Former WWE Champion Batista was recently interviewed by WrestlingNewsCo where he spoke about a wide range of topics including who he thinks is the next WWE star that could make it big at acting in Hollywood. 

This is where he named former WWE RAW and SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair. “Ashley [Charlotte] Flair [has what it takes to make it in Hollywood].”

He would elaborate by stating that he didn’t start out with the goal of becoming a big star in Hollywood. Instead, he thinks it comes down to a personal and natural process that a person has to go through before they figure out their goals in acting.

He stated that it’s not advice to Flair but rather just the way that he started in the film industry. 

“I didn’t really want to be a movie star, but that was my road so I don’t know. It’s an individual thing,” Batista stated.

• Batista & Triple H Reunite On “Stuber” Red Carpet (Photo)

Batista is staying busy with his schedule in Hollywood as he has been part of some big films such as Drax in Avengers: Endgame. His latest films include Stuber and My Spy that are slated to be released in July and August.

Batista and Triple H reunited after last seeing each back in April. The two future WWE Hall of Famers were together on Wednesday night on the red carpet in Los Angeles Batista’s film, Stuber.  

Triple H took to his official Twitter account where he shared the following photo with Batista as well as his wife, Stephanie McMahon. 

This is Batista’s latest film as it stars the former WWE Champion, Karen Gillan, Natalie Morales, and Kumail Nanjiani. Michael Dowse directors the film while Tripper Clancy wrote it. The movie is slated to be released on July 12th. 

The synopsis reads like, “When a mild-mannered Uber driver named Stu (Kumail Nanjiani) picks up a passenger (Dave Bautista) who turns out to be a cop hot on the trail of a brutal killer, he’s thrust into a harrowing ordeal where he desperately tries to hold onto his wits, his life and his five-star rating.”

Batista faced Triple H in a No Holds Barred Match at WrestleMania 35 in East Rutherford, NJ at MetLife Stadium. This served as his final match at Batista announced his retirement just a few hours after the match. You can watch the trailer here: 

Batista announced his retirement from Pro Wrestling after competing in his final match in a No Holds Barred bout against Triple H at WrestleMania earlier this year.

During a recent appearance on Talk Is Jericho, the former World Champion discussed a number of things and he also revealed the original stipulation for their match they wanted.

According to the Animal, originally they wanted their bout to be a Hell In A Cell match because they needed bells and whistles and they needed the Drama.

Continuing on the topic, Batista explained that they were two guys who hadn’t wrestled in a while. They already had the history with each other and they needed the violence.

However interestingly, the boss Vince McMahon shot down the idea of a Hell In A Cell match due to the fact that Hell In A Cell is a PPV event of its own.

Batista also revealed Vince McMahon’s reaction to their match, saying that the Chairman was happy when he returned to the Gorilla position after the bout.

Apart from this, during the podcast, Batista also talked about his experience of working with the WWE creatives and he called it a nightmare. You can check out his comments about the WWE creative here.

Batista recently appeared on Chris Jericho’s Talk is Jericho podcast. The former World Champion was promoting his movie Stuber which is currently in theaters.

Batista and Jericho spoke about his most recent run with the company, which culminated this past April at WrestleMania 35 in a match against Triple H. Batista explains the difficulty he experienced with WWE creative this time around.

“It was a nightmare,” Batista said. “It wasn’t a nightmare like the last time but it was difficult because, for one, I thought I was going back way too soon and because I thought, ‘If I go back, we tease this now, what the hell are we doing for the next five weeks?’ Because the last run I went out, I went back and they had no plan and so they didn’t know what to do with me in 2014.

“So every week they’re just sending me out there to cut these really horrible promos, they’re just awful and I’m just regurgitating the same crap while people are going, you know ‘CM Punk!’ or ‘Daniel Bryan!’”

• Batista Says WWE’s Creative Process Has Become Worse

Batista on WWE In 2014 vs 2019

Earlier this year, Batista appeared on the Pro Wrestling Sheet podcast and spoke about the differences between WWE between his last two runs with the company.

“The creative process, I still don’t get,” Batista said. “It was a nightmare to me the last time I was there, which was 2014, and it seems like it’s become worse. I feel like they don’t have a clear vision, a long-term vision, everything is very week-to-week. It doesn’t seem like they stick to a plan very much.”

