Dave Bautista has once again made it clear that his wrestling career is firmly behind him.

Speaking with Cale Owen, the former WWE Champion reflected on the difficult decision to leave WWE at the peak of his career. While the move came with major financial sacrifices, Bautista said it was something he felt he had to do because the company was no longer heading in a direction that matched what he wanted.

“I left the company, and I left on good terms. I left at the height of my career, but it was for the right reasons.

It was hard as f*ck to walk away because I walked away and I went broke. It was nice having that check come in every week, man. It really was. But I walked away because the company was heading in a direction that just wasn’t right for me.

So, you know, it worked out. I was lucky that it worked out.”

Since leaving wrestling, Bautista has built a successful Hollywood career, starring in major franchises and establishing himself as one of the industry's most recognizable action stars. Despite ongoing speculation over the years, he insists there has never been any temptation to lace up his boots again.

Bautista acknowledged that many wrestlers struggle to stay retired, but believes he already received the perfect ending to his in ring career and has no intention of undoing it.

“It’s hard to walk away. Most people don’t. That’s why it’s almost like a running joke when wrestlers retire, because they never retire. They retire like five times.

People always thought over the years that I would come back, that I’d come out of retirement. I told them over and over, ‘I won’t.’ I had a fcking storybook ending, and I won’t sht on it.

I’ll go do manual labor before I tarnish that. If I go broke again… I know what it’s like to be poor. I don’t like being poor. But I know what it’s like, and I will go fucking broke and be poor before I ever go back to wrestling. I will never wrestle again.”

While fans continue to dream of one last Batista appearance inside a WWE ring, his latest comments leave little room for doubt that his retirement remains permanent.