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What's the story?
Batista was WWE's Animal for the longest time but Hollywood soon came calling and he jumped at the chance to land as many big roles as he could. But he seemed to leave WWE in the middle of his comeback run with the company making some wonder if he's still under contract. Mike Johnson from PW Insider wanted to clarify the situation.
In case you didn't know...
Batista is a shoo-in WWE Hall Of Famer and captured a ton of fan attention along with four WWE World Heavyweight Championship Titles.
He came back to WWE for a short program in 2014 where he not only won the Royal Rumble but also headlined WrestleMania XXX in what would become a triple threat match featuring Randy Orton and Daniel Bryan.
After a lackluster return to the company, Batista quit WWE over creative differences. He was apparently contacted to do something for WrestleMania 32, but declined the offer.
The heart of the matter
Batista has said in the past the only program he would be interested in returning for would be one against Triple H. Apparently, WWE didn't want to see that happen so they declined his idea. This was one of the final times WWE and The Animal have been close to working something out.
Mike Johnson of PW Insider was recently asked whether or not Batista is still under contract because he seemed to quit out of the blue.
It was said unless WWE had a clause in their contract with Batista which would freeze his deal until he returned, his contact has most likely expired at this point.
Batista thought about returning the same summer as the first Guardians Of The Galaxy movie so he could do something for SummerSlam. But Triple H and Stephanie nixed the idea. They weren't sure if the movie would be a big hit at the time and didn't know if they wanted to associate WWE with the project.
What's next?
Even though Batista might not be returning to WWE anytime soon there will be no shortage of him on the big screen. He'll keep getting premium movie roles due to his versatility and comedic timing. His size and look is also a huge drawing point as well.
Author's take
Batista and Hollywood are becoming a very good team. Perhaps they could eventually work out a movie starring The Rock, John Cena, Batista, and maybe The Miz. If they were able to pull off that kind of an all-star cast, let's just assume it would be the greatest movie of all time.
