There have been rumors that Batista may not return to the WWE due to his acting career taking off from the success of Marvel's summer blockbuster Guardians of the Galaxy and "The Animal" has signed on to do another movie which could hamper his return to the ring.

Wrestlingheadlines.com reports that Batista signed on to do a thriller with Robert De Niro called Bus 657. The movie is reportedly about a former casino card dealer who gets a group together to rob a bank and hijack a city bus to use as collateral.

Jeffrey Dean Morgan plays the former casino worker and one of the members of his crew will be played by Batista while De Niro plays the casino owner.

The movie will begin filming in Alabama this October, which means that "The Animal's" return to the WWE will be prolonged.

Batista "quit' the WWE in storyline back in June in order to promote Guardians of the Galaxy and it was rumored he would return in August in time for the SummerSlam pay-per-view, but that event came and went without him.

It was then reported that Batista landed a few more movie roles and would likely be absent from the WWE for a long time as speculation began to pile up that he may be done in the ring and could be gearing up to focus on his acting career.

Batista came back to the WWE in January and was expected to win the Royal Rumble match, which he did, but he was reportedly slated to go on to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship from Randy Orton at WrestleMania XXX.

A mixture of the crowd turning on Batista and a groundswell of support for Daniel Bryan led to the WWE changing the script and having Bryan win the gold at the Show of Shows.

Batista was reportedly put off by the WWE promising big things for him upon his return to the company and was agitated by the fact that things that he was guaranteed didn't come to fruition.

There have been rumors that Batista will return for WrestleMania 31 on March 29, 2015, but that remains to be seen.

For more coverage, follow us on Twitter @SportsWN and Like Us on Facebook