WWE is still pursuing Batista for an appearance at WrestleMania. We first reported in January that Batista had declined an offer to wrestle a match, and now WWE is pitching him non-wrestling roles for the big pay-per-view.
When Batista was backstage visiting at last week’s SmackDown taping in Tampa, where he lives, he had a meeting with Vince McMahon. PWInsider.com reports that Vince pitched Batista a special guest referee role for WrestleMania 32, which Batista also turned down. The referee role was reportedly for Roman Reigns vs. HHH. There’s no word on if WWE plans to have someone else fill the role of guest referee for the WrestleMania match.
Back in November, Batista stated that during his last WWE run, he was “constantly butting heads with them creatively.” In an interview to promote 007 Spectre, the wrestler-turned-actor says WWE’s creative direction made the fans rebel against him.
“I’m the worst babyface ever,” Batista explained, “but I’m a good heel, I know how to be a heel, I’m comfortable being a heel and the fans want me to be a heel. But they tried to shove me down everybody’s throats, and they rebelled. They are not idiots and they don’t like it and they don’t want it. So, it just makes them rebel more. ”
The former WWE champ also recalled another negative experience he had with the company, where a cameraman wouldn’t call Batista by his name. Batista will be filming the second Guardians of the Galaxy movie for Marvel over the next few months.
Former WWE Superstar Batista was backstage at Sunday’s Royal Rumble PPV from Orlando and met with Vince McMahon about an appearance at WrestleMania 32, according to Ryan Satin over at ProWrestlingSheet.com. Batista reportedly declined Vince’s pitch for a one-time ‘guest appearance’ gig that would not have required him to wrestle a match.
The 2014 Royal Rumble winner has been outspoken about WWE’s creative process since his last run with the company went completely off the rails in part due to the Daniel Bryan YES! Movement. During an interview with HeyUGuys last April, Batista said he’s open to wrestling for WWE one day, but only at live events, since WWE’s scripts “aren’t that great.”
– The latest edition of WWE’s “This Week In WWE” YouTube segment, which you can view above, looks at the debut edition of WWE Monday Night RAW, where The Undertaker took on Damien Demento in the main event.
– John Cena is reportedly closing in on earning $10 million per year from WWE, according to a post written by Dave Meltzer of F4WOnline.com. The $10 million annual salary certainly puts Cena, who has had a rare run of over a decade in a main event position in the company, in a very elite class in terms of others who have earned money at that level from WWE.
– While out in Hollywood achieving success few WWE Superstars have ever had, Batista still manages to find time to engage in social media beefs with pro wrestling fans, as he recently had an exchange with a fan who got in a one-liner on him. A fan asked “The Animal” what role he would play if he was in the Titanic movie, to which Batista sarcastically replied, “The ship.” The fan then responded, “So just like your WWE career, you’d sink.” This led to a defensive Batista posting the following tweet listing his WWE credentials before closing with a quick dig at the fan.
Former WWE Superstar MVP recently appeared as a guest on the Sam Roberts Wrestling Podcast spoke about his friendship with Batista and how it has helped him throughout his career, Vince McMahon never believing Batista would leave WWE for acting and more. Below are some of the highlights from the interview.
On his friendship with Batista and Batista helping him get a match-finish changed:
“We had been doing a television feud. It wasn’t a pay-per-view feud, but, every week, he and I were going through something, wrestling, and he had beaten me, like, two weeks in a row on TV. And the finish that day was he was going to beat me again. And I know my role. I’m a heel! He’s the money guy. He’s a star. That’s what I’m there for. I have no problem with that. Dave had a problem with it because he said, ‘why am I beating you again? This does nothing for you. This does nothing for me. This is pointless.’ His exact words [were], ‘you’re a f–king guy we can do something with. Why am I beating you again?’. This is what Dave said. I said, ‘f–k it, Dave. I’m working in the main event against you. I’m cool. That’s fine. I’m making that main event money. I’m getting the rub.’ He goes, ‘no, f–k that. It’s bulls–t. Lets go talk to Vince [McMahon].'” MVP continued, “Dave literally took me in to Vince and said, ‘Vince, it doesn’t make sense.’ That doesn’t happen very often in the world of professional wrestling. There aren’t that many guys that think that selflessly and see the picture in that way, so that’s the kind of guy he is.”
