Batista was expected to take time off after Sunday night's Extreme Rules pay-per-view, however "The Animal" is slated to stick around through the Payback pay-per-view on June 1 at the Allstate Arena in Chicago. Rumor has it that Batista turned down a match with WWE World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan at the show.
WWE Extreme Rules 2014 Results
According to Wrestlingheadlines.com, it was originally expected that Batista -- who was pinned by Roman Reigns to lose the Evolution vs. The Shield six-man tag match at Extreme Rules -- was taking time off following that event, but it appears he may stay through Payback.
According to the report, the backstage indication at Extreme Rules Sunday night in New Jersey was that Batista is hinting that he's staying with the company until at least June 1, though it isn't known for sure what exactly "The Animal" is planning as he has muddied the situation.
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The WWE had originally planned for Batista to challenge Bryan for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at Payback, but he reportedly turned it down. It's an odd move for the WWE as Randy Orton was never pinned to lose the belt at WrestleMania XXX and should still be entitled to a rematch but the company wanted to go with Batista and save a Bryan and Orton match for another time.
Reports over the weekend indicated that Batista didn't want to face Bryan again because he already tapped out to him to lose at WrestleMania XXX and felt like losing to someone smaller than him for a second time wouldn't be a good fit for him.
Batista is slated to leave to promote his upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy movie and "The Animal" felt that losing to Bryan twice before appearing in a summer blockbuster movie wasn't a good fit for him and he also believed that it wouldn't be a good way for him to go out and take a hiatus after suffering two losses to a smaller opponent.
Batista was slated to leave after Extreme Rules due to the fact that the WWE told him they had nothing for him since he turned down the match with Bryan, however it appears as though he may in fact wrestle in some capacity at the Payback event before taking off until SummerSlam in August.
It remains to be seen what "The Animal's" role will be at Payback since he turned down the match with Bryan, but he may in fact be at the June 1 event in Chicago.
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