WWE icon Dave Batista may no longer be an active wrestler, but he's certainly made a success for himself away from the ring.

The Animal hung his boots up for good following his WrestleMania 35 defeat to his mentor and long-time rival Triple H, and he's set to prosper in the acting world now he no longer craves the squared circle.

Batista seemed genuinely happy to be back for his brief run with WWE earlier this year, but it wasn't a fun time for him back when he first departed the company.

Citing his dissatisfaction with the direction WWE was going, Batista quit and briefly ventured into the world of MMA, but his new passion was acting.

But for the first three years he did not have a fun time, and at Denver Pop Culture Con this past weekend, Batista revealed how much he struggled before landing the role of Drax in Guardians Of The Galaxy.

"I wanted to pursue acting because I found out how bad I was at it," said Batista, per WrestlingInc.

"I was horrible. I was with WWE at the time and I went and did a film. All I wanted to do was wrestle. I went in to do a film as a favour for a friend and I realised I was horrible. I was a horrendous actor. I was mortified and I wanted to prove that I could be better.

"WWE wouldn't let me do anything outside the company. They said, 'Sorry we need you here. We need you on the shows'. And I said, 'Well if you're not going to let me pursue something I'm really passionate about, then I'm going to leave.'

"So about eight months later I walked out the door and they didn't think I was going to. I walked out on top. I was very comfortable. I was making a very good living and I walked out.

"Then I starved for three years. I went broke and lost everything. I couldn't get a job. I said, 'I will never go back to wrestling until I prove what I set out to prove that I could make it as an actor.'"

Being a top superstar for so many years, Batista would've made an absolute killing from being a main event man, so he must've been struggling really badly if he lost everything in that three year time-span.

His life changed for the better though after landing the Guardians role, and since then he even popped back into WWE for two separate part-time spells.

But after starring in the likes of the Avengers movies and the James Bond film Spectre, the former world champion is set to be a major player in Hollywood going forward.