Batista won't return to WWE for a cheap pop, but here's what he would return for

It’s unclear if we’ll ever get to see one more match out of Batista but the former wrestler turned actor is always quick to talk about his first profession. On a special two-part episode of WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross’ The Ross Report podcast, Batista tells some great stories about his career with the WWE and drops a tidbit about a potential return.

According to Batista, his last run with the company and lead up to WrestleMania 30 still eats at him. The Animal opened to Ross about his mindset and how he would book another chance working with the WWE.

"I've never burnt that bridge because I still love wrestling and everybody in the WWE has been really good to me. I have my gripes with the company, which I'm sure everybody does, but at the same time I don't ever disrespect the company intentionally. I don't really have any reason to. I didn't leave there under bad circumstances, I left just because I wanted to pursue other things. I didn't walk out on them, I let my contract run out. They knew I was going to be leaving. I did business the right way. I'm really thankful that I did. The short answer to that is yes, I would love to go back, but the reason I have not gone back is because I don't want to do a one off. I want to go and I want to wrestle. I want to do some house shows, I want to be a part of the program and I love it. The one off thing, the cheap pop thing, it doesn't do anything for me.”

Batista continued:

"So now it's a matter of scheduling if I can go back and if I happen to get injured is it going to affect something else? ... It took me a few months the last time I went back, it took me three months to really get in a groove and get people to react the way I thought they were going to react. I'm just not a cheap pop guy. It just doesn't work for me. It's not appealing to me at all, it actually turns me off."

The Guardians of the Galaxy star even said he has spoken to Vince McMahon recently about working together.

"But I stay in touch, man, I've talked to Vince (McMahon) recently and he knows what I want. I've made it very clear that I wanted to go back and run a program with Hunter. I've been very public about it and I think that's the thing that would get me back."

Despite his heavy Hollywood workload, you can’t really question Dave Bautista’s passion for wrestling. Besides a program with Triple H, who else would you like to see Batista work with when he returns to the ring?