WWE News: Update On Batista — Will He Be Back For Next Year’s WrestleMania?

Former WWE Champion Batista has been off of WWE television for nearly a year now, and due to the success he’s had outside of WWE, it appears that he will not be returning to the squared-circle any time soon.

When WWE brought Batista back last year, they had the idea of him being one of, if not the biggest babyface in the company. He won the Royal Rumble, and was subsequently rejected by the fans because they felt like he was coming in and taking a spot away from Daniel Bryan. Eventually the fans got what they wanted, and Bryan won the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 30 by making Batista tap out.

During Batista’s final WWE television appearance, Triple H said to him that he would get everything he had been promised before he returned. Of course, that meant the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Batista quit that night, and left to do promotional work for the then soon-to-be-released Guardians of the Galaxy film, and while he didn’t leave on bad terms with WWE, he has no immediate plans for a return. As a matter of fact — according to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer— the only way Batista will return is for a retirement match.

“There will be a second Guardians of the Galaxy movie that will be filmed starting in February. That was a given. That would seem to make it a lock that Dave Bautista won’t be back for WrestleMania season. With the way his career has been going in Hollywood of late, with the possible exception of a one-time retirement match, I think his days as an active wrestler are over.”

So, it appears that Batista will not be available for next year’s WrestleMania, but, if he was to do a retirement match, it would unquestionably have to take place at WrestleMania. In the past, Batista has said that he wants his final match to be against Triple H, and it appears that Triple H will be having a match with The Rock at next year’s WrestleMania, so even if Batista was available for a retirement match at the event, he wouldn’t be getting the match he wants.

Batista is 46-years-old, so it’s no surprise that he’s putting wrestling on the back-burner, as his career in Hollywood is now his first priority.

[Image via WWE]