On he, Batista and Vince McMahon coming up with a different finish to the match:
“We came up with a finish where we’d fight outside the ring, he’d be kicking my ass outside the ring, and I’d be running away from him during the count, so as I dive into the ring, I win by count out. And I kind of slid out [of] the backside of the ring and I was still scared and I’m showing, ‘oh s–t’ and [the announcer says], ‘and the winner, by count out, MVP!’ and I get my swagger back and I was like, ‘yeah, that’s right! That’s right! I won!’ And that was the finish that we came up with. Dave did that.”
On Vince never really believing that Batista would leave WWE for acting:
“With [Batista’s] movie career, I remember the day he left and it was crazy because Muriel, the security guard, she walked him out and he was telling me, he goes, ‘Vince doesn’t think I’m leaving. He thinks I’m bulls–tting him. He doesn’t think I’m serious.'” MVP added, “[Batista] literally walked away from millions of dollars a year on the chance that he’d make it in Hollywood [and McMahon was saying,] ‘he’s not going to walk away from all this money.'”
WWE Superstar Titus O’Neil recently spoke with The Miami Herald about his experience at the Navy UDT-SEAL Museum’s 30th annual Muster And Music Festival Weekend and his close friendship with part-time WWE Superstar and emerging actor Batista. Below are some of the highlights from the interview.
On Batista joining him at the Navy UDT-SEAL Museum’s 30th Annual Muster & Music Festival Weekend:
“Once the Navy SEALs asked me to do it, I shared that great news with people who are close to me, and Dave [Batista] immediately text me back and said, ‘When is it?’ He was also there for me in Chicago when I got the humanitarian award from Jesse Jackson [at The Rainbow PUSH Sports Awards in 2014]. He always wants to be there for me in big moments. Same with me. I always want to be there when he’s doing movie premieres and stuff like that.”
On Batista making time to be there despite his own hectic schedule:
“He’d been on a whirlwind media tour. He literally got home late that Friday night and came over that Saturday morning early. He got home in Tampa, and then a buddy of mine drove him over, so he could rest and sleep in the car. He just came from promoting 007 [the James Bond film] ‘Spectre.’ [Batista plays villain Mr. Hinx.] He’d been overseas, everywhere. So for him to be there for me. He is one of the closest friends that I have. He’s like a brother to me, a big brother to me, and he always has been, even before I got into WWE. I was very proud to have him there, and a lot of people were very excited about having him there, too.”
On Batista encouraging him to try his hand at pro wrestling/sports entertainment:
“I literally got started when I was driving to South Tampa one day to pick up a pair of dress shoes, and I saw the building where he told me FCW was, which is now NXT [in Orlando]. I called him and said, ‘Is this black and yellow building the place you were telling me about to speak to someone to look into this?’ He said, ‘Yea,’ and I said, ‘Well, I’m going to poke my head in and see what it’s about.’ Two weeks after I poked my head in, I was in that same building learning how to become a WWE superstar.”
The folks at WhatCulture.com recently caught up with part-time WWE Superstar and Fozzy front man Chris Jericho. Below are some of the highlights from the interview, which you can watch in full via the YouTube player embedded above.
On when he finally decided to speak up against WWE creative and how to approach Vince McMahon in doing so:
“I’d say probably 2008 is when I could really start figuring out what I wanted to do and having a lot of say in my storylines because before that, you really just do what you’re told and if you don’t like it, you can f–k off and that’s basically it. And anybody that tells you differently is not telling you the truth because it really is, until you earn the respect of Vince McMahon, you don’t have any leverage.” Jericho continued, “it’s not so much standing up and being a rebel and saying, ‘this is what I’m going to do’, it’s more like, ‘okay, well, how can I make this as good as possible?’ And then, once you do that long enough, making everything good, then you earn respect. And then you can start kind of interjecting and saying, ‘well, here [are] my ideas. Here’s what I want to do.'”