“We’ve had our differences, but Vince has always been good to me,” Batista stressed later in the show.

You can listen to the full podcast episode here or embedded below in some browsers:

Back in 2016 during WrestleMania 32, The New Day were able to share the ring with notable WWE Legends “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, Shawn Michaels, and Mick Foley.

Turns out that one of those spots was initially intended for Dave Batista.

Batista revealed the news during a recent episode of Talk Is Jericho. He discussed that he was offered a place within that segment, but declined involvement as it simply didn’t interest him. Instead, “The Animal” was more interested in getting back into in-ring action. It was during this time that he began pushing for a comeback with Triple H.

“Then there was another time where they had Stone Cold, Mick Foley, and Shawn Michaels and they did something with the New Day. I was supposed to play the part of Mick, and I said that was something I didn’t want. Hunter was there, and I said, ‘When are we going to start talking about Hunter at ‘Mania?’ They just never really showed any interest in it.”

Three years later, Batista would finally get his matchup against “The Game” Triple H at WrestleMania 35. The two would compete in a No Holds Barred matchup, with Triple H coming away the victor. Batista would announce his retirement from pro wrestling hours after WrestleMania concluded.

H/T to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.

Batista recently made an appearance on Chris Jericho’s podcast, Talk is Jericho, where he spoke about wide range topics. 

During the interview, he talked about wrestling Triple H at WrestleMania 35 in a No Holds Barred Match. In this interview (at the 58:00 mark), Batista talked about how WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon turned down their idea of having a Hell in a Cell Match. 

“Originally, we wanted a have a Hell In A Cell, but Vince, because of the pay-per-view, he didn’t want to have a Hell In A Cell, and we really wanted Hell In A Cell. They’re just great matches, they’re violent. We needed bells and whistles.

We’re two older guys, we hadn’t wrestled in a long time and we needed the drama. We’ve already got the history, so we just needed the violence.”

He noted that had to fight for this match to happen and felt so relieved once it was over due to the pressure he put on it as he knew it was going to be the final match of his career.

He talked about how he wanted to finish out his career with one final match with Triple H due to Triple H putting him over at three straight PPV events in 2005. 

The recently retired Batista doesn’t think AEW will provide legitimate competition to WWE. He recently sat down with Chris Van Vliet to promote his upcoming Stuber film and also spoke about AEW, his retirement, and match with Triple H at WrestleMania.

In terms of AEW providing competition for WWE, Batista doesn’t see them as a legitimate concern for WWE.

“I don’t see it as legitimate competition,” Batista said. “I see it as competition, which is great, there should always be competition but until they actually produce one of their own major stars, until they have a production that is as big as WWE. I mean WWE already has the next three generations of superstars because they have NXT camps all over the world now, they’re so far ahead of the game that I don’t see any real competition. Not even close.” 

Batista Interview Highlights

Batista also said during the interview that he would rather go broke than wrestle another match.

“This is a real wrestling retirement. I am done,” Batista stressed. “My in-ring career is over. I would love to go back on the show because I love the company and I believe in the product so I would go back and go on the show.”

Batista stressed that he will not have another wrestling match but would go back to WWE for a Hall of Fame induction.

“If they ask me to go in the Hall of Fame I will. But I will not have another wrestling match. I will go broke before I have another wrestling match and I will not go and work for another promotion.”

Before the now infamous main event took place at Super ShowDown, Batista tried to jokingly talk Undertaker out of his match against Goldberg.

In an interview with Ryan Satin of Pro Wrestling Sheet, Batista discussed his match against Triple H at WrestleMania 35, and while on the topic, he also talked about the recent match between the two legends that took place in Saudi Arabia.

Batista said that he hasn’t watched the entire match but only seen a few clips and didn’t want to comment on it. But The Animal did reveal that he called Undertaker on the day of the show and asked the Deadman if there is any way to talk him out of the match.

Batista reveals that as soon as Taker heard this, he started laughing and said that the offer sounded good to him initially but now he has to do it since he is obligated.

Undertaker vs. Goldberg

The entire internet was in a debate on whether the Undertaker and Goldberg should retire after their performance at Super ShowDown.

