mantra ever since.
“Financial advice, the best advice I ever got, that I always offer to professional athletes was actually from The Undertaker. He said ‘Always live beneath your means’. I learned that the hard way. I can out of wrestling and I literally lost everything. My house was foreclosed on.”
“But I had a second opportunity to be successful in the film industry. Now that money in the bank means more to me than something I don’t really need. Like, I don’t need a Bugatti. I’d love to have a Bugatti, but I’m not paying three to five million dollars for a car because I don’t need one.”