On disagreeing with Batista and Mick Foley about WWE’s PG-Era being “too restrictive” on today’s talent:
“If you’re a good performer, you make it good no matter what the rules are. I don’t have to go out there and say, ‘son of a b—h’ and get color and dump outhouses full of s–t on Vince McMahon to get over. I don’t have to do that. And I think [Batista and Mick Foley] might feel that way, but I think they’re both great performers and they can make it work as well. Once again, your job as a performer is to take what you’re given and make it work and sometimes there are certain restrictions that you have and sometimes those restrictions aren’t there, but it really doesn’t matter. You still have to make it work. That’s your job.”
On if he prefers to work as a babyface or a heel:
“I’ve won the title six times as a heel and never once as a babyface, so I guess that tells you which I like better, maybe, if I had to really guess. But both are fun and both are very difficult to do. You really have to be able to understand what it is that the fans are looking for in either case.”
On what makes a true heel in the wrestling business:
“Being a heel, a true heel, you’ve really got to commit to it and a lot of guys don’t now. To be a real, true heel, is a hard thing and you really have to be into it.” Jericho added, “if you want to be a real heel, merchandise? What’s that? Magazines? Why would I ever want to be in a magazine or on a website feature as a heel? No interviews allowed. Nothing allowed because if I’m a real heel, I don’t want to talk to anybody.”
Above is the first official trailer for Kickboxer: Vengeance starring former WWE World Heavyweight Champion Dave Bautista. The film also stars Georges St-Pierre, Gina Carano, and Jean-Claude Van Damme, who starred in the original Kickboxer in 1989.
The movie was filmed in New Orleans, Louisiana, and Thailand with a budget of $17 million. The film is expected to hit theaters sometime in 2016.
WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross recently updated his official blog at JRsBarBQ.com with his thoughts on how WWE should handle the build to WrestleMania 32, some of the big stars they could bring in and more. Below are some of the highlights.
On the WWE title being ‘tepid’ heading into WrestleMania season:
“I can’t recall the WWE Title being more ‘tepid’ than it is right going into [WrestleMania season] for WWE. This is not an indictment on Sheamus who I have great respect for and love his work ethic but the title lost a great deal of luster after Seth Rollins suffered an untimely, major knee injury.”
On the two biggest stars WWE can bring in for WrestleMania 32:
“The two most viable stars that WWE could bring in for WM32 or so it seems might be Goldberg and Batista. Austin and HBK are adamant that their wrestling days are history, Hogan is still on the outs with the company plus he doesn’t need to wrestle a match with his back condition and Rock has movie commitments I’m told as does Ronda Rousey.
For those that think that Austin and HBK would do ‘one more match’ for the right money, please, just stop it.”
On Daniel Bryan awaiting doctor’s clearance:
“As Dave Meltzer and I discussed this week on The Ross Report Podcast, if Dr. Joe Maroon, WWE’s medical guru, doesn’t clear Daniel Bryan we don’t think it matters how many other doctor’s say that it’s OK for DB to return to the ring. If I was still in charge of WWE roster, I’d go strictly on what Dr. Maroon says.”
Batista recently spoke with News.com.au to promote the new James Bond “007: Spectre” film in which he plays the role of “Mr. Hinx.” Below are some of the highlights from the interview.
On Daniel Craig being intimidating when preparing for a fight scene:
“After years of professional wrestling, I don’t need a whole lot of preparation to go from nice guy to kick-arse guy. But Daniel does this thing when he gets ready to do a fight scene. He starts amping himself up. He starts going; ‘argh, argh, argh’. It sounds a little weird saying this, and it probably sounds a little weird hearing it, but it’s a bit intimidating.”
On being able to make a living as an actor:
“This past year was probably the first year I have actually been able to make a living as an actor. So it’s still very surreal to me. It’s a dream come true. I know that sounds like a cliché but it really is.”
On not having an ego about letting someone else do the stunts for him in a film if he feels he’s not qualified:
“It’s weird because a lot of actors now are insisting on doing their own stunts. I am the complete opposite. If I don’t think I am qualified for a stunt, I will be the first guy to say it. And I am lucky enough to have a really great stunt man for this film. He was my stunt man on Guardians, too. I want them to use him as much as possible, because he makes me look good.”
