As noted, Batista announced his pro wrestling retirement in a tweet posted on Monday morning.

“The Animal,” who lost to Triple H in their No Holds Barred match at WrestleMania 35 on Sunday night, followed up on Monday morning with additional comments about his retirement on his official Instagram page.

“To all the [WWE] fans across the world that gave me the opportunity to suspend your disbelief, thank you,” wrote Batista on Monday. “From the biggest part of my heart thank you for letting me entertain you.”

He added, “Tonight was my story book ending and I wanted to leave you with all I had to give. I’ll miss this theater of violence more than I can express in words but I am officially retiring from Sports Entertainment. I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished, I leave in great health, and without a doubt the show will go on. I had a hell of a run. Thank you for the journey.”

Check out Batista’s post, as well as highlights of his match with Triple H at WrestleMania 35, below.

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(Follow us on Twitter @eWrestlingCOM or myself, Matt Boone, @MattBoone1984 for more exclusive backstage wrestling news and rumors!)

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To all the @wwe fans across the world that gave me the opportunity to suspend your disbelief, thank you. From the biggest part of my heart thank you for letting me entertain you. Tonight was my story book ending and I wanted to leave you with all I had to give. I’ll miss this theater of violence more than I can express in words but I am officially retiring from Sports Entertainment. I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished, I leave in great health, and without a doubt the show will go on. I had a hell of a run. Thank you for the journey #dreamchaser #wrestlemania35

A post shared by David Bautista (@davebautista) on Apr 8, 2019 at 1:19am PDT