Batista Lobbying for Major WrestleMania 35 Match

Batista was one of the earliest names attached to headlining the 2018 WWE Hall of Fame Class, but as we well know, it was Goldberg who took the honor. But it sounds like Batista passed on the opportunity in hopes making the 2019 ceremony his—but he'd like to have a proper retirement match first.

And The Animal already has it picked out.

Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Radio discussed one of the more open secrets in WWE, that Batista wants to go out with one of the men who brought him in, Triple H.

"You know Batista wants to work with Triple H at next year's WrestleMania as a retirement match. Will they do it? They may. It's not a bad idea as far as a match goes. Batista retirement, Hall of Fame and all that. They asked him to go into the Hall of Fame this year but he didn't want to because he still wants a final run."

Meltzer's idea is rooted in fact as Batista revealed to 106.7 The Fan over the weekend that this is exactly what he's hoping for.

Along with being pegged as the Hall of Fame Headliner, Batista was an early candidate to be Ronda Rousey's WrestleMania partner and that idea opened a dialogue between he and WWE.

"But they reached out to me earlier this year to possibly come back and do that thing with Ronda [Rousey]. And I said that I would be willing to do it only if we teased something for me and Hunter to go to Mania next year. And they said, 'Yeah, that would be great. I love that idea.' And I said, 'Well, that's great. I'll come back a few times during the year, and we'll tease it, and we'll work it and we'll milk it. And we'll go to Mania, me and Hunter, next year.' Oh, I love that idea. Let's do it!"

However, WWE went cold on Batista and their conversations ended abruptly. As we all know, it was Kurt Angle who tagged with Rousey, and like all of us, Batista watched WrestleMania 34 with someone else's login information.

Despite the bait and switch, Batista still wants to come back this year, and his career once an for all.

"I told them next year would be my last year. I'm turning 50 next year," Batista responded. "I'd be willing to ... I feel great. Physically, I'm in great shape. I've never let up on that. But I just don't want to be the old guy in the ring and I don't want to overstay my welcome. I just want to end my career the right way and next year will be the last opportunity, so if we can't make something happen by next year, then I'm just gonna officially hang it up."

[H/T Wrestling Inc. & Ringside News]