Former WWE and World Heavyweight champion Dave Bautista told Jim Ross in the latest Ross Report podcast that he’s been in discussions with Vince McMahon about a possible almost-full time return to WWE.
Bautista, who last wrestled for WWE in June 2015, said, “I’ve talked to Vince recently. He knows what I want and I’ve made it very clear that I wanted to go back and run a program with Triple H.” He noted that a program with HHH would be the thing that gets him back in the business.
However, the wrestler-turned-movie star added that he does not want this to be a one-off and is not interested in a cheap pop. “I would love to go back. The reason I haven’t gone back is because I don’t want to do a one-off. I want to wrestle. I want to do some house shows and I want to be a part of the program. I love it,” Bautista said. “The ‘cheap pop’ thing just doesn’t do anything for me.”
Bautista made his return to WWE in 2014 in January, winning the Royal Rumble after entering #28. He went on to main event WrestleMania XXX with Daniel Bryan and Randy Orton but tapped out to the Yes! Lock, giving Bryan his WWE title win. After reuniting the Evolution group and wrestling The Shield twice, Bautista was unhappy with the creative direction and decided to leave and continue his Hollywood career.
Since leaving WWE, Bautista has done pretty well in Hollywood and has appeared in several movies, including playing a villain in the James Bond movie Spectre and portraying the character of Drax the Destroyer in Guardians of the Galaxy. He will also be part of the massive cast of Marvel’s Avengers: Infinity War movies starting next year.
