Former CEO of WWE Vince McMahon was known for being unpredictable and wrestling superstars were aware of it. His anger could come out on anyone, regardless of their position in the company, and he did not hesitate to fire anyone on the spot. So when the former WWE Superstar botched the ending of the 2005 Royal Rumble by landing outside the ring with John Cena, he knew he had made a mistake and feared he would be fired.
Batista botched the Royal Rumble match
Recently, in an interview with Chris Van Vliet, Batista revealed that he was having a bad day and had angered Vince McMahon before the show even started. When this mistake happened and he saw Vince come out, “The Animal” was sure that it was his last day at the company.
Batista revealed that he arrived late to the show, which infuriated Vince McMahon, as he felt “The Animal” was being disrespectful. When Batista found out about Vince’s anger, he feared he would be removed from the storyline, but that didn’t happen. Instead, a bigger issue came up at the end of the match. There was total confusion about who won the Royal Rumble match between Cena and Batista and this brought McMahon to the ring. Batista knew he was in trouble. The matter got worse as Vince tore his quads while entering the ring and Batista was sure he would be fired.
“I was really late to the show. Vince thought I was being really disrespectful and he was pissed. I thought he was going to change his mind and the whole storyline is going to change. But then we had the matc, and it was botched and I’m totally responsible 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 thought, “I’m getting fired,” said Batista.
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The Animal couldn’t sleep after the show
Although Batista won later after the match restarted and he eliminated John Cena, “The Animal” revealed that he couldn’t sleep the whole night thinking about the consequences of his mistakes. However, he got the biggest shock of his life when he met Vince, who was on crutches and telling him that he liked it. McMahon liked this botched ending and thus Batista saved his job. Batista became a two-time WWE Champion and a four-time WWE World Heavyweight Champion during his career. He retired from WWE in 2019 after losing a match to Triple H at WrestleMania 35. Now, he is a full-time actor and has no interest in returning to wrestling again.
