Batista Explains Why He’s Not in Philadelphia for WWE Raw

Batista didn’t appear at Monday Night Raw in Philadelphia this week, but he did pop up on social media to give a reason why.

In an Instagram video addressed to Triple H, “The Animal” said he wouldn’t be at Raw because he doesn’t care for Philadelphia.

“Hey Triple H, well I guess I got your attention,” Batista said. “I’d like to apologize for not making it to Raw tonight, but I’m not going to. Because I just don’t want to be there. I don’t have other obligations, and I’m definitely not afraid of you. I just don’t like Philly. No offense. So what I’m going to do is think about how much I don’t like Pittsburgh, no offense, and maybe I’ll see you there. Or maybe I won’t.”

Triple H made his way out to the ring shortly after Batista’s video dropped, and began cutting a promo on how angry he was that Batista attacked Ric Flair (repeatedly referring to him by his real name Richard Fliehr) during his 70th birthday celebration on Raw the week prior. He said that he would give Batista whatever he wanted in order to get a match one-on-one.

Later in the show the WWE announced that Triple H and Batista would have a face-to-face meeting on next week’s episode of Raw. All signs point to the two squaring off at WrestleMania 35 on April 7.

During his promo Triple H also acknowledged that Batista had been publicly campaigning for a return to wrestling even as his acting career took off in films like Guardians of the Galaxy, Spectre and Blade Runner: 2049. Batista had mentioned in an interview back in April 2018 that he was originally slotted to be Ronda Rousey’s tag partner for her debut at WrestleMania 34 against Hunter and Stephanie McMahon. But according to him, the company cut off communications and chose to go with Kurt Angle as Rousey’s partner instead.

The history between Batista and Triple H goes back to the early 2000’s when the pair were apart of the Evolution stable alongside Flair and Randy Orton. Batista turned babyface and beat Triple H to win the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 21 in 2005.