Source: The Wrestling Observer Newsletter
Thanks to Ranjit Chahal for his help passing along the following newsbits:
Triple H has recently been in talks with Dave Batista in regards to a WWE return for the former WWE Champion. Apparently the company has been “very pleased” with how much The Rock and Brock Lesnar have been able to improve business despite the limited schedules they’ve worked. Because of this, they’re willing to offer Batista a similar schedule.
The issue is really just coming down to money. Batista wants what was described as a “monster deal” to only work a few times a year and WWE doesn’t see his worth as “anywhere close” to Rock or Brock. Another issue is that WWE does not want to risk completely overhauling their pay scale, if suddenly all the top guys want major full-time money for sporadic part-time appearances.
Obviously, there are many in the locker room that aren’t happy about Brock and Rock working so little while making more than everybody else, but at least WWE is able to position it as The Rock being a movie star and Brock being a UFC star, and therefore being more of outside celebrities than full-time wrestlers at this point.
Nobody really sees Batista at that level, and word going around is that Batista is going to have to come way down on his money demands if he wants to come in. He’s eager to return part-time and Triple H is very much in favour of getting him back in the fold, but as seen with Steve Austin out year after year, it’s not always easy to get these deals done.