Jim Ross pitched an interesting idea for the WrestleMania 32 main event on the latest episode of his Ross Report podcast. With Seth Rollins, Randy Orton and The Rock all out of the picture for WWE’s biggest show of the year, WWE has their work cut out for them if they want to fill up AT&T Stadium. JR would like to see a “red hot” Batista return as a cocky Hollywood heel and square off against Brock Lesnar.
“Hey, I got an idea for you…what about Bautista, the heel, coming back and taking on Brock Lesnar, the babyface, at WrestleMania in April in Dallas?”
He added, “I could live with that main event… red hot Batista coming back and urinating all over the fans and being a big star and being very arrogant and full of himself and being a bad ass, believing his clippings and he wants to take on the biggest dog in the yard. I don’t dislike that match.”
– In addition to The Undertaker and The Rock, WWE Chairman Vince McMahon took to social media for the third time in one day on Thursday to send congratulations to former WWE Champion Batista on the success of the new James Bond “007: Spectre” film, which co-stars Batista as the character “Mr. Hinx.” You can check out McMahon’s comments via the following tweet:
– The Rock posted a “Throwback Thursday (TBT)” photo and blog on his official Instagram account on Thursday honoring WWE Hall Of Famer Pat Patterson. The Rock wrote the following, which was accompanied by the below photo of the two talking together backstage at a past WWE event.
“#TBT 2013 becoming #WWE Heavyweight Champion for the 8th time. First person to congratulate me backstage was WWE Hall of Famer and close family friend Pat Patterson – one of the greatest mentors I’ve ever had in the world of sports entertainment.
At 23yrs old I called Pat and told him I was training to get into the business. He said “What business?”. I said “the wrestling business”. He said with great clarity, “Why the f–k would you want to do that?”. He eventually agreed to come watch one of my ring workouts in Tampa, and after the session I said “Do you think I have what it takes?”. He simply said “Just keep working”. He immediately went home and called Vince McMahon and said “Vince you gotta see this kid, I think he can be great one day”. One week later I had my very first tryout match for the WWE in Corpus Christi, TX in front of 15,000 people.
Pat has been instrumental in creating some of the greatest storylines (Rock vs Austin, Rock vs HHH) and matches of my entire career and I’m forever grateful for his guidance and knowledge. He’s also responsible for dropping the greatest lines ever… in this picture he literally said “My God Rock when you won the title tonight the people went f–kING BANANA!” For some reason he always forgets the “s”. #PatPatterson #Legend #Mentor #Grateful”
Although he said he was open to a WWE return, Batista may now be rethinking that after having a bad experience with a WWE employee this week. The former WWE champ took to Twitter on Saturday to describe an incident where a WWE cameraman didn’t know his name, so just referred to him as “Mr. Cool Strong Dude.” Batista says he took it as a sign that his wrestling career is over.
Former WWE star Batista spoke with WWE.com to promote the opening of his new James Bond movie Spectre. Here are the highlights of what The Animal said about:
Where are we more likely to see him with The Rock, on a movie set or in the ring at WrestleMania?
“That’s a good question. I would take either opportunity. At this point, you’re more likely to see us in the ring together. If you flash back to WrestleMania XX, that would be the only time. I don’t have any plans right now to return to the ring or to do a film with Dwayne, but I would jump at the chance for either opportunity.”
Does he think about returning to WWE one day?
“I miss it so much. What I really thought was so interesting is the way that Chris Jericho went back and did Live Events. Live Events are fun, man. It’s really just all about you and the audience. I always just loved that. I’m passionate about it. I’m proud to be a pro wrestler because I love it.”
– Featured above is a behind-the-scenes clip from Batista’s recent Muscle & Fitness shoot.
