WWE HOFer Dave Bautista Bids Farewell To Drax The Destroyer As Guardians 3 Premieres

By Colby Applegate
Dave Bautista posing on the red carpet DFree/Shutterstock

"Guardians of the Galaxy 3" has officially hit theaters as the latest Marvel Cinematic Universe blockbuster, and WWE Hall of Famer Dave Bautista is bidding farewell to the Drax the Destroyer character he has portrayed for nearly a decade. Batista tweeted a video of himself in full makeup while dancing to "I Say A Little Prayer" by Aretha Franklin. He captioned the tweet with, "Every day I say a little prayer for Drax. The role that changed my life. Forever grateful to the fans and my Guardians family. What a magical journey it's been. Thank you for letting me be your Drax."

Batista first portrayed Drax in the first "Guardians of the Galaxy" film in 2014. He continued to reprise the role in the 2017 sequel, as well as "Avengers: Infinity War" and "Avengers: Endgame" in 2018 and 2019, respectively. The character made a cameo in "Thor: Love and Thunder" last year before seemingly wrapping up in the third "Guardians" as it was the last Marvel movie for writer/director James Gunn.

The former WWE Champion left wrestling in 2010 to pursue his acting career. Prior to the first "Guardians" releasing in 2014, Batista returned to WWE for a six-month run. He was able to win that year's Royal Rumble match and headlined WrestleMania 30 in a world title match against Randy Orton and Daniel Bryan. The 54-year-old effectively retired in 2019 following his WrestleMania 35 loss to Triple H. Batista was then supposed to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2020, but his induction has been postponed indefinitely.

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