Bobby Lashley Leaves Door Open for WWE Championship Match With Batista

WWE Champion Bobby Lashley ran into Guardians of the Galaxy star Dave Bautista (aka Batista) this week and posted a photo with the former WWE Champion. "The All Mighty" wrote, "So good seeing my good friend @davebautista. And Yes I will give you a title shot if you ever return!😁🤛🏾. Nevertheless Congrats on all your successes brotha." Batista, who was supposed to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame last month but had his induction pushed out, announced his retirement from pro wrestling after losing to Triple H at WrestleMania 35.

"To all the @wwe fans across the world that gave me the opportunity to suspend your disbelief, thank you," he wrote in his announcement at the time. "From the biggest part of my heart thank you for letting me entertain you. Tonight was my story book ending and I wanted to leave you with all I had to give. I'll miss this theater of violence more than I can express in words but I am officially retiring from Sports Entertainment. I'm proud of what I've accomplished, I leave in great health, and without a doubt the show will go on. I had a hell of a run. Thank you for the journey."

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Bobby Lashley (@bobbylashley)

There were some fans who thought "The Animal" might be AEW's surprise signing back at Revolution. That turned out to be Christian, and Batista responded to the speculation by joking about the flimsiness of retirements in pro wrestling.

"They're going to have to come up with another word that's used specifically for professional wrestlers who actually mean it when they say they're retired. Currently the word 'retired' has zero credibility by professional wrestling standards."

Elsewhere on Twitter, Batista openly called out WWE for choosing to break up Lashley's faction, The Hurt Business.

Let’s try this again! WHO in their right mind would break up the #HurtBusiness already? Answer: NO ONE!!! 🤷🏻‍♂️ #SMFH #BadForBusiness

— The Artist Formerly Known as Super Duper Dave (@DaveBautista) March 31, 2021

Lashley is scheduled to defend his WWE Championship against both Drew McIntyre and Braun Strowman at WrestleMania Backlash later this month.