Batista Says Don't Blame Him for the Zombies at WWE WrestleMania Backlash
WWE's WrestleMania Backlash pay-per-view was sponsored by the new zombie action movie Army of the [...]
WWE's WrestleMania Backlash pay-per-view was sponsored by the new zombie action movie Army of the Dead, and the company found a few interesting ways to tie that sponsorship into the show. The event began with narration from Dave Bautista, star of the film and former WWE Champion. Then when Damian Priest and The Miz were scheduled to have their Lumberjack Match, the ring was instead surrounded by a horde of the undead. This resulted in both Morrison and Miz seemingly getting "eaten" while Priest walked away with the victory.
The entire segment was panned by a vocal percentage of wrestling fans online and WWE kept trying to explain why zombies had suddenly shown up in the first place by claiming Batista had brought them specifically to be the lumberjacks. But, as "The Animal" pointed out on Twitter, the zombies were not his fault.
Wtf you telling me?!! You think I booked a bunch of fucking zombies. I’m on a damn plane! Shouldn’t you be tweeting Vince?! 🤷🏻♂️ https://t.co/Eb8wNdijRI
— The Artist Formerly Known as Super Duper Dave (@DaveBautista) May 17, 2021
He then decided to play into it as a joke.
Ha!!!! All a part of my evil plan. 1st! Book zombies at a PPV to piss everyone off. 2nd!!Call the managers of every Walgreens in the country and get them to raise the price of milk. 3rd! Get celebrities elected into office!! (Twirls handlebar mustache) 4th… Rule the world! 😈 https://t.co/0h9FTfj3cG
— The Artist Formerly Known as Super Duper Dave (@DaveBautista) May 17, 2021
"The Animal" retired from pro wrestling following a match with Triple H at WrestleMania 35. There was some recent speculation about a return, which he promptly laughed off. He was asked about the subject during a recent panel at Justice Con.
"It's so hard to convince people that I'm actually retired," he said. "You have no idea how tough that discussion is. When professional wrestlers retire, they don't really retire. They kind of retire. But, you know, when the paycheck's big enough or the event's big enough, they come out of retirement. it's just not that way with me. I exited the business in such a storybook way, I'd never go back. I would never take away from that. I am just done, man. I really got to finish on my own terms and nothing is going to take away from that."