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While having one more match is tempting to Dave Bautista (aka Batista), he is at peace with his WWE retirement. He calls his final match “perfect” and something he does not want to tarnish.
Speaking to Chris Van Vliet about The Killer's Game, Bautista explained his final WWE match to his co-star, Sofia Boutella. He seems okay with it, even if he is tempted to return for one last run.
“I did, I just didn't tell anyone else,” Bautista revealed. “Because I didn't it to be a big ordeal. I didn't want to go out, do the tour, [or] give a speech. I wanted to have my match and call it a career — go out on my own terms.”
Even though he lost to Triple H, Bautista considers his final WWE match a “perfect” ending. He cites the adrenaline of the crowd and his music as the key reasons he would want to come back.
“It's so perfect. It's such a romantic way [to end my career],” he explained. “And wrestlers don't get to choose the way they go out. I did. I went out on my own terms, the way I wanted with the guy I wanted to go out with. And I will never tarnish that.
“It's not that I don't miss it. I miss the crowd, I miss the energy of the crowd, [and] I dream about walking out and hearing my entrance music. But I know if I do that, I will just tarnish my storybook ending. And I'm not willing to do that,” he added.
So, don't expect the Animal to come back to WWE. Bautista closed out that portion of his life. He is on to bigger and better things.
Dave Bautista's WWE and Hollywood careers
Dave Bautista, under his ring name Batista, made his WWE main roster debut in 2002. He quickly became a part of the Evolution stable with Triple H, Ric Flair, and fellow young star Randy Orton.
Throughout his career, Batista won six world championships in WWE. He also won two Royal Rumbles (2005 and 2014) and several tag team championships (with John Cena, Rey Mysterio, and Ric Flair).
He began his acting career in 2006 with roles in an episode of Smallville and Relative Strangers. After appearing in The Scorpion King 3: Battle for Redemption and Riddick, Bautista gained notoriety for starring in Guardians of the Galaxy.
Bautista played Drax the Destroyer in the three Guardians of the Galaxy movies directed by James Gunn. He also reprised the role in Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, and Thor: Love and Thunder.
He started acting in more dramatic roles beginning with Blade Runner 2049. Bautista would reunite with director Denis Villeneuve for his Dune movies, playing Glossu Rabban in the two movies.
His other notable credits include My Spy, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, and The Boy and the Heron. He voiced the Parakeet King in the English dub of Hayao Miyazaki's latest movie.
Coming up, he will star alongside fellow WWE star Drew McIntyre in The Killer's Game. Bautista plays a hitman who sets a bounty on himself after receiving a terminal medical diagnosis. After learning that it was a mistake, he has to fight his way to survival.