At the match, Goldberg rammed into the second turnbuckle during a spear spot and took a nasty shot to the head. Goldberg later revealed that he had actually knocked himself out when he hit the ring post, and continued because he thought he could finish the match.

“Knocked myself out and thought I could finish…. love my fans…..but let u down. Everyone else that found “pleasure” ….. hope ur happy”

Trailer For Dave Bautista’s “Stuber” Film

A new trailer for Dave Bautista’s latest film, “Stuber,” has been released as the movie stars the future WWE Hall of Famer, Karen Gillan, Natalie Morales, and Kumail Nanjiani.

Michael Dowse directors the film while Tripper Clancy wrote it. The movie is slated to be released on July 12th. You can watch the trailer here:

The synopsis reads like, “A detective recruits his Uber driver into an unexpected night of adventure.” 

WWE Announces Several New NXT Events

On Monday, June 10, Triple H took to his official Twitter account to announce several upcoming NXT live events.

The black-and-yellow brand will do a four-day tour starting in North Charleston, S.C., on Thursday, July 25, at the North Charleston Convention Center, in Columbia, S.C., on Friday, July 26, at the Township Auditorium, Atlanta’s famed Center Stage on Saturday, July 27, and Concord, N.C., on Sunday, July 28, at the Cabarrus Arena.

Tickets for all four events will be available at NXTtickets.com starting this Friday, June 14, at 10 a.m. local time.

NXT Champion Adam Cole, NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler, NXT Tag Team Champions The Street Profits, NXT North American Champion Velveteen Dream, The Undisputed ERA, Bianca Belair, Matt Riddle, and Mia Yim are all advertised for the show.

Although he is swimming in cash these days, former WWE Superstar and actor Dave Bautista (Batista) revealed during his appearance at the Denver Pop Culture Con event this weekend that he went broke after leaving WWE several years ago.

According to the Hollywood big-shot, he “went broke and lost everything” after parting ways with the pro wrestling juggernaut to pursue his acting aspirations in 2010.

“I was with WWE at the time and I went and did a film,” Batista recalled during his ‘Spotlight Panel’ at the event in Colorado. “I had zero interest in acting, all I wanted to do was wrestle. I loved wrestling, I was obsessed with wrestling, and I went and did a film as a favor for a friend and I realized I was horrible.”

Batista continued, “I was a horrendous actor. I was so mortified that I wanted to prove I could be better, and the company [WWE], they wouldn’t let me do anything outside of the company.”

It was at this point that Batista parted ways with WWE and began pursuing his acting dreams full-time.

He claimed he “starved for three years” until eventually landing the role that would change his career when he played “Drax the Destroyer” in Marvel’s blockbuster phenomenon, Guardians of the Galaxy.

“I starved for three years,” Batista claimed. “I went broke. I lost everything. I couldn’t get a job and I said that I will never go back to wrestling until I prove what I set out to prove, and that was that I can make it as an actor. Then I got the role on Guardians [of the Galaxy].”

That is when everything changed for “The Animal.”

Batista Succeeds In Hollywood, Makes WWE Comeback

It was at this point, when he was financially back on his feet and feeling content with his achievements in the acting world, that he decided to reach out to the WWE Chairman about making a potential return to the pro wrestling world.

“When I got the role, I finished the film and the first call I made after I wrapped was to Vince McMahon,” said Batista. “I said, ‘Hey man, I’d really like to come back and wrestle for a little bit.'”

His next stint in WWE wouldn’t last too long, however, as he went on to secure a spot in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, reprising his role in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. He also landed roles in such films as The Man with the Iron Fists, Riddick, the James Bond film, Spectre, Blade Runner 2049, Avengers: Infinity War, Hotel Artemis and Avengers: Endgame, just to name a few.

Things are definitely going well for Dave Bautista these days.

(H/T to JK Schmidt and ComicBook.com for transcribing the above Dave Bautista quotes from the Denver Pop Culture Con.)

Former WWE World Heavyweight Champion Batista told several interesting stories that have been documented on the site from when he joined Lilian Garcia’s podcast.

