Batista Reveals Advice Vince McMahon Gave Him For SmackDown 1000

This past week's WWE SmackDown 1000 was a historic broadcast, and it was the return of Dave [...]

By Ryan Droste

This past week's WWE SmackDown 1000 was a historic broadcast, and it was the return of Dave Bautista (Batista) to WWE television that really stole the spotlight.

It had been over four years since the last time Batista found himself on WWE television. This despite becoming a very successful star in Hollywood as part of the Guardians of the Galaxy movie franchise and lobbying many times for a return to wrestling. For some odd reason, the WWE hasn't taken him up on his offer. At least until this past week.

During his segment on the show, which was a reunion featuring members of Evolution (Batista, Triple H, Ric Flair, and Randy Orton), Batista noted that he was nervous being in front of the wrestling audience one again. Apparently, that was the truth and not a scripted line. Batista spoke about his nerves and the advice Vince McMahon gave him in dealing with the jitters during a documentary short that WWE filmed about his return.

As the producers asked him about how he felt his return went, Batista said, "It was alright, it probably could have gone a little better, but I think considering how nervous I was. I told Vince how nervous I was, he said, 'When you go out there, just tell them, be honest and speak from the heart.' First thing I said, 'I'm nervous' because I was. I didn't want to pull any punches, I was nervous, man."

It was also evident from his comments that he wasn't sure how the fans of 2018 would react to Evolution given that it has been 15 years since the group's heyday.

"It's a special thing with Evolution, it's just a special group," Batista said. "I know it's a newer audience, but they can feel it. There's a special vibe between all of us, there always has been, there always will be. So, it's a timeless energy."

[H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcript.]

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