Dave Bautista has officially retired from WWE after his final match at ‘WrestleMania 35’.
The ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ star stepped into the ring for the last time on Sunday night (07.04.19) as he lost to his mentor and friend Paul ‘Triple H’ Levesque in a No Holds Barred match at the annual extravaganza in New Jersey’s Met Life Stadium, and he has now confirmed he is stepping away from his time as a wrestling to focus fully on his career as an actor.
He wrote on Instagram: "To all the @wwe fans across the world that gave me the opportunity to suspend your disbelief, thank you.
"From the biggest part of my heart thank you for letting me entertain you. Tonight was my story book ending and I wanted to leave you with all I had to give.
"I’ll miss this theater of violence more than I can express in words but I am officially retiring from Sports Entertainment. I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished, I leave in great health, and without a doubt the show will go on. I had a hell of a run. Thank you for the journey #dreamchaser #wrestlemania35"
Dave, 50, has also revealed that he felt it was right to finish his career alongside Triple H after he made such an impact on his time as a professional wrestler, and he wanted to lose as a way of saying thank you.
Speaking on the ‘Chasing Glory with Lilian Garcia’ podcast, he added: "[He] took the time to let me ride with him, let me pick his brain and really did groom me to be a star in that company.
"I wanted to finish out my career with him, it’s the only way that I could say thank you, is to go out on my back for this guy."