When Batista returned to the WWE for his final match in 2019, there was no questions that “The Animal” wanted to end his career on his own terms. His run back to the squared circle in 2014 started with an almost certain championship win at WrestleMania before Daniel Bryan’s meteoric rise shifted reported plans.
While promoting Room 104, Batista spoke with Uproxx about his professional wrestling career, having sway when he was “making millions of dollars” for WWE, and that infamous 2014 run.
“So, throughout the rest of my wrestling career, I had a lot of input. There was one time I went back for a few months after I had left to do films. I went back with a certain understanding that I would have influence on my storylines. It was all stripped away from me and I lost control and it ended up being a disaster,” Batista said. “And I said that I would never come back until I could control my narrative and what I was doing in professional wrestling. And they let me do that, which is why I went back last year and I retired. I closed up my career, but they let me do it my way. And I think it was great.”
Batista would return to Hollywood shortly after his feud with The Shield ended, before meeting Triple H in a one-match farewell at WrestleMania 35.
Read more from Batista’s interview promoting HBO’s Room 104 here.
