Dave Bautista (Batista) Thought He Was Getting Fired The Day Of WWE Royal Rumble 2005, Looks Back On Botched Finish

Dave Bautista says the day of WWE Royal Rumble 2005 was a nightmare.

Dave Bautista (Batista) says the day of WWE Royal Rumble 2005 was a nightmare.

WWE Royal Rumble 2005 has gone down in history, as the Men’s Royal Rumble had one of the most memorable finishes of all time. The final two competitors, John Cena and Batista, both went over the top rope in a botched spot, so they were both eliminated. Vince McMahon came to the ring, and he tore his quads. The match was restarted, and Bautista ultimately emerged victorious.

Speaking on Insight with Chris Van Vliet, Bautista was asked to describe what was going through his mind during the botched finish.

“The whole day, I thought I was getting fired. The whole day, it was just a nightmare [laughs]. I knew I was winning [the Royal Rumble], but what happened was, I think we were in Bakersfield, and I think we were in San Francisco the night before. So I stayed there, instead of driving to Bakersfield, I stayed there because my mom lives there, and I wanted to spend time with my mom. So I got up the next day, and I drove, and I was really late to the show. I was really late getting there, and I knew that I was supposed to go over that night, and it was a big deal, and I was gonna go to WrestleMania, and Vince thought that I was being super disrespectful by showing up late, and he was pissed, and I thought he was gonna change his mind and was gonna change the whole storyline. So I got there, and he reamed me out as soon as I got there. But then we had the match, and it was botched, and I totally take blame for it. I went over, I knew what the finish was, and I just went over. I just went over, and thank god we landed when we did, kind of at the same time. It was a miracle. Then when I saw Vince coming down, I was like, ‘Getting fired.’ [Laughs] Most of my career, until later in my career, throughout my career, especially in OVW, I had thought, ‘Any day now, I’m getting fired.’ I was just so happy to be there,” Bautista said.

Check out Bautista’s comments about Cena’s retirement tour here.

Click here to see what Dave Bautista had to say about how Triple H has changed WWE.

Bautista recently said that he would still be involved with WWE if he wasn’t acting. Check out his comments here.

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