WWE Rumors: Batista Return Finalized, Dean Ambrose's Contract U-Turn

Dave Bautista – in-ring name Batista aka "The Animal" – made his long-awaited return to the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) during the airing of Monday Night Raw, which gave the idea that he is in line to return to in-ring competition at WrestleMania 35 in April. He was part of the segment that saw Triple H and many other wrestling stars celebrating WWE legend Ric Flair’s 70th birthday.

Batista has not competed in the squared circle for over three years during which time he had spent making a name for himself in Hollywood, acting in blockbuster productions such as the "Guardians of the Galaxy" and the "Avengers" among others.

The first signs of The Animal making a potential return to in-ring competition became clear when he taunted Triple H – real name Paul Levesque – during a reunion of the Evolution while celebrating SmackDown Live’s 1000th episode in 2018. At the time talks circled around a potential clash between the two at WrestleMania 35, but it quickly took a backseat after Triple H suffered a pectoral muscle injury at WWE’s Crown Jewel pay-per-view in November.

In recent weeks reports emerged that WWE was in "deep talks" with Batista over a potential return and it was confirmed when he attacked Flair on Monday’s Raw segment while again taunting Triple H. This feud is likely to carry on until WrestleMania in April where the two are likely to face each other with The Animal looking to continue his winning streak against his one-time friend.

According to eWrestling News, the plan for Triple H to face Batista at WrestleMania was not in the pipeline as it was only finalized recently. It seems that the former has sufficiently recovered from the injury sustained at Crown Jewel.

Meanwhile, in another boost to WWE’s road to WrestleMania campaign, multiple reports are stating that they have been quite successful in trying to convince Dean Ambrose to re-sign with the promotion despite their earlier confirmation that the former Shield member will leave when his contract expires in April.

"Dean Ambrose (Jonathan Good) will not be renewing his contract with WWE when it expires in April. We are grateful and appreciative of all that Dean has given to WWE and our fans. We wish him well and hope that one day Dean will return to WWE,” a statement read.

Despite Ambrose rejecting WWE’s offer of a better paying contract, they had not given up on trying to convince one of the most popular wrestlers on the roster to re-sign with the promotion. And Roman Reigns’ recent return could not have come at a better time for the company.

Reigns – real name Joe Anoa’i – returned to in-ring competition after spending months out getting treatment for Leukemia. He is one of Ambrose’s closest friends and recently during an autograph signing sessions, he admitted he is going to work on getting Ambrose to remain with the WWE.

Moreover, according to Wrestling Inc, the company has given an indication that they expect Ambrose to stay beyond WrestleMania after fans spotted his name on the list for WWE’s European Tour in May, which is after his current contract expires.