WWE Legend Backstage At 12/30 Episode Of Smackdown
The last "WWE SmackDown" episode of 2022 on December 30 was not lacking in star power, as John Cena took part in the main event alongside Kevin Owens to defeat The Bloodline's Roman Reigns and Sami Zayn. However, Cena was not the only Ruthless Aggression Era legend at the event on Friday night, as Dave Batista was spotted backstage alongside his close friend Titus O'Neil.
Both Batista and O'Neil are proud Tampa, Florida residents, so their presence there isn't entirely shocking. While the WWE Hall of Famer remained backstage for the duration of his visit, O'Neil warmed up the crowd ahead of the show as a proud ambassador for the company.
.@DaveBautista and @TitusONeilWWE coming in with a late contender for most wholesome photo of the year 😍 pic.twitter.com/VpNaa2Kjvg
— WWE on BT Sport (@btsportwwe) December 31, 2022
Batista has been fully retired from in-ring competition since 2019, with his final match being against Triple H at WrestleMania 35. Since then, the former World Champion has become a highly respected actor using his real name Dave Bautista. "The Animal" is best known for his role as Drax The Destroyer in the "Guardians of the Galaxy" series but has recently been commended for his performances in Rian Johnson's "Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery," which came out on Netflix just last week.
As for O'Neil, the former WWE Tag Team Champion has been out of in-ring action since 2020 but remains an ambassador for the company at this point. He's also reiterated throughout this year that he is not retired and could return to action at some point in the future, but that remains uncertain for the time being.