Source: The Ross Report
As noted, actor and
WWE alum Dave Bautista, also known as Batista, was a guest on The Ross Report with WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross. Among many other things,
Batista talked about his favorite matches, being upset when fans booed
Rey Mysterio at WWE Royal Rumble (2014), and his most recent run with WWE.
According to Batista, his favorite televised match was a
Hell In A Cell versus Triple H, presumably at WWE Vengeance (2005).
"My favorite match is that
Hell In A Cell I had with Hunter, actually. It was in a
No Mercy pay-per-view, I believe. The reason why I love that match, and it wasn't nearly as good as the one I had with Taker, definitely wasn't as significant or as big, but the reason I love this match is because I think up until the very last second, and we beat the hell out of each other and that was in the good old days when you could do that and we were bleeding everywhere, we were going to war with each other and we started this match with people chanting, 'boring! Boring!' By the end of the match, we just had everybody just sucked in. This match they literally didn't know what the outcome was going to be until the very last second, which is hard to get done. And I felt really accomplished coming out of that match."
Moreover, Batista shared that his favorite match of all time was a house show match against Rey Mysterio in Mexico.
"My favorite match of my career was actually a house show match I had in Mexico with Rey. Yeah, yeah, I was [the big heel] and I begged and pleaded because we weren't on the card. I was a short-termer in the company and we had torn it down. Working Rey as a heel in Mexico is a dream. It's anybody's dream come true. And I begged and pleaded with [Johnny] Ace to give me this match and I finally got it and we gave them a pay-per-view match, man. When we came back from the match, everybody was… I mean, people were applauding, the boys, they were applauding us. We turned a house show into a pay-per-view and we just gave everything. I mean, everything, all the bells and whistles."
On his most recent run with WWE, Batista said he was heartbroken when Mysterio was booed at the Royal Rumble.
"That was one of my big issues when I went back [to WWE] last time. During the Royal Rumble, like, I had a real issue with people booing Rey Mysterio coming out, just because he wasn't Daniel Bryan. And I get their love for Daniel Bryan, but at the same time, that's not a reason to s--t all over Rey Mysterio because he's not Daniel Bryan, man, that broke my heart. That broke my heart, man. If one guy doesn't deserve that, it's him.
Batista suggested that the situation with Mysterio at the Royal Rumble was indicative of the disconnect he felt with the WWE Universe. 'The Animal' divulged that he did not have a meeting of the minds with the fans during his last run with WWE, as he did not understand why the fans chanted for 'CM Punk' after he walked out on them.
"But that's what it was like the whole run. The fans, it just changed so much and I didn't know where the fans were at. It was just a weird atmosphere and a lot of 'CM Punk' chants after he walked out, which I don't understand and I love CM Punk, man. As a person, Phil Brooks, I love him. I love that guy. We've always gotten along. I've got a lot of respect for him, but I didn't necessarily like the way he left the company and I thought, 'the fans are cheering him like they're martyring him, and he really just walked out on them.' I didn't love that."
Similarly, Batista said he did not understand how the wrestleverse could think that Daniel Bryan was being held down.
"So a lot of that and 'Daniel Bryan' chants and it's like every segment. And I thought, 'man, these people, if they get 16 segments of Daniel Bryan, that's going to get old real fast. Man, really? Just wait for the guy.' And there [were] people saying, 'Daniel Bryan's being held down.' Man, this kid's living his dream! He's featured on every show, he's making millions of dollars, how in the hell is he being held down? I just couldn't see eye-to-eye with what these people were thinking, man. It just didn't seem to make any sense to me at all."
You can listen to the show
here.
