Watch: Killer Kross Challenges Batista to a Match During Josh Barnett's Bloodsport II

With his acting career on the rise, Batista (real name Dave Bautista) announced back in April that [...]

By Connor Casey

With his acting career on the rise, Batista (real name Dave Bautista) announced back in April that his No Holds Barred match with Triple H at WrestleMania 35 would be his last as he was officially retiring from professional wrestling. But on Saturday night Impact Wrestling's Killer Kross officially called out "The Animal," giving fans a glimmer of hope that the former WWE Champion might come back for another match.

Kross cut his promo at Josh Barnett's Bloodsport II event on Saturday night. For those who don't know, the Bloodsport shows operate as a cross between pro wrestling and mixed martial arts, where the only way to win is via knockout or submission and the ropes and turnbuckles have been removed from the ring. After beating Nick Gage via submission, Kross grabbed the mic and sent the crowd into a frenzy.

"There's a guy out there who says he's retired. He says he's retired, but being in this ring in front of everybody in this building, I f—ing love this business," Kross said. "I f—ing love it, and there's no way that he doesn't love it anymore either. So I don't believe he's retired. So I'm asking, respectfully, Dave Bautista."

Kross then held out the microphone as fans chanted "Holy s—!" telling Batista to listen.

"I don't know you from a hole in the wall. I'm not one of these guys that comes out here and tries to have a match with a celebrity. But you just heard that. You guys want Batista in Bloodsport. Give us what we want!"

As of Sunday afternoon, Batista has not posted any kind of response.

He appeared on an episode of the Chasing Glory With Lilian Garcia podcast back in April and explained why he wanted to have one more match with Triple H.

"I felt like my career really got started when I started working with Triple H. I never have been around the bush about it, Hunter made me a star," Batista said. "He put a lot of stock into me. He invested a lot into me and put himself on the line physically for me. Not only did he put me over three times clean in the ring to make me a star, but also took the time to have me ride with him and have me pick his brain. He just groomed me to be a star in that company, so I wanted to finish out my career for him by just saying thank you to go out laying on my back for the guy.

"That is what I have always believed. It is the old school belief that I have, when you go out you go out on your back. If you go out and build a star do that, and obviously Hunter is already a star, but I wanted my last match to be with him on my back, because that is literally the only way that I can thank him."

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