Batista's last run with the WWE ended not long after WrestleMania 30, where he was part of the main event of the show in a Triple Threat match against Randy Orton and Daniel Bryan for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.

Batista's return was intertwined with Bryan's push at the time in 2014, who went on to win the title at WrestleMania, because of how he was booked to win the Royal Rumble earlier that year when many thought Bryan would.

In the end, it was disagreements with WWE creative that would lead to Batista's departure from the WWE, but recently, there have been talks of him possibly returning to the squared circle.

Batista revealed on Jim Ross’ The Ross Report podcast, via Cageside Seats, that he wants to return to the WWE, not just for a one-off appearance, but as a full-time performer once more.

The Animal said: "I've never burnt that bridge because I still love wrestling and everybody in the WWE has been really good to me. I have my gripes with the company, which I'm sure everybody does, but at the same time I don't ever disrespect the company intentionally. I don't really have any reason to. I didn't leave there under bad circumstances, I left just because I wanted to pursue other things.

"I didn't walk out on them, I let my contract run out. They knew I was going to be leaving. I did business the right way. I'm really thankful that I did.

"The short answer to that is yes, I would love to go back, but the reason I have not gone back is because I don't want to do a one off. I want to go and I want to wrestle. I want to do some house shows, I want to be a part of the program and I love it. The one off thing, the cheap pop thing, it doesn't do anything for me.”

He continued: "So now it's a matter of scheduling if I can go back and if I happen to get injured is it going to affect something else? ... It took me a few months the last time I went back, it took me three months to really get in a groove and get people to react the way I thought they were going to react. I'm just not a cheap pop guy. It just doesn't work for me. It's not appealing to me at all, it actually turns me off."

Batista also revealed that he has spoken to Vince McMahon recently about working together once more in the future.

"But I stay in touch, man, I've talked to Vince (McMahon) recently and he knows what I want. I've made it very clear that I wanted to go back and run a program with Hunter. I've been very public about it and I think that's the thing that would get me back."

It would be great to see Batista back in the WWE, as he's a fantastic worker and knows how to get his opponent over as a heel and as a face. The Royal Rumble in 2018 could be the perfect spot for WWE to bring him back into the frame.

How WWE would use him remains to be seen, but he would certainly add some much-needed freshness to the main event scene on either Raw or SmackDown if he was to return to the squared circle.