Last year for SmackDown 1000, Evolution reunited and Batista returned to the company and teased a WrestleMania 35 showdown with Triple H. Now reports are popping up that Batista is no longer in the plans and he’s completely off the card, as well as any chance of the rumored 2019 Hall of Fame induction. On PWInsider Radio, Mike Johnson stated that “to the best of my knowledge I’ve heard nothing about Batista. I know there was a lot of expectation about him against Triple H at WrestleMania, but he’s gonna be making Dune — the remake in the next couple of months. Whether that leaves him the ability to train, prepare, and even come back to wrestle we will see. I haven’t heard anything about it.”
Many sites have reported that maybe Batista has fallen in disfavor of the WWE, while others have blamed Triple H’s torn pec as another reason. Although as Mike Johnson stated, it’s much more simple. He’s no longer available. In January, it was announced that he would be reuniting with Blade Runner 2049 director Denis Villeneuve in the new film adaption of Frank Hebert‘s sci-fi classic Dune, infamously adapted in 1984 by Twin Peaks‘ co-creator David Lynch and again in 2000 as a TV mini-series on the SyFy Channel.
For the new remake, Batista is slated to portray Glossu ‘Beast’ Rabban, previously played by Paul Smith in 1984 and László Kish in 2000. Filming is slated to begin this month, so the ability to train and perform at this point is unlikely. In all likelihood, Batista will probably return for his WrestleMania send off against former mentor Triple H at WrestleMania 36 next year and maybe then enter the WWE Hall of Fame.
