The last time Batista wrestled in WWE was 2014 and it wasn't a particularly good run. He came back at a time when fans were rooting for Daniel Bryan to be in the WrestleMania main event and his Royal Rumble win was rejected as a result. He ultimately ended up tapping out to Bryan and with his movie career taking off, it wasn't long until he departed WWE and we've not seen him since.
During a recent chat with Jim Ross, the Guardians of the Galaxy star was asked about returning to the squared circle and made it clear that he's only going to return if it's on a full-time basis.
"I still love wrestling and everybody in WWE has always been really good to me. I have my gripes with the company, which I’m sure everybody does, but at the same time I don’t ever disrespect the company intentionally and I don’t have any reason to. I left because I wanted to pursue other things. I didn’t walk out on them. I let my contract run out. They knew I was going to be leaving [in 2014], so I did business the right way, and I’m really thankful that I did.
"The short answer is yes, I would love to go back, but the reason I have not gone back is because I don’t want to do a one off. I want to go and I want to wrestle. I want to do some house shows. I want to be a part of the program. The one-off thing doesn’t do anything for me. Now it’s a matter of the schedule, and if I get injured, it might affect something else."
As for what he'd like to do upon his return, Batista made it clear that he wants to step into the ring with Triple H but at 48, is he too old to go one on one with The Game? Not in his opinion!
"I talked to Vince recently and he knows what I want. I’ve made it very clear that want I want to run a program with Hunter. I’ve been public about it. That’s the thing that would get me back. There’s so much history there, so it’s an easy story to tell, so it wouldn’t take much time to tell me the story. Also, if I’m rusty … to me Hunter is the best there’s ever been ,so I can allow him to make up for my weaknesses [laughs]."
It's good that he's spoken to Vince McMahon about returning as that makes this a little more realistic but his schedule is packed, especially as he's such an integral part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and his acting career is really taking off now. Would you like to see Batista back in WWE? As always, be sure to let us know your thoughts in the comments section down below.