I was at WWE Smackdown 1000 a couple of nights ago, and the highlight of the evening for me was the reunion of Evolution, a stable that consists of superstars Triple H, Ric Flair, Randy Orton, and Dave Bautista. The Guardians of the Galaxy star made waves when he noted that Triple H was never able to defeat him, seemingly setting up a match at the next WrestleMania 35. And now all of the news sites are running with it, as possible information on the next Guardians movie emerges.
According to Production Weekly, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 won't get rolling until February 2021, meaning we might see the sequel arrive in 2022 at the earliest. This comes after the film was put on ice after James Gunn's dismissal some months ago, and no director has been named to replace him. In the meantime, Bautista has been very vocal about his displeasure with Disney, even going so far as to seek out a role in Gunn's Suicide Squad film for Warner Bros.
A delay of that length would leave a wide berth for Bautista to make his return to the WWE. There's been speculation about this for months, and he has always talked fondly about his time there. On Tuesday he did so again, and it was clear that he was eating up the adoration of the fans. We'll ignore how the fans booed him out of the building last time he showed up, but I digress. Anyway, the buzz right now is that Bautista may be the next inductee to the WWE Hall of Fame, which happens annually the same weekend as WrestleMania. After the events of this week's Smackdown it sure looks like a match between Bautista and Trips would occur at the biggest show of the year, long before he has to suit up again as Drax.
This would be a match Bautista has been asking for since last year, but he has always said if he returns it would be for the long haul, not just standalone appearance. Here is what he told Jim Ross last November...
“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, man. I want to do some house shows and I want to be a part of the program.
…. I stay in touch, and I’ve talked to Vince 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 (Triple H). I’ve been very public about it. That’s the thing that would get me back.”
I've been watching wrestling a long time and I'll tell you this; the plan RIGHT NOW is for Bautista to face Triple H at WrestleMania 35. They never would have put that kind of teaser out there if it wasn't the case. Now, Bautista's schedule could jack things up because he's a busy guy even when he's not doing Marvel/Disney shit, but I feel like he'd put everything on hold for one more match on the big stage.
