Just a little over twenty years ago, if you had said wrestlers would wind up being some of the most popular movie actors of all time, you would probably be laughed at. But today, John Cena is a household name, and The Rock has legitimately been the highest-paid actor of the year on numerous occasions. However, if we are talking about which wrestler has turned out to be the best quality actor, it would have to be Dave Bautista.

Dave Bautista Taking Challenging Roles

That is not an indictment against any other wrestlers who have turned to acting. The Rock deserves all the credit in the world for breaking down that door when he took a risk by leaving a sure thing with the WWE to start starring in movies like 2002’s The Scorpion King.

But The Rock has since lost that trailblazer attitude, and it is now Dave Bautista who is consistently taking the most challenging roles.

Breakout As Drax

Ironically, Dave Bautista also started out his film career doing a Scorpion King movie as one of his earliest roles. However, his big breakout role was as Drax the Destroyer in Guardians of the Galaxy.

Where many movie stars would then become complacent to coast on appearing in similar action movies, Bautista continued to evolve.

Blade Runner And Dune

Dave Bautista began experimenting with villainous roles like his part in the James Bond movie Spectre. He has shown a willingness to try more niche genres, such as sci-fi films like Blade Runner 2049 and Dune.

He still does smaller-budget films like Knock at the Cabin. He has even demonstrated his comedic ability in Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery. Regardless of whether you are a Bautista fan or not, you cannot deny that he is not afraid to test his range.

Dwayne Johnson Went A Different Way

Whereas The Rock has followed an opposite trajectory of Dave Bautista in terms of versatility. Many fans have been highly critical of The Rock lately for taking what appear to be safe movies. He always has to play a heroic character, even in roles where it does not make sense like Black Adam.

He is sticking more heavily to established franchises, like the Fast and the Furious movies, trying to get in on the DCU, and returning for Moana 2. Many fans have asked, when is the last time The Rock has actually taken a risky role?

John Cena Too

Despite coming up in the WWE at the same time as Dave Bautista, John Cena has followed a film career trajectory closer to The Rock’s. Cena is also now a recurring face in the Fast and the Furious franchise.

And arguably his biggest role to date has been Peacemaker in DC’s The Suicide Squad. Not that anyone would begrudge Cena for wanting to be in popular, successful movies, but it comes off like he is not confident in expanding beyond being typecast.

Passionate About The Work

Dave Bautista could easily have milked his physique to focus exclusively on tough guy roles in movies.

But instead each new role he does is something totally different. He is not afraid to take characters where he looks foolish and is not a likeable person.

And listening to him in interviews, you can hear how passionate he is about his work and the novelty of exploring challenging characters.

Acting Chops

Nobody will argue that Cena and The Rock are more successful than Dave Bautista. But with the former two, you probably know what kind of movie you are getting before even seeing the trailer.

With Bautista, each new project he takes on is something fresh and exciting. And best of all, he has the acting chops where he hits his roles out of the park more often than not.