In this interview, he talked about topics regarding his return to WWE where he wrestled Triple H in a No Holds Barred Match at WrestleMania 35 in East Rutherford, NJ that marked his retirement bout. He returned as a heel while Triple H was a babyface.

One story was about no being sold on some things including appearing in his hometown, which is Washington D.C, due to the fact that the fans were going to cheer him. This marked the go-home episode of RAW for WrestleMania 35. 

Batista originally didn’t want to appear on the show due to the support from fans. He stated that he thought he could go in the ring and take a poop and the fans would still cheer him. That’s how much support he gets from people. 

“That was the thing, and I came out and did my promo. Vince called me, and he wanted me to come to D.C., and I said I don’t think so. He goes ‘this is what I want you to do, and when he told me the four-word promo, I laughed my ass off and said I’ll be there!”

Batista mentioned that the more the fans are fired up the more he is. “The Animal” would also bring up how he knew he wouldn’t be back in the arena in his hometown which is why he was engaging with fans after the promo.

“I was just praying that the cameras were going to be turned off. I turned around, and I was praying they were going to say it was clear, but I totally gave in. I walked through the curtain, and I just said ‘I am so sorry.’ Hunter’s standing there like ‘you’re not a babyface.’ I was like ‘I’m sorry dude, it’s my hometown. I couldn’t help it! It was killing me! There were little kids with their hands out…’ I just totally caved.”

H/T to WrestleZone for the transcription

We noted before how Batista appeared on the Chasing Glory with Lilian Garcia podcast prior to his WrestleMania match against the Game Triple H.

During the interview, he had explained why he chose Triple H as his final opponent and also revealed that he had turned down a previous Hall Of Fame induction.

Batista first claimed that he has already asked someone to induct him into the Hall Of Fame when the time comes, though he didn’t reveal the name of the person.

Continuing on the topic, the former World Champion revealed that Mr. McMahon had talked to him about an induction years ago, but he had declined.

According to him, he declined an induction because he didn’t have closure on his career and he will go into the Hall Of Fame when he is ready to hang up his boots.

As we noted before, the former World Champion lost to Triple H in a No Holds Barred Match at WrestleMania and the WWE COO was able to beat him with some help from Ric Flair.

After the match, Batista officially confirmed his retirement from the world of professional wrestling saying that he is grateful for every second of this amazing journey.

Taking his comments about an induction into consideration, the big question is if we can see the Hollywood Star finally being inducted next year and headlining the Hall of Fame class of 2020?

Former WWE World Heavyweight Champion Batista opened up on his decision to have Triple H be his opponent in his final match after having a long and successful pro wrestling career.

He joined Lilian Garcia’s podcast where he talked about the call to face Triple H in a No Holds Barred Match at WrestleMania 35 in East Rutherford, NJ at MetLife Stadium.

Batista brought up how he felt that his career got started when he worked with Triple H and that he made him a star. Batista recalled Triple H putting a lot of stock and investment in him to the point that he himself on the line physically for him.

Batista knew that for his last WWE run and his last wrestling match, he wanted it to be with someone he was familiar with and had a backstory with. He also wanted to give back to the company, and he thought Triple H was the perfect person for that.

“Not only did he put me over three times clean in the ring to make me a star, but also took the time to have me ride with him and have me pick his brain. He just groomed me to be a star in that company, so I wanted to finish out my career for him by just saying thank you to go out laying on my back for the guy.”

Batista stated that he believes a star should go out on your back. “I wanted my last match to be with him on my back because that is literally the only way that I can thank him.”

H/T to Wrestling Inc for the transcription

Dave Batista returned this past Sunday to face off against his Evolution stablemate, Triple H. The two would clash in a No Holds Barred match—the first match Batista has had in five years.

Catching up with Lilian Garcia on her podcast, Chasing Glory, “The Animal” discussed the preparation he undertook to ready himself for WrestleMania.

Reflecting on his time away from the squared circle, Batista remembered landing in New York adjust thinking “What the hell am I doing?”

“I was excited. I had been wanting to do this for years, but this is not the way things are done. 50 years old and you leave wrestling for five years and just come back and go to WrestleMania,” he laughed. “It’s super exciting, but I wish I was a little better prepared. I wish I was a little younger,” he confessed.

