Dave Bautista Removes Himself From WWE Hall Of Fame This Year

Dave Bautista is a former six-time world champion in WWE and was supposed to be inducted into their Hall of Fame last year, but that was inevitably post-posed. This year, the ceremony was to combine the 2021 class with the 2020 class in a mega celebration, but Big Dave has taken himself out for this year.

Due to previous obligations, Batista will be unable to attend and will be inducted at a later date to properly "thank the fans and people who made my career possible." He was supposed to be inducted alongside greats like The Bella Twins, The nWo, JBL, "British Bulldog" Davey Boy Smith, and cruiserweight icon, Jushin "Thunder" Liger.

While he got his big push as a founding member of Evolution with Triple H, Ric Flair, and Randy Orton, Bautista--who simplified his ring name to Batista--became a standalone star in 2005 after winning the Royal Rumble and winning the World Heavyweight Championship at Wrestlemania 21 that same year. He previously won the tag team titles with Ric Flair, John Cena, and Rey Mysterio. He had originally retired and came back to the company to win his second Rumble in 2014. Batista had his retirement match against Triple H at Wrestlemania 35 in 2019.

The 2021 class will so far include former Women's Champion, Molly Holly, and Eric Bischoff, whose vision for WCW made it a serious rival for WWE during the Monday Night Wars. The ceremony will stream Tuesday, April 6 exclusively on Peacock for US fans, but on WWE Network everywhere else.

If you love all things wrestling, be sure to check out our Wrestle Buddies wrestling podcast.