WWE announced that Dave Bautista, known as the “Animal” Batista, will be returning to the promotion for 2014.
His return date is officially Monday January 20, 2014, the Monday Night Raw that is directly before the WWE Royal Rumble 2014 PPV.
Batista is being advertised for house shows in February after the Royal Rumble PPV, and its expected he’ll be fulltime with WWE at least for the RumbleMania season.
August 1, 2014 is the premiere of “Guardians of the Galaxy,” which features Batista in a major role. Whether or not he remains active with WWE between Wrestlemania 30 and the movie release (and Summerslam) depends on how his body holds up as well as his schedule for movie promotion.
Gaps in the schedule notwithstanding, it’s reported that Batista signed a 2 year deal with WWE for 2014 and 2015, and he considers this his final run in professional wrestling.
