Who could have thought that part of growing up would include watching your favorite WWE superstars retire from the ring? The world is now processing the retirement announcement of John Cena, who is set to begin his farewell tour in 2025 and will officially bid goodbye to the ring in December. But while we've been digesting this news, the pandemic and lockdown made us forget about another major milestone that was postponed—Dave Bautista's induction into the WWE Hall of Fame. Now that we are back to live audiences at events and concerts, Bautista has finally decided to address his induction. Read on for all the details. 

Dave Bautista on His Induction

In case you've been out of the loop, wrestler and actor Dave Bautista was first announced for the WWE Hall of Fame in late 2019. However, the event was delayed, and when it was later rescheduled as a virtual ceremony with no live audience, Bautista, like any performer who thrives on the energy of a crowd, decided to postpone his induction until the world returned to normal.

Now, Bautista's pending induction is back in the news, and the wrestler has opened up about it. In a recent interview, he revealed that there were discussions about making it happen during the WWE WrestleMania 39 weekend, but filming obligations prevented it. Speaking with Chris Van Vliet at The Killer’s Game press junket, Bautista confirmed that he will still be joining the WWE Hall of Fame when the time is right.

"Eventually, I will. I want to," Bautista said. "There was a good opportunity for me to go in a couple of years ago, and I agreed to do it. Hunter (Triple H) asked me to do it, and I said, 'Yeah, of course.' It was here in LA, and I thought it was perfect—it was storybook because I won my first title here in LA. But we couldn't figure it out because I was working on a film. I was in South Africa, so logistically, we just couldn't make it happen. But yeah, I'm still open to it, and one day, I would like to."

Dave Bautista's WWE Career

Dave Bautista's full-time WWE career spanned from 2000 to 2010. He first rose to prominence in 2003 when he joined Evolution, a faction that included Randy Orton, Triple H, and Ric Flair. After the group's breakup, Bautista became a main event singles star, capturing six world titles and headlining WWE WrestleMania 21. He transitioned to acting after 2010 but made a comeback in the ring in 2014. Bautista returned once again in 2019 for a match against Triple H at WrestleMania 35, after which he announced his retirement.

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