Dave Bautista Doesn't Want to 'Tarnish' the End of His Wrestling Career Despite Temptation, Addresses Weight Loss

In an interview with Chris Van Vliet, wrestler-turned-actor Dave Bautista addressed his recent weight loss and revealed why he won't return to wrestling despite missing it.

The 55-year-old, who has delivered critically acclaimed performances in Dune and Glass Onion among other projects, sat down for an interview with Vliet alongside his The Killer's Game co-star Sofia Boutella and was told he's looking "lean and mean."

"This is probably the lightest I've been since I was 19 years old," he shared. "The heaviest I've ever been was 370 lbs, when I started [as] Deacon, I was about 325 lbs. Throughout most of my wrestling career, I was about 290 lbs. Now I'm about 240 lbs."

He shared that he "went up to 315 lbs" for Knock at the Cabin, but getting that weight back off has proved to be a challenge. "Now I'm really particular about my diet," he continued.

Later in the conversation, he was asked about his retirement from wrestling after WrestleMania 35 in 2019. Boutella asked if he knew it was going to be his last match at the time and he confirmed he wanted to walk away after his match against Triple H.

"I did, I just didn't tell anybody else," he said. "I didn’t want it to be a big ordeal, I didn’t want to go out and do the tour and give a speech. I wanted to have my match, and I wanted it to call it a career, so I wanted to go out on my own terms." With a smile on his face, he said he's "really proud" of his last match.

"You gotta go out on your back," he said. "It was the way I wanted to go out, it was like a dream for it. It’s so perfect, it’s such a romantic way, and wrestlers don’t get to choose the way they go out. I did. I went out on my own terms, the way I wanted, with the guy I wanted to go out with, and I will never tarnish that. It's not that I don't miss it, I miss the crowd, I miss the energy of the crowd. I dream about walking out and hearing my entrance music, but I know if I do that I will just tarnish my storybook ending and I'm just not willing to do it."

Boutella asked if he's ever been tempted to go back, and he admitted that there's "always temptation." He added that he misses it every time he hears his entrance music. "It's like a drug, it fires me up," he said. "I will never get that anywhere else. I just have to come to terms that my time has passed."

Bautista has kept very busy ever since moving on from wrestling. He's delivered memorable performances as Drax in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Blade Runner 2049, Dune and its 2024 sequel, Glass Onion, and Knock at the Cabin.

Check out the full interview below.