Batista discusses the Stephen Amell incident.
When Batista vs. Triple H for WrestleMania 35 was officially announced, fans were excited for the return of The Animal. Stephen Amell was among those excited for the match but sent out a joke tweet meant to poke fun at himself. Batista didn't see it that way.
Just landed and found out about @DaveBautista v @TripleH — Really pumped for the match but also don’t want to see a celebrity angle detract from an awesome wrestling card. --
— Stephen Amell (@StephenAmell) March 12, 2019
Considering that celebrity could actually fuck someone up, and that celebrity is a former 6x heavyweight champ, and that celebrity is there because he loves it, maybe it just adds to the card. Maybe. https://t.co/RGztvWphiQ
— Dave Bautista (@DaveBautista) March 12, 2019
Speaking to Lilian Garcia on Chasing Glory, Batista discussed why Amell's tweet initially angered him.
"I think he didn't mean to offend me, but he did a little bit. The reason I responded the way I did is because he has a lot of impact on people and a huge outreach on social media. What he said could lead peoples thought process in a different way than I need them to be," said Batista. "I need them to be invested in this match because it means something to me and Hunter. This is my whole career. Even though he made a comment, not meaning any disrespect, it could have caused a domino effect of a negative outcry. Fans will carry that to the arena and we'll get that Daniel Bryan-CM Punk effect where we're killing ourselves but they're chanting something else because that's what they learned on the internet. That's bullshit. I'm risking my whole career to do this match. Don't dismiss it like it's a 'celebrity thing' to catch people's attention. It's way more than that. I felt he was taking away from the credibility of it."
Batista went on to say that he and Amell would settle things through a mutual friend. Garcia also read Amell's clarification tweet, which you can see below, to Batista on-air. Batista said he had never seen the tweet until it was read to him by Garcia.
Hey Dave -- I went out of my way to introduce myself to you in Atlanta at a convention so I could tell you what a big fan of yours I am. You couldn't have been more pleasant. My tweet was meant to poke fun at me. It clearly wasn't funny. Please don't kill me. https://t.co/eCrMVdCi27
— Stephen Amell (@StephenAmell) March 12, 2019
"Please don't kill me" got a laugh out of Big Dave.
Batista would lose his WrestleMania 35 match against Triple H and retire shortly after the match.
