WWE wrestlers-turned-actors John Cena and The Rock still remain active in the ring, but Dave Bautista said goodbye to that career a while ago. Bautista, known in the ring as Batista, has no plans to go back into wrestling. He had his final wrestling match at WrestleMania 35, where he went up against fellow Evolution member Triple H.

Bautista revealed recently that he got to dictate his final match and even knew that he would lose the match against the Hunter. However, it was a great storyline, and Bautista loved the way he went out. When asked about whether he was tempted to come back to the ring, Bautista shared that he didn’t want to tarnish his last match.

Bautista now has a full-time Hollywood career. He was part of several IP projects like James Bond, Ip Man, Knives Out, Dune, and of course, Guardians of the Galaxy. He has a busy slate, as he is confirmed for several movies coming out in the next couple of years.

We all have rooted for Batista, the wrestler, at one point in WWE. He began his career in wrestling in 1999 and joined the WWE in 2000. He has two WWE Championship titles, four World Heavyweight Championship titles, and four Tag Team titles. Dave Bautista took a step back from wrestling and the company in 2014 after finding success in Hollywood.

In 2018, he made a comeback during SmackDown 1000, where he attacked Ric Flair to seek Triple H’s attention. He demanded a final match against the Hunter at WrestleMania. He set the stipulation for a career-threatening No Holds Barred match. It was one of the undercard matches at WrestleMania 35.

Bautista wanted this retirement match for years and went on to give us a great showdown with Triple H. Ric Flair showed up during the match to support the latter and it was a match that belonged to the Hunter. After the match, Bautista quietly retired from WWE to pursue a full-time Hollywood career.

He looked back at his last match during an interview with Chris Van Vliet for the promotion of his film, The Killer’s Game. His co-star, Sofia Boutella, was curious about the wrestler’s last game, asking him whether he knew it was his last match. Bautista shared that he “didn’t want it to be a big ordeal.” He shared that he didn’t want to “do the tour” or “give a speech”. He shared:

This is like a dream for me. This is why it’s so perfect. It’s such a romantic way and 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. And I will never tarnish that.

He has no plans of coming out of retirement, despite sharing that he missed the energy of the crowd and hearing his entrance music. However, he shared that he didn’t want to ruin his storybook finish to his career. He shared:

It’s not that I don’t miss it. Yeah, I miss the 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’ll just tarnish my story book ending & I’m just not willing to do it.

It appears to be a wise decision from Bautista; extended careers or coming out of retirement haven’t exactly gone well in WWE. The prime example of that would be the Undertaker, who we think should’ve retired after his excellent match with CM Punk in WrestleMania 29. However, he kept coming back until we finally had enough.

The Undertaker had the option to retire when he still kept up his winning streak in WrestleMania. However, the Phenom was made to appear in more PPV events, with WWE looking to double down on his old MVP status. However, at WrestleMania XXX, The Undertaker suffered a humiliating streak-ending defeat at the hands of Brock Lesnar.

He further returned to other WrestleMania matches like the one against Roman Reigns, where he left his jacket, hat, and gloves before leaving the ring. It wasn’t his final match, as he then returned to WrestleMania 36, where he had his final match in the cinematic Boneyard match with AJ Styles. He made an appearance during last year’s WrestleMania to support Cody Rhodes.

Kurt Angle also had a humiliating retirement match after he returned to the ring in Raw after 11 years. He went up against Baron Corbin in WrestleMania 35 and suffered a humiliating defeat. However, he is still remembered for his promo at the event.

Dave Bautista’s last appearance was in the film In the Lost Lands, based on a short story by George R.R. Martin.