Conflicting Report Regarding Batista Not Wanting to Face Daniel Bryan

As we recently reported, a match between WWE World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan and Batista was scheduled for the “Payback” event. The previous report noted that Batista backed out of the match because he did not want to lose to someone of Bryan’s stature.

Now, ProWrestling.net spoke with a source close to the situation. The website’s source says that the previous reports were completely false.

Below is what the source said on the matter:

“WWE wants that story out, but it’s all twisted. [Batista] would do five jobs for Bryan. They’ve f***ed him in money, booking, broken promises [relating to his] schedule, and promoting his [outside projects]. Had that not happened, he would be around until late June, but because Vince [McMahon] f***ed him, he’s not, so they dragged Daniel Bryan into this to vilify Batista. Daniel is beloved and a martyr so he benefits, but it has nothing to do with jobbing. They’ve twisted. It’s classic Vince. Look at Ultimate Warrior and SummerSlam, Bret Hart in Montreal. [Vince] puts out his narrative. There are always two sides.”

Additionally, the word going around is that Vince McMahon is attempting to work things out with Batista, as the situation appears to remain in doubt. There is nothing official in terms of when Batista will keep working for WWE, before taking time off.

It is reported that the real reason for a Bryan vs. Batista match at “Payback” not happening is due to Batista’s schedule. Due to Batista presumably taking time off, the two could not have had a multi-event feud, which WWE wanted.

Editor’s Note

While I do believe that reports of Batista not wanting to work with Bryan were false, I do not think that WWE is trying to screw over Batista. This is an interesting development nonetheless.