How likely is a return for Batista?

Once again, rumours are circulating that former six-time WWE and World Champion Dave Batista could be returning to professional wrestling soon, specifically WWE. And, once again, these rumours have been started by none other than the man formerly known as “The Animal”, Batista himself.

Batista (real name: David Bautista, Jr.) has used his Twitter account for posting cryptic messages to his fans and followers, usually saying something about a big announcement, then revealing it later on. The most recent one, which was posted over the weekend, stated the following:

Very rewarding long week. #IMissTheDaysWhen I could entertain you live and in person, but #TrustMe, you’re going to love what’s coming…

As usual, Batista has stayed very cryptic with this tweet, and based on the wording of it, the rumours are already flying that he is making his return to WWE. While I’m sure his fans are very excited about the possibility, they should not hold their breath. As I said before, this is not the first time Batista has done this. Every time he posts a cryptic tweet like this, he words it intentionally in a way that makes his fans think he’s returning to WWE, only to reveal that the tweet in question was actually about an upcoming movie role, his mixed martial arts debut, or some other project he has in the works. For whatever reason, deceiving his fans like this seems to amuse him, and despite it being something he’s done repeatedly in the past, his fans always take the bait hook, line and sinker.

While I have no idea what it is Batista is referring to with this tweet, I am 99.9% positive it really has nothing to do with WWE. For one thing, he has stated on more than one occasion that he doesn’t like the family-friendly “PG Era” WWE has become and that he doesn’t want to work for the company while they are still in that mindset (something that WWE likely won’t change any time in the near future). For another, Batista is now 43 years old. While that is not old, it can be considered old for wrestling, especially when most of WWE’s roster is in their mid-20s to mid-30s, with only a handful of guys like Big Show and Kane being older than that. Lastly, in case you haven’t seen “The Animal” in a while, he’s definitely not the same “larger-than-life” presence he once was. When he made the decision to dabble in MMA, Batista completely changed his diet and workouts, and went from weighing over 300 pounds to less than 200, a weight he currently maintains. Now, that’s not small by any means, and some of WWE’s current stars like Daniel Bryan are around the same weight. However, when you consider that he was a dominant super heavyweight his entire wrestling career, returning at the size of a cruiserweight is not going to demand nearly as much attention. Although Batista could certainly change things between now and then, he seems to be pretty happy being on the lean side.

There’s always the chance that Batista could shock everyone and actually make a return like he’s talked about over the years, I am not holding my breath on this one. I wouldn’t advise his fans to, either.