During his time performing as Batista, Dave Bautista certainly had a career worthy of the WWE Hall of Fame.
In fact, the multi-time world champion was originally announced as an inductee for the class of 2020, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the ceremony wasn’t able to take place at the time of WrestleMania 36. When the class of 2020 was set to be inducted in a double ceremony alongside the class of 2021 during the weekend of WrestleMania 37, Bautista was unavailable for the ceremony. He explained on social media, tweeting:
“To the @WWEUniverse Unfortunately due to previous obligations I am unable to be a part of the @WWE #HOF this year. By my request they have agreed to induct me at a future ceremony where I’ll be able to properly thank the fans and people who made my career possible #DreamChaser”
In a recent interview, Bautista revealed that he had his sights set on entering the Hall of Fame as part of the class of 2023. Now, according to a report on WrestlingNews.co’s Patreon page, the Knock at the Cabin star will be getting his wish as “the word going around in WWE is that Dave Bautista will be the headliner at this year’s WWE Hall Of Fame.”
WWE has not confirmed his induction at this time, and there is no word on when inductees will begin to be announced.
Future WWE Hall of Famer Dave Bautista Is Officially Retired From In-Ring Competition
During a recent appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Dave Bautista addressed his future both as Marvel’s Drax the Destroyer and as an in-ring competitor for WWE. The star is set to make his final appearance as Drax in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, which is released on May 5th.
“Yeah, it’s weird. I don’t know why it’s news,” Bautista said. “This is my seventh film as Drax. And my third ‘Guardians’ [movie]. It was like our trilogy. That’s kind of what we all signed up for, to do a trilogy. And I think this will be the last version of our ‘Guardians of the Galaxy.’”
“It’s the perfect exit. We all had those perfect character arcs and such a storybook ending,” he said. “I constantly relate it to the way I ended my wrestling career. I ended it on a storybook note. And I would never go back and tarnish that. And it’s the same with this.” (h/t Insider)
Batista’s storybook ending came when he faced Triple H in a No Holds Barred match at WrestleMania 35 in New Jersey. The two stars have a long history together in the ring, stemming from their alliance in the popular Evolution faction. After the two had a falling out, Batista won his first World Championship by defeating Triple H in the main event of WrestleMania. However, on their last outing in 2019, Triple H was victorious.