Batista was backstage at WWE SmackDown on December 30.
On December 30, WWE held the last SmackDown of 2022 at the Amalie Arena in Tampla, Florida. The event was a star-studded show, as John Cena competed in his first match since 2021, and both Drew McIntyre and Charlotte Flair returned.
Several noteworthy names were also present behind the scenes at Friday's taping. WWE Global Ambassador Titus O'Neil shared images of himself at the show. In one of the pictures, O'Neil can be seen hugging Dave Bautista (Batista), and Gerald Brisco is also in the picture.
#SmackDown Was Awesome tonight and always Great to see all of my @WWE Family pic.twitter.com/V7qtVc8H6x
— Titus O'Neil (@TitusONeilWWE) December 31, 2022
Batista has largely been absent from the wrestling world since he announced his retirement after he lost to Triple H at WrestleMania 35. Both he and O'Neil live in the Tampa area, so they didn't have to travel far to attend Friday's episode of SmackDown.
During his WWE career, Batista was a six-time world champion. In recent years, he has been focusing on his acting career. Rian Johnson, who worked with Batista on "Glass Onion", recently agreed that he is the greatest wrestler-to-actor ever. More information is available here.
Catch up on our coverage of WWE SmackDown here. For a full review, check out our post-show podcast on our YouTube channel.
