When John Cena formally announced at Money in the Bank that he was retiring from professional in 2025 to follow in the footsteps of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Dave Bautista in Hollywood, it got fans in their feelings.
Sure, Cena was going to make plenty of appearances in WWE before he officially hangs up the jorts for good, with a near-40-date retirement tour announced for 2025, but fans never want to see their favorites shut the door so permanently, as returning legends can still move the needle in 2024 and beyond, as The Rock's return ahead of WrestleMania 40 clearly proves. WWE gives out legends contracts for a reason, and while Cena may not want to step into the ring to wrestle ever again, the idea of fans never getting to see the Five Knuckle Shuffle ends an era in a rather uncomfortable way.
Sitting down for an interview with Chris Van Vliet to promote his new movie The Killing Game, Bautista was asked how it feels to see Cena announce his new exit, and if he would ever consider going on a retirement tour through WWE to give fans one final chance to see him live, especially those who missed his prime, which ended at WrestleMania 35 in 2019. While Bautista has never denied where he came from or rejected what it means to be a member of WWE's greater extended family, he doesn't think he'll follow the Cena route at any point in the future, as he simply isn't a fan of putting that big of a spotlight on himself.
“I get along with John, I respect John a lot more than people think I do for some reason. I think the internet and fans have built this rivalry between us, which there really isn’t. This is how we’re different. I’d never do this. I couldn’t, it would feel disingenuous to me to go around and — but I see his point where he wants to go around and thank all the fans but there’s something in me where I just couldn’t do it, it would feel uncomfortable to me,” Bautista explained via Fightful.
“Accolades feel uncomfortable to me. I can never be the type of baby face who was saying good stuff because I wanted to get the crowd to cheer for me. I couldn’t be that guy. I love and respect what he’s doing with his whole tour to say thank you to the fans, but we’re just different that way. I couldn’t do it. I went out the way I wanted, I retired the way I wanted. I didn’t want to make a big deal out of it. I announced my retirement on Instagram. I knew I was going to do it, I just didn’t want to tell anybody I was going to do it because I didn’t want anybody to say, ‘No no, you got to come in, you’ve got to give a speech.’ Something about it would have felt false to me. I couldn’t do it.”
You know, while fans may not want to hear it, nothing Bautista said should come as too much of a surprise, as if he wanted to return to the ring to help promote the dozens of movies he's released as an actor, it's hard to imagine either Vince McMahon or Paul “Triple H” Levesque shutting down a reunion with “The Animal.” Even if he routinely hits Bautista bombs in movies and cuts the occasional promo on the promotional trail, it would appear the best chance to see another match by the future WWE Hall of Famer would be on Peacock, as there likely won't be a reunion any time soon.
Dave Bautista doesn't want to ruin his storybook ending in WWE
Sitting down for another interview with Chris Van Vliet to help promote The Killer's Game, Bautista was asked what he misses from his time in professional wrestling and if he still gets the itch to step out into the ring and throw down once more.
Unsurprisingly, Bautista does miss the good old days, as that sort of adrenaline rush is hard to replicate, but he doesn't want to ruin his storybook ending to his career, as any future matches would only “tarnish” his exit at WrestleMania 35.
“I miss a crowd. I miss the energy of the crowd. I dream about walking out and hearing my entrance music, but I know if I do that, I will just tarnish my storybook ending,” Bautista noted via Post Wrestling, “And I’m just not willing… It’s always a temptation because I miss it, and every time I hear my music, I want that feeling again. It’s like a drug… I just have to come to terms with my time has passed.”
Gosh, when he lays it out like that, it's rather heartbreaking, isn't it? While Bautista did have an incredible moment at Mania, never getting in the ring again to protect that legacy is a tough pill to swallow.
Should Bautista get back into the ring at some point in the future? Should he accept that while his retirement match – as unannounced as it was at the time – that doesn't prevent him from getting back into the ring in the future? If that legacy is all that's holding Bautista back from returning to the ring, then he should know well enough that no one would hold it against him unless he absolutely botched it, as all he has to do is look at his good friend Ric Flair, who has retired three times now but is still most fondly remembered for his “I'm sorry, I love you” moment with Shawn Michaels.
Then again, considering his success outside of the ring, maybe Bautista doesn't want to wrestle again, period, and that match's legacy is just a good excuse to keep to that conviction. Considering his success outside of the squared circle, it wouldn't be too surprising if it was more of the latter than the former, all things considered.
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