Dave Bautista requested to face Triple H in his retirement bout at WrestleMania 35 in 2019 out of respect for him, given everything he has done in his career, and he will not return from retirement for another match.
Bautista was scheduled to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2020, but the COVID-19 epidemic derailed those plans, and the ceremony was cancelled. WWE combined the 2020 and 2021 Hall of Fame classes for a ceremony sans live spectators in the Thunderdome, although Bautista did not attend due to prior responsibilities.
While promoting his “Killer’s Game” film, Bautista discussed his wrestling career with Chris Van Vliet. Here are some highlights:
On whether he knew WrestleMania 35 would be his last match:
“I did. I just didn’t tell anybody. I didn’t want it to be a big ordeal. I didn’t want to, you know, 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 in New York….I lost……You got to go out on your back….This is like a dream for me. This is why 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 a 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 will just tarnish my storybook ending, and I’m just not willing…..It’s always a temptation because I miss it, and every time I hear my music, I want that feeling again. It’s like a drug…..I just have to come to terms with my time has passed.”
On WWE Hall of Fame induction:
“Eventually, I will. I want to. And there was a good opportunity for me to go in a couple of years ago, and I agreed to do it. Hunter (Triple H) asked me to do it. And I said, ‘Yeah, of course.’ And but it was here in LA, and I thought it was perfect. It was storybook, because I won my first title here in LA. We couldn’t figure it out because I was working on a film I was in South Africa, so logistically, we just couldn’t make it happen. But, yeah, I’m still open to it. One day I would like to.”
(h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription)
