When WWE legend rejected WrestleMania spot with Shawn Michaels and Steve Austin

WWE WrestleMania 32 featured a moment where The League of Nations and The New Day were interrupted by Mick Foley, Shawn Michaels, and Steve Austin.

The trio of WWE legends took turns hitting their finishers on The League of Nations. They also had some fun dancing with The New Day before Austin landed his trademark Stone Cold Stunner on Xavier Woods.

Austin and Michaels were always planned for the memorable segment, which took place in their home state of Texas. However, Foley's spot was originally intended for Dave Bautista, aka Batista.

The Animal revealed in a 2019 interview on Talk Is Jericho that he rejected the opportunity to join forces with Austin and Michaels:

"Then there was another time where they had Stone Cold, Mick Foley, and Shawn Michaels and they did something with The New Day," Batista recalled. "I was supposed to play the part of Mick and I said that was something I didn't want. Hunter [Triple H] was there and I said, 'When are we going to start talking about Hunter at Mania?' They just never really showed any interest in it."

Three years after WrestleMania 32, Batista finally received the match he wanted against Triple H at WrestleMania 35. The wrestler-turned-actor lost the bout and retired from in-ring competition the next day.

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Backstage drama unfolded before the WrestleMania 32 match

The League of Nations (Alberto Del Rio, Rusev, and Sheamus) defeated The New Day (Big E, Kofi Kingston, and Xavier Woods) in a 10-minute match.

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#TheNewDay just emerged out of a GIANT box of #BootyOs!!! #WrestleMania @WWEBigE @TrueKofi @XavierWoodsPhD

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#TheNewDay just emerged out of a GIANT box of #BootyOs!!! #WrestleMania @WWEBigE @TrueKofi @XavierWoodsPhD https://t.co/rHaXBQQhAX

In 2022, Del Rio confirmed during an interview with Sportskeeda Wrestling's Riju Dasgupta that a pre-match altercation took place between The League of Nations:

"There was a big fight backstage. On that one, I was involved but it was not me creating the altercation. The person creating the altercation was not against me. The other two and I, we had to put someone in his place before going out. This is one minute before we went out."

Wade Barrett was also a member of The League of Nations, but he did not compete in the six-man tag team encounter. Instead, he watched the action from ringside before getting involved in the post-match segment.

Do you think Batista should have agreed to appear at WrestleMania 32? Let us know in the comments section below.

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