WWE Rumors: Did Batista Tease An Appearance In Tonight’s ‘Royal Rumble’ Match?
The 2016 Royal Rumble is only a few short hours away, and it’s more difficult to tell who is in it this year than ever before. Only 13 names have been officially announced for the match meaning that there are 17 open slots and plenty of room for surprise entrants. Lots of rumors have been flying around and a lot of teases have come out across social media. That usually leads to plenty of questions and now people are wondering, is Batista going to be in the rumble match tonight?
WWE.com has the official preview for the rumble match, and it is really odd that only 13 names are actually confirmed for it. Having 17 open slots means that either WWE isn’t entirely sure what they’re going to do this year or they may just want to keep things up in the air for the fans.
Here are those that are confirmed to be in the match as of Sunday afternoon:
- WWE World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns, No. 1 entrant
- Brock Lesnar
- Sheamus
- Chris Jericho
- Stardust
- Bray Wyatt
- Erick Rowan
- Luke Harper
- Braun Strowman
- Dolph Ziggler
- Ryback
- Big Show
- Curtis Axel
There have been a lot of names thrown around as to possible surprise entrants including Kurt Angle, AJ Styles, Daniel Bryan, The Undertaker, and a host of others. The rest of the slots could be filled by those currently on the main WWE roster and no surprises come out.
What happens on social media though, it makes people question themselves and second-guess things.
#Draxmode pic.twitter.com/gsOX0OEwze
— Dave Bautista (@DaveBautista) January 23, 2016
Batista tweets regularly so it’s not uncommon for him to be on social media and interacting with fans.
It’s well known that he is reprising his role as Drax the Destroyer in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 which is set for release from Marvel on May 5, 2017. The script has been completed as writer/director James Gunn reported earlier in January.
Entertainment Weekly commented on the tweet from Batista (Dave Bautista) and how everyone else in the cast appears ready to get back to work. Not a lot is known about the sequel to Marvel’s hit film, but Bautista will be joined again by Chris Pratt, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Zoe Saldana, and Michael Rooker in the cast.
Its just kind of odd that Batista would post a picture of himself on Twitter getting ready and ripped and pumped the day before the Royal Rumble.
The Royal Rumble match has 17 open slots which means that just about anyone could show up in Orlando on Sunday night. Maybe he is just preparing to film and getting into #Draxmode.
Then again, maybe he was getting ready to show that his next appearance in WWE was going to be much more successful than his last. He last appeared with the promotion on the episode of Monday Night Raw that aired on June 2, 2014. This was just a few months after he had returned to WWE and won the 2014 Royal Rumble match.
Batista said in mid-2015 that he was open to returning to WWE one day for another run, and it could happen at any time. He just turned 47-years-old and still has ring time left in him, but it may not happen soon with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 prepping to film.
Still, that doesn’t mean a one-night surprise appearance is out of the question.
The Royal Rumble is going to be full of surprises and will likely shock a number of fans watching it tonight. Batista may have teased an appearance in the event or maybe he was being literal and just meant that he was working out for the movie, but fans will know soon.
[Image via WWE]
