If you missed today's Rumor Roundup (click here to head on over and take a look), it was reported by PW Insider that Batista was originally scheduled to headline the Payback event on June 1, 2014, in Chicago in what would have been a losing effort against Daniel Bryan, the same man he tapped to in the main event of WrestleMania 30 last month in New Orleans.
When made aware of this, "The Animal" reportedly turned it down.
Because of that, WWE is allowing him to go on hiatus earlier than planned. It was always in the cards that he would take a break from the company to do promotional work for the upcoming summer release of the blockbuster film Guardians of the Galaxy but it seems now the time frame was simply moved up a month.
According to PW Insider, Batista is expected to work both Monday Night Raw and Friday Night SmackDown next week, both serving as follow up to Extreme Rules, where Evolution takes on The Shield, before leaving until sometime later this summer, likely close to SummerSlam.
The door is wide open for a number of possibilities on just how they'll get him off television, up to and including Evolution going over tomorrow night and The Shield getting payback by putting Batista out of action. That's not to say it's what WWE will do, but it's certainly not out of the cards completely.
Any Cagesiders upset to hear Batista will be taking off for a while?