Batista Reveals Why He Thought Vince McMahon Would Fire Him From WWE in 2005

WWE superstar Batista reveals that he thought he would be fired from WWE after Royal Rumble 2005 botch. Read on to know what Batista has to say.

By Mohammad Bilal

Published on Sep 17, 2024 | 05:01 PM IST | 70.1K

Batista. Photo: Instagram

Vince McMahon was known for being unpredictable, and WWE superstars were well aware of it. His fury could descend on anyone, regardless of their position in the company, and he wouldn’t hesitate to fire someone on the spot.

So, when former WWE World Heavyweight Champion Batista botched the ending of the 2005 Royal Rumble by landing outside the ring alongside John Cena, he knew he had made a mistake and feared he would be fired. In a recent interview with Chris Van Vliet, Batista revealed that he had been having a bad day and had already angered Vince McMahon before the show even started. When the botch occurred and he saw Vince coming out, he was certain he’d be shown the door.

Batista revealed that he arrived late to the show, which made Vince McMahon furious, as he thought "The Animal" was being disrespectful. When Batista learned of Vince’s anger, he feared he would be removed from the storyline, but that didn’t happen. Instead, a bigger issue occurred at the end of the match.

There was utter confusion as to who between Cena and Batista won the Royal Rumble match, and this brought Vince McMahon to the ring. Batista knew he was in trouble. To make matters worse, Vince tore his quads while entering the ring, and Batista was convinced he would be fired.

“I was really late to the show. Vince thought that I was being super disrespectful by showing up late, and he was pissed. I thought he was going to change his mind and it was going to change, like the whole storyline. But then we [had] the match, and it was botched, and I totally take the blame for it, because I went over... 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, I'm getting fired,” Wrestling Inc. quoted Batista.

Batista, though, won the match later after eliminating John Cena; he said that he couldn’t sleep the whole night thinking about the repercussions of his mistakes. However, he got the shock of his life when he met Vince McMahon, who was in his crutches, telling him that he loved it. Vince McMahon loved the botched ending. And that’s how, Batista could save his job.

The Animal, in his WWE career, became a WWE Champion twice and a WWE World Heavyweight Champion four times. He retired from wrestling in 2019 at WrestleMania 35, after losing a match to Triple H. He is now pursuing his acting profession full-time, and has said that he doesn’t have any plans of returning to WWE anytime soon.