“I went and wrestled for the first time a few weeks ago, and I immediately felt beat up. It’s just all the jolting around. It might be one thing if I had some time to just get used to it, but when you don’t do it for years at a time and then you are being jolted around again…”

“That’s Always Been My Biggest Struggle”

“The Animal” was candid on the toll training to return to the ring had on his body. He was open about feeling awful and beat up, admitting that actively wrestling requires a different type of cardio versus a regular workout. He also conceded nerves probably played a part, too.

“I consider myself to be in decent shape, so it has a lot to do with nerves too when you get in there and are in front of an audience. And for me, that’s always been my biggest struggle, being nervous.”

Batista has since announced his retirement from pro wrestling and is ready to return to his successful acting career. He will appear in the upcoming Marvel epic, Avengers: Endgame, reprising his role as Guardians Of The Galaxy member, Drax.

His movie, Stuber, with co-star Kumail Nanjiani, was advertised during the WrestleMania broadcast. Nanjiani made an appearance at the event in support of Batista.

Triple H was victorious at WrestleMania 35 as he got his revenge on Batista. “The Game” beat “The Beast” in a No Holds Barred Match at this event on Sunday night. Ric Flair helped HHH win the match by handing him a sledgehammer.

For months, there was rumors about Batista taking on Triple H at WrestleMania 35 and it turned out to be true. Evolution, which is a group that consists of Triple H, Batista, Randy Orton, and Flair, reunited on WWE SmackDown 1000 back in October.

This marked the latest appearance by the former WWE Champion on WWE television. Batista would later praise Orton and Flair but stated that when it comes to Triple H, he might run the business and has done it all but has never beaten him. Batista and Triple H had a stare down then hugged to close the segment.

This led to a lot of speculation that this segment was done in order to set up a match between the two future WWE Hall of Famers at Mania. Fast forward to the February 25th episode of RAW where the former WWE World Heavyweight Champion made his return to viciously attack WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair just as he was getting ready to head to the ring for his 70th birthday celebration.

This is where Flair was about to walk out to the ring for his celebration but we see Batista dragging a cameraman to the locker room of Flair and he pulled out the pro wrestling legendary who had been attacked. He asked Triple H if he got his attention and then left.

• WWE WrestleMania 35 Results & Live Coverage

What are your thoughts on this match? Was this the right call by WWE officials? Sound off in the comment section.

Titus O’Neil and Batista have been good friends for several years.

Thus, while doing a recent interview with the Gorilla Position podcast this week, O’Neil revealed that Batista was concerned about his return and possibly last match inside of the squared circle.

He takes part in a No Holds Barred Match against Triple H at WrestleMania 35. Batista was concerned about being rusty in the ring as it’s been a few years since he worked a match.

However, O’Neil assured him that he will be fine as he’s in the ring with Triple H and it’s at the biggest event of the year for WWE.

“He was a little concerned about being rusty,” Titus revealed. “But he’s in there with a professional like Triple H and they’ve gone to battle several times before. It’s on the grandest stage of them all, but he’s competed at this level on numerous occasions, and I think once he gets over the pre-match jitters and gets into the action, I think it’s going to be one hell of a fight. He’s definitely going in to try and end the career of Triple H.”

WWE presents the WrestleMania 35 pay-per-view event on Sunday, April 7, 2019 in East Rutherford, NJ at MetLife Stadium that will air on the WWE Network.

H/T to Wrestling Inc for the transcription

Former WWE World Heavyweight Champion Batista is preparing for one of the biggest matches of his career and potentially his last contest inside of the squared circle.

However, that didn’t stop ex-NFL star Shawne Merriman from challenging him to an MMA fight. Merriman made it known during a recent interview that he wants to share the cage with the WWE star.

Batista does have an MMA background as he competed before. Back in October 2012, he took on journeyman and 40-fight veteran Vince Lucero at the CES MMA: Real Pain event in Providence, Rhode Island where he scored a first-round TKO win.

“He looks good, man. I know that people will watch that,” Merriman tells TMZ Sports. “I know people wanna see that. If he was down to do it, I would do it in a second. I wouldn’t even question that one.”

