It turns out that Kurt Angle’s wasn’t the only retirement match at last night’s WrestleMania, it was just the only one announced in advanced. After losing to Triple H, Dave “Batista” Bautista took to his Twitter to announce his retirement from Sports Entertainment:
@WWEUniverse Thank you for letting me entertain you. I love this business and whether you cheered me or jeered me, I’m grateful for being a small part of your life. I am officially retired from sports entertainment and I am grateful for every second of my amazing journey ✌🏼
— Dave Bautista (@DaveBautista) April 8, 2019
Obviously this is no big surprise. As Drax in the Guardians of the Galaxy movies and most recently Avengers: Infinity War, as well as appearing in Blade Runner 2049, Stuber, and the upcoming Dune, Bautista has established himself as a star of Hollywood blockbuster films. He doesn’t need wrestling anymore, although his social media posts have made clear how much respect he has for the art form. A few hours after he retired on Twitter, he had this to say on Instagram:
To all the WWE fans across the world that gave me the opportunity to suspend your disbelief, thank you. From the biggest part of my heart thank you for letting me entertain you. Tonight was my story book ending and I wanted to leave you with all I had to give. I’ll miss this theater of violence more than I can express in words but I am officially retiring from Sports Entertainment. I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished, I leave in great health, and without a doubt the show will go on. I had a hell of a run. Thank you for the journey.
I don’t think any of us will be surprised if he shows up at some WrestleMania down the road, but that doesn’t mean he needs anymore matches. He’s done his bit and made a graceful exit to focus on bigger and better things, which is the best sort of wrestling retirement you can hope for.
