Dave Bautista Thought Vince McMahon Was Going To Fire Him Over 2005 Royal Rumble Botch

Dave Bautista and John Cena fell to the floor in a botched moment at the 2005 Royal Rumble, and Bautista thought he was going to be fired over it. Bautista and Cena were the final two for that year’s rumble but fell over the top at the same time in an unplanned moment, which led to Vince McMahon running down to the ring — during which he tore both his quads when he got into the ring. Bautista looked back on the moment in his appearance on Insight With Chris Van Vliet and the highlights are below (per Wrestling Inc):

On McMahon’s quad tear: “I think later on, I didn’t realize during the match, I didn’t know why he was sitting there. I had no idea what was going on, I was just worried about the match. Then they got him out of there. I think I found out later on.”

On being worried he was going to get fired over it: “I got to the building and somebody immediately said, ‘Vince wants to see you in his office.’ I was saying, ‘Ah, here it comes.’ So I went to his office, and my heart is beating, just in my head I’m packing my bags.”

On McMahon being in a good mood when he arrived: “I was like, ‘You’re not going to fire me?’ And he goes, ‘No, I loved it. It was real. It was so great, and it was real, and nobody knew what was going happen.’ He loved it.”