WWE News: Batista’s Resentment Towards John Cena & His Unceremonious WWE Exit In 2010

Last week, the Inquisitr reported how Batista opened up like never before about his 2014 run with WWE. His revelations were eye-opening, considering his history and supposed friendship with Triple H, but it’s not like Batista has anything to lose considering his recent success in Hollywood, which shows no signs of slowing down. But The Animal didn’t stop with 2014.

Batista’s 2014 stint will likely most be remembered for fans booing him when he was brought back as a babyface, and winning the Royal Rumble when the WWE Universe clamored for Daniel Bryan. He stressed how his run got ruined by irrational reactions and poor booking decisions. The latter actually led to his original departure in 2010 after debuting in the company in 2002.

2002 might go down as the greatest year in WWE history as far as rookie classes go. Batista, Randy Orton, Brock Lesnar, and John Cena all made their WWE debuts that year, and all have gone on to Hall of Fame careers. You’ll notice quite a few nods and/or slights towards Cena throughout this article, beginning with his first quote. Batista believed there was a major misconception about him that had people thinking he didn’t care about WWE or wrestling, especially when he left. He detailed just the opposite in a recent interview with MLW Radio as transcribed by Wrestling Inc.

“I don’t think people will ever get this or appreciate it about me, but when I was wrestling, all I wanted to do was wrestle. I didn’t want to be an actor. I didn’t want to do anything. I just loved entertaining people. I wanted to be there. I loved wrestling. I didn’t want to sell them cheap t-shirts. I couldn’t care less if they booed me or cheered me as long as I gave them a good match and they were happy with the match. I just wanted them to be entertained. I didn’t need the accolades. I don’t think people will ever f**king get that. I didn’t come out with 25 f**king wristbands and a different t-shirt every week that I was trying to shove down their Goddamn throats. People will never appreciate that just because I really love the [professional wrestling] business. I love the storytelling and I love giving the fans their money’s worth. ‘This is what I paid to see — this is good s**t.’ I mean, I was happy with that. I was more than content with that.”

Reading between the lines, you’d have to imagine Batista was referring to Cena in bringing up the wristbands and t-shirts. The marketing phenomenon that is John Cena led to other opportunities, both in and out of the WWE for the face of the company. During Batista’s heyday, he was part of the main event contingent on Smackdown while Cena was running the show on RAW. The Animal thought they were parallels of one another and felt he deserved similar chances.

“Basically, kind of mirror images of each other on our respective shows, but I’m getting afforded a lot less opportunities and that didn’t sit well with me and I wasn’t okay with that. I wasn’t content with that. And so, when they said no, I wasn’t going to be afforded those opportunities, I said, ‘well, I’m going to leave then’ and that was kind of it. And when WWE had started on films and commercials, and I noticed that everything more and more was going to Cena, but at the same time, he’s main eventing one series of shows [and] I’m main eventing the others, but he’s getting all these opportunities that I’m not getting… So I simply asked a question, ‘is there any opportunity for me to do films?’ and there wasn’t. They had no interest in me doing that, so I said, ‘well, if I’m not afforded the opportunity here, then I should be afforded the opportunity to go outside the company and audition.’ And the answer was, ‘you’re our property — get dressed for the house shows and get to work’. I just thought it was unfair, so I thought it’s just really unfair. It’s unfair career wise and it’s unfair to me financially.”

Batista’s original WWE tenure ended after a four-month feud with Cena over the WWE Championship, fittingly culminating in an “I Quit” match at Over The Limit. According to Batista, however, he gave WWE officials a long heads up before finally walking out of his final RAW on May 31, 2010.

“I gave them almost a year’s notice and I did whatever they asked me to do and I busted my ass and till the day I left, they didn’t think I was leaving and on the night that I left, I think a few people said ‘goodbye’ to me and said ‘thank you’, but it was like a very few. And then I walked out. Security, Muriel, I, Sassy, escorted me out the door by myself. No ‘see you later, Dave’, ‘thanks for everything’, ‘keep in touch’. It was sad, man. It really put things in perspective on where I stood with them. I left there with a broken back. Not a lot of people realize that or appreciate that, but in my last match with Cena, I broke my back.”

[Image via WWE]