WWE Wrestler, Actor Dave Bautista Named Gasparilla Grand Marshal

WUSF | By WUSF Staff

Published January 17, 2020 at 7:32 AM EST

Dave Bautista will be the grand marshal for the 2020 Gasparilla Pirate Fest. GAGE SKIDMORE/FLICKR

Actor and professional wrestler Dave Bautista has been named grand marshal for the 2020 Gasparilla Pirate Fest.

Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla, which organizes the event, announced Thursday that the “Guardians of the Galaxy” star and six-time WWE champion will share grand marshal duties with Tampa police Lt. Travis Maus for the Parade of Pirates on Jan. 25.

Maus has been with the Tampa Police Department for nearly 20 years. He has been a member of the U.S. Army Reserve for nearly 15 years and is returning on Friday after serving a year-long deployment in Iraq, according to police.

They will lead more than 103 parade floats, 50 krewes, five marching bands and the infamous Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla pirates through Tampa.

The Gasparilla Pirate Fest has been held nearly every year since 1904 to celebrate the fictitious pirate Jose Gaspar.

The naming of Bautista continues a WWE Gasparilla theme with the company’s signature WrestleMania 36 coming to Raymond James Stadium on April 5, following a week of activities around the event.

Wrestlers The Big Show will be the grand marshal for the Children’s Gasparilla parade on Saturday, and Titus O’Neil will serve as the grand marshal for the Krewe of the Knights of Sant’ Yago Illuminated Knight Parade on Feb. 8.

Information from the Associated Press contributed to this report.