Dave Bautista Explains Why He Thought He'd Be Fired After 2005 WWE Royal Rumble

The 2005 Royal Rumble featured the infamous ending between Batista and John Cena, where they accidentally landed on the outside of the ring at the same time while trying to eliminate each other, causing confusion on who was the actual winner. This led Vince McMahon to restart the match on the fly between both stars and have Batista eliminate Cena to win the Rumble. 

Nearly 20 years since his infamous win, Dave Bautista revealed on "Insight" that McMahon was furious with him before the Rumble because he showed up late and he thought he would be fired due to the botched ending. 

"So, I think we were in San Francisco the night before, and so I stayed there instead of driving to Bakersfield. I stayed there because my mom lives there and I want to stay and I want to spend time with my mom. So I got up the next day, and I drove and I was really late to the show. Vince thought that I was being super disrespectful by showing up late, and he was pissed," he recalled. "I thought he was going to change his mind and it was going to change, like the whole storyline. But then we [had] the match, and it was botched, and I totally take the blame for it, because I went over ... thank god we landed when we did kind of at the same time, it was a miracle. Then, when I saw Vince coming down, I was like, I'm getting fired." 

Bautista continued to explain that for most of his career, he thought he was going to be fired, especially when he wrestled in OVW. He stated that he was just happy to be a part of pro wrestling and WWE.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Insight" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.