– WWE Hall Of Famer Bob Backlund is the guest on this week’s edition of Jim Ross’ “Ross Report” podcast. The official description for the show, which you can download at PodcastOne.com, reads as follows:
“WWE Hall of Famer & World Champ Bob Backlund has plenty of stories about his days in pro-wrestling – from his chance meeting with Superstar Billy Graham at a North Dakota YMCA to being mentored by the Funk Brothers to the one-minute long phone call with Vince McMahon, Sr that changed his pro-wrestling career! Hear about Bob’s early days in the territories living in his car, his 1982 match against Ric Flair, dropping the belt to the Iron Sheik at MSG, and his amazing philosophy on the benefits of a Positive Mental Attitude!”
– WWE Shop has finally released New Day socks for the WWE Tag-Team Champions, The New Day. Kofi Kingston tweeted the following about the product, which you can also see pictured below.
We heard you. And we're finally giving you what you've been asking for for the past 9 months… New Day Socks! https://t.co/5M7brLbmDZ
– As noted, Nikki Bella is currently out of action dealing with a neck injury. In addition to the neck problem, F4WOnline.com is reporting that Nikki is dealing with a “nagging hip injury.”
– Batista is scheduled to appear on tonight’s edition of “Jimmy Kimmel Live” to promote his role in the new James Bond “007: Spectre” movie.
– Goldust continues to tease an imminent WWE return. Goldust tweeted the following today:
– Dolph Ziggler did a Q&A with fans on Twitter this week and had this to say about the importance of technical wrestling ability in today’s ‘Sports Entertainment’ environment:
Former WWE Superstar Dave Bautista recently spoke with Chris Van Vliet of WSVN Miami to promote the new James Bond: Spectre movie which hits hits theaters this Friday.
Batista sought out advice from The Rock about the transition from WWE to Hollywood and revealed that The Rock warned him to keep his sights set on his goals and not to get trapped in the ‘quicksand’ of WWE.
“I always found it amazing that he was actually able to go from film to wrestling and back to film to wrestling, and he described it as quicksand especially with the company, WWE because they are very controlling. They’re not the easiest company to deal with.”
“And he said don’t get caught in the quicksand, you’re not trapped here, you have to be strong and have to stand your ground. If this is what you want to do, you have to make it known and you’re not going to deviate from that plan. And that’s what I did when I went back for my short stint with WWE. He helped me make it work.”
Batista said that he would love to return to WWE one day, but his last run was anything but enjoyable. He didn’t want to be a babyface and wasn’t surprised when fans rejected the way his character was portrayed.
“I was just constantly butting heads with them creatively, which is something we talked about well beforehand and I was promised things that weren’t delivered to me. For one, I didn’t want to go back as a babyface. I said it’s not going to work, they don’t want to see me as a babyface. Nobody wants to see Batista as a babyface. I’m the worst babyface ever. But I’m a good heel, I know how to be a heel, I’m comfortable being a heel and the fans want me to be a heel. But they tried to shove me down everybody’s throats, and they rebelled.”
“They are not idiots and they don’t like it and they don’t want it. So, it just makes them rebel more. Then it became a state of confusion where they didn’t know what they wanted to do with me so they’d just send me out every week regurgitating the same crap and it was just horrible. After I had finally been there for a few months where I found my niche, when people started reacting to me in a positive way, I had to go and fulfill my obligations with Marvel.”
As he’s stated in previous interviews, Batista thinks the best scenario for him would be to only work live events, since that would give him a chance to wrestle and interact with fans without having to deal with TV writers.
Posted November 2nd, 2015 in News, WWE. Tagged: Batista.
– The following matches are scheduled for tonight’s edition of NXT TV.
* Emma vs. Shazza McKenzie from Australia
* Chad Gable and Jason Jordan vs. Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano
* Nia Jax vs. Kay Lee Ray from Scotland
* Samoa Joe vs. Tyler Breeze
* NXT Champion Finn Balor vs. Tye Dillinger
– Wizard World announced on Tuesday that WWE Superstars Lana and Kane will not be appearing at their scheduled appearances in Austin, Texas this weekend due to scheduling conflicts. The cancellation box on their official website also notes that Ric Flair and Charlotte have cancelled as well.
– Below is Batista on the cover of the November issue of Muscle & Fitness magazine, which is available on newsstands now.
