Batista On Upsetting Vince McMahon, Getting Advice From The Rock

As noted before, Batista was a guest on Jim Ross’ The Ross Report Podcast recently where he revealed that he has talked to Vince McMahon about a potential WWE return. Below are some more highlights from his appearance on the show:

Upsetting Vince McMahon:

“I pissed him off a lot. I pissed him off to the point where he actually said to me one day, he said, ‘do you know what I want to do to you right now? I want to slap the s–t out of you!’ I couldn’t believe he was saying this to me! I was like, ‘man.’ All I could do was laugh and that made him more pissed. But I think it got to the point where I think Vince knew that I was in it for the right reasons. I think he knew that I wanted to be there and that I was good for the company.”

How it’s important for WWE Superstars to develop a relationship with Vince:

“It is important to develop that relationship, but, at the same time, Vince can smell a bulls–tter. He knows if you’re just trying to kiss his ass. All those guys know. They knew. But it is [important]. [Ross] put it perfectly: don’t give them a reason to not want to do business with you.”

His advice for up and coming pro wrestlers:

“I usually just tell them to shut up, listen, pay attention, and work your ass off because I think that’s what they’re looking for right off the bat, it’s just a work ethic. Unless you grow up and you’re a legacy and you’ve been around it your whole life, it’s something that’s a little unnatural. But I think it’s also, you’ve got to walk in there without a big ego. You’ve got to check your ego at the door and just be willing to listen and just work your ass off, man, which is much easier said than done. It’s a hard business, man. It’s physical and those first couple months of training, they’re a nightmare. and you’re not calling in sick. If you’re calling in sick, pack your bag and go home. You’re coming into work, you’re beat up, you’re hurting, you’re in pain, but so is everybody else, so it’s just one of those things you just do and you suck it up.”

Getting advice from the Rock:

“I talked to him a while back because there was some mention of me joining one of The Fast and The Furious films. I called him and I wanted to get his opinion on it because I always think of it along the lines of professional wrestling. Like, I always thought he and I in a film would be smart booking. I thought it’s an easy sell. And I wondered if we did for our first film together a franchise that was already established, if it would take away from that, and I wanted his opinion on that and he didn’t seem to think so. He has always been very good to me, even from day one, even early in my career. he was always that cool to me, that gracious, and I think a lot of it had to do with because I had broken in with his family, but he was always good to me and it was the same when I brought up that film thing, just very gracious. And he said he would love to do it. He would love to do a film with me. We’re just waiting, I guess, for the right opportunity. Of course, he’s 10-times busier than I am, but hopefully something will come around. But yeah, I have kept in touch with him and I have picked his brain for advice and he has given me some really, really solid advice.”

Quotes via WrestlingInc