Batista is slated to take on Triple H at Wrestlemania 35 on Sunday, April 7, 2019 in East Rutherford, NJ at MetLife Stadium. Once this No Holds Barred Match is over, Merriman will attempt to get this fight booked.

“I know he’s got other stuff going on, but why not give the people something they want to see.”

For all of your latest UFC news, make sure to check out our sister site, MMANews.com.

Triple H is scheduled to take on his old Evolution stablemate, Batista, this Sunday at WrestleMania 35. The two will face off in a No Holds Barred match with Triple H’s career on the line.

Turns out that Triple H’s initial WrestleMania plans were drastically different only a few months ago.

In an interview with ESPN, Triple H recalled not only being told he would be inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame, but that Vince McMahon would “need” him to wrestle on April 7th. “The Game” had originally believed he was going to have “an easy year this year.”

“I Need You To be In WrestleMania This Year”

“I went from a month ago thinking, ‘Oh, this is great — I’m going to have an easy year this year, I just go watch the Hall of Fame and then I get to work behind the scenes at [Wrestle]Manias,” he said. “It will be easy. Then, Vince tells me I’m in the Hall of Fame … and then next thing [I know], I’m working at WrestleMania. So I got busy quick.”

He shared that he was approached by Vince McMahon in February about actually wrestling on the event, despite not being confident for an in-ring return post-injury. Triple H suffered a torn pectoral muscle during October’s WWE Crown Jewel event.

“So I didn’t feel that way — Vince came to me and told me, ‘I need you to be in WrestleMania this year,'” Levesque said, recalling a conversation from February. “And I was like, ‘Really? Because I haven’t been cleared to train yet even — I don’t know that I’m going to make that.’ Batista and I had this conversation a while ago about trying to do this … then I had to call him and go, ‘Dude, I tore my pec and I don’t know what’s going to happen. I’ll see.’ To this day, I’m still … I’m going to get in the ring next Sunday, and you and I will both find out at the same time whether my pec will hold on.”

“At This Point In My Career, It’s all Gravy”

Although he was eventually cleared to return to the ring, he still has some lingering concerns:

“[…] until you get in there, lifting dumbbells and getting hit by Batista are two totally different things. So I’ll see how it goes, but I feel good and I’m excited to get in there. And at this point in my career, I don’t ever want to make it sound like it’s not as big as it is, but at this point in my career, it’s all gravy.”

Triple H’s appearance at this year’s WrestleMania marks his 23rd WrestleMania appearance. This puts him second only to The Undertaker, who holds the record at 26.

Dave Bautista was not happy when Disney announced the removal of director James Gunn from the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise last year. He recently spoke to Variety about his feelings now that the director has been reinstated to work on the franchise.

“I just spoke my mind and was honest about the way I felt about it. I thought he was given a raw deal, I thought it was a bad call, bad decision,” Bautista said.

Disney fired the director last year after old Tweets featuring insensitive remarks from Gunn surfaced. Not long after Gunn was removed from the film, Bautista had the following to say:

“I will have more to say but for right now all I will say is this.. @JamesGunn is one of the most loving, caring, good natured people I have ever met. He’s gentle and kind and cares deeply for people and animals. He’s made mistakes. We all have. I’m NOT ok with what’s happening to him.”

• GOTG Director Re-Instated Following Backlash From Batista & Others

Dave Bautista – Guardians of the Galaxy Franchise

Bautista and others involved in the film alluded to not wanting to work on a 3rd Guardians of the Galaxy film if Gunn was not involved. Disney then announced last month they had decided to hire Gunn back.

Although he is contractually committed to working on a 3rd Guardians of the Galaxy film, Bautista feels Disney would have let him out of his contract if he had pushed the issue.

“I am contractually obligated [to do the third movie], but I think that Marvel and Disney –– if I had really stood my ground and said, ‘I don’t want to do this without James’ –– I think that they are decent enough that they would’ve let me out of my contract,” he said.

Even if he wasn’t brought back as director, Bautista wanted to ensure Gunn’s script was used for the 3rd movie.

“I wanted to bring it home. These guys are like family to me and I wanted to be involved in the third one,” Bautista said. “I wanted to use James’ script because it’s a beautiful script. Moving forward without James was a real personal issue with me.”