Shane McMahon joined Batista at the James Bond “007: Spectre” world premiere in the United Kingdom on Monday night. Batista plays villain “Mr. Hinx” in the movie, which is scheduled for a November 6th release.
After weeks of dissension with her PCB partners, Paige finally snapped on Monday’s RAW and turned on Charlotte and Becky Lunch.
PCB lost to Team Bella in a six-Divas tag-team match and Paige snapped. She delivered the RamPaige to both Charlotte and Becky, leaving them laying in the ring.
Part-time WWE performer Batista recently spoke with LatinPost.com to promote his role in the new James Bond “007: Spectre” movie. Below are some of the highlights.
On the most fascinating thing about playing the Mr. Hinx role in 007: Spectre: “I think the cool thing is that he was going to be categorized as a henchman. And my fear was always that I didn’t like being cast as a muscle head. So two questions I asked Sam at that meeting was if Hinx was a bada**. Then I asked if he was intelligent and he said “Absolutely.” Those were my two concerns because I didn’t wanted to be categorized as a subservient henchman. I wanted to be a man on a mission doing his own thing. And that’s what Mr. Hinx is.”
On the most exciting scene that he took part in during 007: Spectre filming: “We did this elaborate car chase through Rome that was incredible. They literally shut down the city for us at night. When we driving these exotic cars through Rome it was insane. It felt like I was really in a James Bond film.”
On the most exciting thing about being in films like Guardians of the Galaxy and 007: Spectre: “I don’t think that I find anything particularly fascinating. For me it’s about the characters. I take jobs based on characters. I noticed that conditions are better on bigger budget films, but I don’t mind roughing it once in a while if the quality of the material is there. I can get used to some disorganized stuff. I was with WWE and everything was always disorganized there.”
On whether or not transitioning from WWE to Hollywood was tough: “It was actually really rough. It didn’t seem to start rolling until Guardians was released. The first film I ever did, I was with WWE and it was a favor to a friend. When I did it, I realized I was a horrible actor. It pissed me off because I left feeling embarrassed. It made me want to prove myself and get better so I could get a second chance. And there you go.”
– Part-time WWE performer Batista recently spoke with Yahoo! to promote his role in the new James Bond “007: Spectre” movie. Batista mentioned that he does miss the entertainment aspect of WWE at times and when talking about his success as an actor, “The Animal” remained humble. “I don’t want to be a movie star,” said Batista. “I want to play great characters.” Check out the complete article at Yahoo.com.
– WWE broadcast team member Tom Phillips will be replaced on the WWE Five Things web series by new WWE broadcast team member Kyle Edwards (Arda Ocal), who will be taking over the hosting gig beginning next week.
– WWE posted the following clip of Randy Orton in the new wWE Studios film, “The Condemned 2,” which is scheduled for a November 2nd release.
– Part-time WWE performer Batista was in attendance at the Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Buffalo Sabres NHL game in Tampa, Florida on Saturday evening. Below is a photo of Batista at the game with his new wife Sarah Jade, as well as Robert Molloy.
Former WWE Champion turned Hollywood star Dave Bautista revealed that he will be on the cover of Muscle and Fitness Magazine for the third time next month.
Batista, who was married over the weekend, will be co-starring in the upcoming James Bond film Spectre, due out November 6th.
– Stephanie McMahon and WWE Superstars met Susan G. Komen honorees before Raw in Boston to kick off Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Click here to see photos.
– A commemorative magazine on The Undertaker is now available on newsstands and WWEShop.com. The official description of the issue is as follows:
Take a journey through the dark and hallow halls of the world of Undertaker. WWE Magazine celebrates his career with a 25th anniversary commemorative special edition dedicated to The Deadman. Relive the reaper’s greatest moments, featuring:
WWE Superstars reflect on being in the ring with The Phenom
Definitive Brothers of Destruction Timeline
The rise and fall of The Streak
Undertaker’s evolution from the Western Mortician to The Last Outlaw.
– Dave “Batista” Bautista is once again a married man. The former WWE Superstar tweeted the following photo today of himself and his bride at their wedding.