WWE CEO Vince McMahon Celebrates Batista’s Debut 15 Years Ago

The WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon honored Dave Bautista on Tuesday with a tweet celebrating The Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 star’s anniversary of his WWE debut 15 years ago.
Batista became a six-time champion, winning the WWE World Heavyweight title four times and the WWE belt twice. He had a notable run with Triple H, Ric Flair and Randy Orton in the heel stable, Evolution, in 2003.
Here’s what McMahon tweeted and a link to the tweet:

15 years ago today, @WWE unleashed The Animal @DaveBautista on the WWE Universe. Happy anniversary, “Drax.” – @VinceMcMahon

15 years ago today, @WWE unleashed The Animal @DaveBautista on the WWE Universe. Happy anniversary, “Drax.”

— Vince McMahon (@VinceMcMahon) May 9, 2017

Batista’s debut came as a companion to Devon, one half of the Dudley Boys, who at that time was wrestling under his “Reverend” gimmick.
Here’s a link to video of Batista’s first appearance:

It's been exactly 15 YEARS since @DaveBautista debuted in @WWE alongside "Reverend" @TestifyDVon on #SmackDown! https://t.co/SVIwx89nNl

— WWE (@WWE) May 9, 2017