We have not received Batista in a full-time role in the WWE from 2010 onward as his contract expired and he headed for a journey in Hollywood. He entered the movie industry to earn some mainstream fame via featuring in Guardian of the Galaxy, James Bond films, Riddick, and Blade Runner. Mostly, it’s the role of Drax the Destroyer in the Marvel Cinematic Universe has given him fame.
It was in 2014 that Batista was back in the WWE to promote the film as well as be on the Road to Wrestlemania 30 for a one-off occasion. During that 5-month run, he won the Men’s Royal Rumble match and main-evented WrestleMania 30 where Daniel Bryan defeated him and Randy Orton in a Triple Threat to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.
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For two more months, that 2014 stint continued before he “quit” the WWE on an episode of Raw in June and left to promote his then-upcoming movie, Guardians of the Galaxy. This was the second time that he actually “quit” the company to earn some organic negative reactions from the audience.
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Triple H turned down Batista’s returning match at Summerslam
During an interview with Daily Dead, Batista then revealed that he actually wanted to return again and have a match at SummerSlam 2014, but Triple H and Stephanie McMahon weren’t keen on entertaining that proposal. The 6-time World Champion added that the WWE officials were doubtful about the success of this summer comeback as the original stint turned out to be a complete failure.
“Literally, it was Hunter and Stephanie who laughed at me, and Hunter goes, ‘We don’t even know if it’s going to be any good’. I swear to God,” Batista added.
“I wanted to go back for SummerSlam, and they didn’t want me to come back. I think because they thought it was such a failure, that run, and it wasn’t a failure because of me. I also think a lot of people thought that I really quit, that I really walked out, when in reality, I really stayed an extra month more than I was obligated to do just because I really wanted to be there.” (quotes courtesy WWFOldSchool)
Five years later following this run, Batista only returned to the WWE for one final match in the company in 2019. He lost to Triple H in a No Holds Barred match at WrestleMania 35 and also announced his in-ring retirement after this match.
