– Batista recently spoke with WWE.com about his most recent return, WrestleMania XXX and more. Below are some highlights:
WWE.COM: You came back with a lot of fanfare and a great reaction, but the fans, as we all know now, eventually turned against you. What were your thoughts on that sudden change in reception?
BATISTA: It was weird. It wasn’t like a normal response. It was almost like a personal attack. It had to do with factors that were not in my control, factors and things that were going on in the company with other people, stuff that really had nothing to do with me. To me, it was a little frustrating, a little confusing, and, you know, I don’t want to say I completely took it personal, but I did somewhat.
What I heard over and over was, “Batista doesn’t deserve this,” and that’s what I took personally, because it’s like they forgot about my 10 years of pain and suffering and sacrifice. When I left the company, I gave plenty of notice, I left the right way, I did everything right. And also, my very last match, I broke my back. So I literally broke my back for the fans. And for me to come back and for them to say that I didn’t deserve the spot that I was being put in? For one thing, I didn’t ask for that spot. And here’s my thing with wrestling, and I tell this to everybody: If you get an opportunity, take the opportunity, and if you pass it up, you’re a fool. And if you hate on a guy just because he’s taking advantage of an opportunity that’s given to him, then you’re an idiot.
WWE.COM: One such opportunity that presented itself — and may not have if the fans hadn’t reacted the way they did — was the revival of Evolution.
BATISTA: Yeah, we had not talked about that at all. Evolution was where I got my start. It’s my comfort zone. I love it, the fans love it. Everywhere I go across the world, people still talk about Evolution. So when [Triple H] started talking about it, I said, “That’s veeerrry interesting.” [Laughs] I loved that, and I got with that program real fast, because that’s something I’ve wanted to do for years. I knew it was going to be good.
WWE.COM: So going back to your return for a moment, after you won the Royal Rumble Match, it was supposed to be you and Randy Orton at WrestleMania for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Eventually, Daniel Bryan was added to the mix. What were your thoughts on that development?
BATISTA: Oh, I was super excited. I was super excited, because, you know, we needed that element. Even speaking from a fan’s standpoint, for me, it’s hard to get sucked into a [bad guy vs. bad guy] match. We needed a hero, man, and Daniel Bryan was the biggest hero in the company. I knew this was gonna be good. It’s so much better when the fans have an emotional investment. And they were so emotionally invested in Daniel Bryan, and they were so absorbed in their hatred for me that I knew it was gonna be good stuff.
WWE.COM: Apart from the WrestleMania match, you had some great battles with Superstars like Dolph Ziggler. Looking back, is your return up to par with what you had set out to accomplish?
BATISTA: Somewhat, it is. It is within myself. But I still feel like, with the fans and the audience being really wrapped up in internet rumors and whatnot, they really missed out on a lot of good entertainment. And that’s a shame, because I had some good matches, man. Like you said, I had some really good matches with Dolph. There were a few people that were paying attention, but I think a lot of people missed out on it, man. Maybe because there wasn’t that built-in story behind it, but we made the best we could out of it. Even going back to when I started with Alberto Del Rio. We had some good matches. We had a good pay-per-view, we put our hearts into it, but the fans were so intent on booing for no reason, they weren’t even paying attention to the match. That’s a shame, because we were out there killing ourselves to entertain people. So that’s the only thing that I feel like is a downside, you know?
WWE.COM: Some WWE fans did get pretty creative in finding ways to bash you. They got things like “Bootista” and “Bluetista” to trend on Twitter during your matches, and you actually heckled them back a bit.
BATISTA: I did, especially with the Bluetista thing, because, you know, we had six guys beating the crap out of each other … but people were focused on me wearing blue! I don’t get that, man. I just don’t get it!