The full interview with Variety can be read here.

It seems as though both Triple H and Disney are learning that it’s best to just give Batista what he wants.

WWE Superstar Dave Batista and Triple H are set to face each other at WrestleMania 35 in a No Holds Barred Match after the two had a face-to-face confrontation on Raw.

Now, WWE has announced that the Animal will be returning to the last Raw before WrestleMania, and he has a message for Triple H.

On the October 16, 2018 episode of SmackDown, which was the 1000th episode special, Batista reunited with former Evolution stablemates Triple H and Ric Flair. Batista showed hostility towards Triple H and teased a match claiming that The Cerebral Assassin has never beaten him in a singles match.

Rumors and speculation about the match became reality on the February 25, 2019 episode of Raw when Ric Flair’s 70th Birthday Celebration hosted by Triple H and Stephanie McMahon, was set to take place. Flair did not make it to the ring and it was because Batista attacked him backstage, to seek Triple H’s attention.

On the March 11 episode of Raw, the two came together in the ring and Batista
Batista challenged Triple H for a match at WrestleMania. Batista said that he wanted his final match to be on his own terms, and Triple H accepted and made it a No Holds Barred match. Batista stated that the reason behind his hatred was because Triple H had only used him and underestimated him, before their time in Evolution.

On this week’s Raw, Batista demanded Triple H to put his career on the line against him, or the match would be off. Triple H agreed to the stipulation and must retire as a wrestler if he loses.

WrestleMania 35 is set to take place on April 7, 2019 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

Former WWE World Heavyweight Champion Batista is preparing to make his return to the squared circle as he takes part in one of the biggest matches on the card of WrestleMania 35.

Batista is slated to take on Triple H in a No Holds Barred Match at this event. WWE’s YouTube channel has released this footage of him training for the match, which you can watch here:

“The Animal” is one of the most successful WWE Superstars of all time as he has won six WWE World Titles, a four-time WWE Tag Team Champion, and a two-time Royal Rumble winner (2005 and 2014).

During a recent episode of Monday Night RAW, it was revealed that Triple H had to put his career on the line in order for this match to happen. “The Game” accepted the stipulation to the contest.

WWE presents the WrestleMania 35 pay-per-view event on Sunday, April 7, 2019 in East Rutherford, NJ at MetLife Stadium that will air on the WWE Network. WWE RAW Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey vs. Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair will headline the show. WWE will be announcing more matches for this show in the coming weeks.

A new stipulation has been added to the Batista vs. Triple H contest at WrestleMania 35. Triple H announced on Monday’s episode of RAW that he’ll put his career on the line in the No Holds Barred match against “The Animal.”

In the segment, it was revealed that Batista is refusing to wrestle at WrestleMania unless Triple H puts his career on the line, which saw “The Game” accept the extra stipulation and promised to win.

WWE presents the WrestleMania 35 pay-per-view event on Sunday, April 7, 2019 in East Rutherford, NJ at MetLife Stadium that will air on the WWE Network. Here is the updated card:

Updated WWE WrestleMania 35 Card

WWE RAW Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey vs. Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair – Triple Threat Match

WWE Universal Champion Brock Lesnar vs. Seth Rollins

Batista vs. Triple H – No Holds Barred Match with Triple H’s career on the line

Kurt Angle vs. Baron Corbin – Angle’s Farewell Match

Randy Orton vs. AJ Styles

Shane McMahon vs. The Miz

Roman Reigns vs. Drew McIntyre

WWE United States Champion Samoa Joe vs. Rey Mysterio

WWE Intercontinental Champion Bobby Lashley vs. Finn Balor

WWE Cruiserweight Champion Buddy Murphy vs. Tony Nese

6th Annual Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal: Braun Strowman, SNL’s Michael Che and Colin Jost

Batista vs Triple H is one of the hotter angles heading into WrestleMania. On this week’s X-Pac 12360, Sean “X-Pac” Waltman makes the case why neither Triple H nor Batista is likely to end up playing the villain in their feud.

Batista vs. Triple H: Who Is The Heel?

After laying out Ric Flair at his television birthday party, it would seem that the WWE creative team’s idea is for Batista to play the bad guy.

