WWE Rumors: Batista Snubs AEW, Vince McMahon Labels Current Roster 'Stale'

All Elite Wrestling (AEW) has genuinely emerged as a legitimate threat to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in recent months as they have been actively pursuing a number of free agent wrestlers on the market.

Any competition to the WWE signing the superstars they wanted was unheard of in the last decade or more as they were able to offer the best contracts compared to any other promotion across the globe. But the emergence of AEW has certainly threatened their domination not in terms of popularity, but in terms of signing new talent or retaining the ones on their roster.

AEW, backed by Pakistani American billionaire Shahid Khan, are willing to offer similar or more lucrative deals than the WWE to tempt pro-wrestlers to consider joining them. They have already signed Chris Jericho and Kenny Omega, and have made plenty of current WWE stars look toward them as a potential alternative.

Dave Bautista – ring name Batista – is a WWE legend but has been away from the squared circle for over three years. WWE is keen to re-sign "The Animal" who was a crowd favorite during his peak years and continues to hold the same position even today.

WWE were said to be in "deep talks" with the superstar and he was said to be 50/50 in terms of considering a return to in-ring competition. A match at WrestleMania or their Crown Jewel pay-per-view against Triple H was being touted.

However, AEW were also said to be courting Batista and reports claimed that he was considering their offer, news that would have pained WWE management. But in what will be considered a minor victory of sorts, Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer, via the Bleacher Report, has revealed that the "Guardians of the Galaxy" star has no desire to work with anyone else but the WWE.

There is no timeline with regard to his potential return or who he will fight when he makes a comeback, but just the knowledge that they will not have to see him with a rival promotion will be music to WWE management’s ears.

Meanwhile, WWE CEO Vince McMahon, who recently took over the day-to-day running of the company’s televised programs, Monday Night Raw and Smackdown Live, along with his family was said to be unhappy with numerous members of the current roster.

A recent episode of Raw saw Paul "Triple H" Levesque, vice-president-talent, promote wrestlers from WWE’s sister brand NXT – with four wrestlers making their debut on Monday night. The promotion was said to be at the behest of McMahon, who labeled the current product "stale", according to Cageside Seats.

The chairman is said to be of the view that a number of wrestlers on the current roster are not superstar material, which is certain to cause some unrest in the locker rooms. And with the threat of AEW looming, he could push a few of them to consider jumping ship.