Dave Bautista misses wrestling, but he doesn't want to tarnish how his career ended.
Six-time world champion Batista last wrestled at WWE WrestleMania 35, where he lost to Triple H. He then retired from the ring, and he has focused on his acting career ever since.
Speaking with Chris Van Vliet, Bautista was asked whether he knew that his bout at WWE WrestleMania 35 would be his last match.
“I did, I just didn’t tell anybody else because I didn’t want it to be a big ordeal. I didn’t want to go out and do the tour and give a speech. I wanted to have my match, and I wanted to call it a career, so I wanted to go out on my own terms. It was great. I was really proud of it. It was the way I wanted to go out. This was like a dream for me. It’s so perfect. It’s such a romantic way. Wrestlers don’t get to choose the way they go out. I did. I went out on my own terms, the way I wanted, with the guy I wanted to go out with. I will never tarnish that. It’s not that I don’t miss it. I miss the 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 would just tarnish my storybook ending, and I’m just not willing to do it," Bautista said.
Bautista was later asked whether he has come close to returning to wrestling. He noted that there was always temptation, as he missed it. However, Batista admitted that he had to accept that his time had passed.
"There’s always temptation because I miss it, and every time I hear my music, I want that feeling again. It’s like a drug. It just fires me up. It’s pure adrenaline. I will never get that anywhere else. I just have to come to terms that my time has passed," Bautista said.
During the interview, Bautista commented on potentially getting inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. Check out his comments here.
Bautista previously recalled how WCW trainers told him he would never make it as a wrestler. Click here to see what he had to say.
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