Not so fast, says Waltman.

“People who want to cheer Batista, there’s no reason why they can’t,” says Waltman.

“We’re not pigeonholing him in a way where if he’s not cheered, there’s a problem.”

Waltman recalls that Batista’s last run with the company saw him brought in as a babyface, right in the middle of Daniel Bryan’s ascent.

While fans were clamoring for Bryan to be positioned as the top good guy, they were instead treated to a Batista Royal Rumble win.

Ultimately, there was a change of direction, and Batista ended up playing the bad guy.

“Remember what happened last time?” Waltman asks. “And that’s not his f—ing fault. And I felt really bad for Dave.”

Reality-Based Batista vs. Triple H Feud

This go-around, Waltman says that by playing off some tension between the two that are based in reality, WWE will end up with a more realistic feud, not one where there needs to be a traditional good and bad guy.

“This is really smart,” Waltman says. “And if you don’t try to tell people who to cheer for, it will usually work out okay.”

“Triple H is a human being. That’s his character,” says Waltman. “The feud is a personal beef. There’s no total good guy, total bad guy.”

“Imagine that. It’s kind of like in real life… It’s always shades of gray in relationships.”

Regardless of the storytelling device being used, X-Pac says that he thinks WWE hit a home run, and he looks forward to Batista vs. Triple H.

“It’s a very nice way of doing it,” says Waltman. “It’s a really smart way of using Dave [Batista].”

Check out this week’s X-Pac 12360 below.

This transcript has been edited for clarity. When referencing this transcript, please credit SEScoops.com. 

Do you agree? Does there need to be a traditional babyface/heel dynamic in Batista vs. Triple H?

After watching what Dave Bautista did to Ric Flair on his 70th birthday, Disney has decided they would rather not get on his bad side. The film company has re-instated James Gunn as director of the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise following backlash from Dave Bautista and others.

Gunn was removed as director when old Tweets of his were deemed offensive. Disney issued a statement to media that Gunn’s comments were ““indefensible and inconsistent with our studio’s values.”

This summer, Bautista, Chris Pratt, and others involved with the film made public statements expressing their desire for Gunn to be reinstated.

Bautista posted the following in regards to the matter:

“I will have more to say but for right now all I will say is this.. @JamesGunn is one of the most loving, caring, good natured people I have ever met. He’s gentle and kind and cares deeply for people and animals. He’s made mistakes. We all have. I’m NOT ok with what’s happening to him.”

Bautista did say, however, he would participate in a 3rd film without Gunn if he was legally required.

https://twitter.com/DaveBautista/status/1026244855058649095?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1026244855058649095&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fcanoe.com%2Fentertainment%2Fmovies%2Fdave-bautista-threatens-to-quit-third-guardians-film-if-james-gunns-script-is-ditched

He also sent out the following in response to an article covering Gunn’s situation:

https://twitter.com/DaveBautista/status/1030544004088324098

Disney announced today, however, that Gunn will return to direct the 3rd Guardians of the Galaxy film. He is currently directing Suicide Squad 2.

There was an interesting exchange between “Arrow” star Stephen Amell and former WWE World Heavyweight Champion Batista on Twitter.

It all started once Amell sent out a post on his official Twitter account on Tuesday where he noted that he was pumped about Batista returning to in-ring action to take on Triple H at WrestleMania 35 but don’t want to see a celebrity angle detract from the card.

“Just landed and found out about @DaveBautista v @TripleH — Really pumped for the match but also don’t want to see a celebrity angle detract from an awesome wrestling card.”

Many people took this as a joke from Amell as he was poking fun at himself due to his past relationship with WWE.

If you recall, Amell made a few appearances on WWE Monday Night RAW in the summer of 2015 that eventually led to him working a match. He teamed up with Neville to beat Stardust and Wade Barrett in a tag team match at the SummerSlam pay-per-view event.

This is when Batista responded to the tweet. Well, Amell took this for what it is and decided to try to clear the air with “Guardians of the Galaxy” star as he noted that he didn’t mean to come off the way Batista saw it but rather trying to be funny. He would add, “Please don’t kill me.”

https://twitter.com/StephenAmell/status/1105596741385113610