Batista to Headline WWE's 2018 Hall of Fame Class?

Now that SummerSlam is officially behind us, it's now socially acceptable to talk about WrestleMania weekend. WrestleMania 34 will be hosted in New Orleans, just like WrestleMania 30. And just like the 2014 show, Dave Bautista may be involved.

According to Wrestling Observer Newsletter "Batista" is being considered to be the headlining inductee in the 2018 WWE Hall of Fame Class.

Batista is certainly deserving. From 2002-2010 he was an integral part of WWE's main event, garnering six WWE Championships. The 48-year-old last worked in WWE in 2014, but most fans and Batista himself consider it to have been a poorly executed tour. However, maybe a redemption song is in the works.

The "Animal" is one of the better examples of WWE Superstars trying and succeeding in Hollywood. Batista has notched a significant role in Guardians of the Galaxy as Drax. On top of that, Batista landed a spot in the most recent James Bond installment, Spectre. However, some are already speculating that Batista's newest role as Drax in Avengers: Infinity War could coincide nicely with his Hall of Fame induction next Spring.

Speculation on Batista's return to WWE has been running for several years now. However, Batista himself has been publicly cold on a comeback. On a recent episode of Chris Jericho's podcast, Talk Is Jericho, the former champ opened up on the topic:

"Yeah, I miss it a lot. ... There's nothing like it, you know that. There's just an adrenaline rush that goes along with it. What I don't miss is the company, to be honest with you. I don't miss WWE. I miss wrestling, I just don't miss dealing with the company and its bullshit. Yeah it's the bullshit man, it's just too much bullshit."

Jericho asked if Dave has ever asked to come back since his last run.

"I've asked, yeah, I've asked. Well, there's... I've asked for what I want. I'll tell you and I've talked to Hunter about it and I've talked to Vince about it. I said I would come back and run a whole program with Hunter. That's the only thing I'm interested in doing. They're just not interested in it, you know?"

Y2J then wanted Jericho to clarify that WWE did not want him to work with Triple H.

"I guess not. They just... I've run it by them a few different times and they just say 'yeah, we'll think about it.' That's every time I ask them about it. 'Yeah, I'll think about it.'"

Considering how WWE is using their older stars to put over the New Era, it would be hard to imagine Batista getting to come in for one more win against Triple H. Then again, anything is possible in the WWE and the bigger Dave's Hollywood status gets, the more intriguing he would be as a return guest for WWE.