As time passes since WrestleMania 34 took place on April 8, we're learning that Kurt Angle was not the initial choice of a tag team partner for Ronda Rousey to face off against Stephanie McMahon and Triple H. Just recently, The Rock revealed that he was in the running to stand beside Rousey in her debut, and now another former world champion has detailed his odd negotiation process with WWE to serve in that role. Those negotiations taking a strange turn is where we begin our look at some of the biggest WWE headlines making the rounds for Monday, April 30. 

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Batista claims WWE brushed him off

The former world champion who was working on partnering up with Rousey was none other that Dave Bautista. There had been rumors that he was slated to take the spot for a few weeks, but now the "Avengers: Infinity War" star has gone into detail about what exactly happened during the negotiation process. 

During an interview on the "Chad Dukes vs. The World" radio show, Bautista revealed that he was in talks with the company about not only coming back in for the WrestleMania 34 mixed tag team match, but also letting that serve as the beginning of the storyline which would lead to a match between he and Triple H next year at WrestleMania 35 in MetLife Stadium. Initially, Bautista says the idea was met with positive reviews. Keep in mind, he has stated in many previous interviews that he would prefer his next WWE run include a feud with his former Evolution leader. 

But then, something strange happened. According to Bautista, when he tried to follow up on the plans, which included text messages to Triple H, he was met with nothing -- in the sense that no one from WWE answered his inquiries. 

"I sent a text to Hunter. I was like, 'Hey man, I don't know if you put any more thought into what's going on. I'm really excited about the possibilities,'" Bautista said. "And I literally never heard back from them. They just stopped talking to me about it. Man, I don't know what else I can do to try to… I want to end my career the right way. I'm faithful and loyal to the WWE. I'm proud of being from there and I want to do good business with them, but they just don't make it easy. You know, they just don't."  

To add more fuel to the fire, Bautista also claims that time is ticking regarding a return to the ring. If he can't come to terms with WWE on some sort of return within the next year, then he plans to hang up the boots for good and head off into retirement. 

If this was indeed the case, then that was a rather questionable way of doing business with someone who's quickly become somewhat of a success in Hollywood. Still, while it's unfortunate WWE couldn't come to an agreement with either Bautista or The Rock, Angle wasn't a bad third option by any stretch and the match turned out to be one of the most memorable coming out of New Orleans. 

More WWE news, rumors

  • Coming out of the historic Greatest Royal Rumble event that took place on Friday in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, the Saudi General Sport Authority was forced to issue an apology. During the intermission on the show that was reserved for prayer observation, the company aired the ad for the return of dual-branded pay-per-views, which of course showcases both Sasha Banks and Carmella in scantily clad outfits. This video aired inside the stadium, drawing quite the response from the males in the crowd, and the General Sport Authority swiftly issued the apology. 
  • According to PW Insider, despite not being able to take part on the Greatest Royal Rumble card, WWE will still pay the female talent that was absent as if they were featured on the show. 
  • The Greatest Royal Rumble show was the beginning of a lucrative 10-year relationship between WWE and Saudi Arabia, and now we apparently know when they will be returning to the country for another event. According to the Riyadh Report, WWE will be heading back for another show this November. 
  • It was said coming out of Friday that Aiden English had suffered a serious injury following the Tombstone Piledriver he took at the hands of The Undertaker. However, PW Insider has reported that English was fine after being on the receiving end of the legendary finisher and he was simply putting on a good sell job. 
  • Monday night on Raw, we'll begin to find out where Greatest Royal Rumble winner Braun Strowman goes from here after making history in Jeddah on Friday. The company is also advertising following up on universal champion Brock Lesnar shockingly retaining his title -- again -- over Roman Reigns, who will be the next to step up to Ronda Rousey and finding out who the next challenger for Seth Rollins' intercontinental championship will be.