Ranking 20 WWE Debuts And Returns In 2019
15. Batista
2019 wasn’t a good year for 50-something returning wrestlers
in WWE.
Batista last wrestled in WWE in 2014 in a forgettable run most notable for being booed out of the arena after winning the Royal Rumble, tapping out to Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania 30, and quitting Evolution. Oh, and Blue-tista.
His 2019 run started off memorably, with The Animal beating up Ric Flair on his birthday, dragging the Nature Boy out of his dressing room and into the hallway, scoffing at Triple H. It later was learned that Batista did that to goad Hunter into a match at WrestleMania 35. The bout itself was a slow, plodding affair that ran about 10 minutes too long (as most Triple H matches these days tend to do). It was a disappointing way to cap off a short-lived comeback.
Shortly after Mania, Batista announced his retirement from in-ring competition, and given his movie career, that’s probably a smart move. He was announced recently as an inductee into the WWE Hall of Fame for 2020.