MANILA, Philippines – The last time Dave Batista appeared in a World Wrestling Entertainment ring was on May 26, 2010. The previous night Batista had engaged in what was one of finest performances against John Cena, before ultimately losing an “I Quit” match at the Extreme Rules pay-per-view.
It was the apex of his showmanship, a quality that Batista had struggled to cultivate when his run in World Wrestling Entertainment began in 2002. With improved microphone skills, Batista had become the company’s ultimate heel, or bad guy, with his pompous Hollywood star act and underhanded assaults on crowd favorites gaining him heat unrivaled by anyone on the roster.
After being walked out to the ring with the assistance of referees, Batista took a seat in a wheelchair, right arm in a sling and sunglasses hiding “bruises,” as he whined about Cena’s brutality the night before. When WWE legend Bret Hart interrupted his gripe session and was announced as the new Monday Night Raw general manager, Batista demanded a rematch with Cena. But when Hart refused to cave to his demands, Batista repeated the words that had ended his final WWE match: “I quit.”
Batista was wheeled out of the arena to a chorus of boos, never to be seen again.
Of course, this was all part of a storyline, and the real reason for Batista’s exit from the company probably had more to do with the promising movie roles that were beginning to flow in from Hollywood for the 6-foot-5, nearly 300-pound Filipino/Greek bodybuilder. Batista has so far starred in The Man with the Iron Fists, Riddick and the forthcoming Marvel Comics movie Guardians of the Galaxy, plus had a successful mixed martial arts debut in 2012.
Still, that isn’t the way Batista’s fans would want to remember him. Rather, fans of “The Animal” would prefer to remember him walking down the ramp with his heavy metal theme song blaring and machine gun fireworks exploding, followed by his signature power moves the Spear and Spinebuster, ultimately setting up his Batista Bomb (sit-out powerbomb) finishing maneuver.
Though his career often had gaps due to injuries, Batista was unquestionably one of the leading WWE performers of the millenium’s first decade. And with the 44-year-old six-time world champion from Washington set to return to the WWE on Monday, January 20 (Tuesday in the Philippines) at the next edition of Monday Night Raw, this writer invites you on a stroll down memory lane to reacquaint with some of Batista’s greatest WWE memories
Batista joins Evolution
In hindset, it’s easy to say that Batista was destined for greatness. But back in 2002, Batista was still a very raw talent, a relative late-comer to the world of sports entertainment who had yet to find himself as a performer. Batista had debuted as Deacon Batista, the hired muscle behind Reverend D-Von, a gimmick that was going nowhere in a hurry.
Batista’s career didn’t start to get going until the following year, when he turned on D-Von, switched shows from Smackdown to RAW and walked out with Triple H, Ric Flair and Randy Orton as Evolution. The group, which was a modernized version of Flair’s Four Horsemen stable, would become the most dominant faction in the company for years to come.
Batista missed much of 2003 due to injuries, but returned in October to lay waste to Shawn Michaels and Bill Goldberg, collecting a $100,000 bounty Triple H had put out on Goldberg in the process. At the Armageddon pay-per-view on December 14, 2003, Batista won the tag-team titles with Flair, which was complimented by Orton winning the Intercontinental belt and Triple H becoming the Heavyweight championship.
The group did much to carve Batista’s image as a future star, grooming him alongside legends Flair and Triple H and teaching him the art of captivating an audience.
Batista wins the Royal Rumble
January 30, 2005
For much of Batista’s early run in WWE, he had played second fiddle to Triple H, Ric Flair and Randy Orton as a member of Evolution. When Evolution turned on Orton after winning the heavyweight title the previous year, it was believed that Orton would be the man to set the company on fire as a must-see baby face.
But when Orton failed to meet the lofty expectations heaped upon him, many wondered if it was Batista who was the true blue chipper among the two upstarts. The exploration of that notion began at the Royal Rumble in 2005.
Batista entered the 30-man battle royal at number 28 and immediately made his presence felt, eliminating Gene Snitsky and Chris Jericho, then hitting the Batista Bomb on Kane and eliminating Christian.
Batista and John Cena were the last two men standing, which is fitting because they represented the future of the company. As Batista was set to hit another Batista Bomb, both fell over the ropes and hit the floor simultaneously. When the ringside referees failed to come to agreement on who touched the ground first, WWE chairman Vince McMahon came out and ordered that the two continue the match (only after tearing a tendon in his knee getting in the ring).
When the action restarted, Batista hit a Spinebuster on Cena and promptly tossed him over the top rope to win the Royal Rumble, guaranteeing him a shot at either the WWE or World Heavyweight at Wrestlemania XXI. The WWE champion was James Bradshaw Layfield, who competed on Smackdown, while his Evolution leader Triple H was the World Heavyweight champion on RAW.
The decision that he made next would change his career for good.
Batista wins World Heavyweight title at Wrestlemania XXI
April 3, 2005
The writing had been on the wall for a long time. The crowds had begun to cheer for Batista, and as his character was increasingly painted as a sympathetic figure being manipulated by Triple H and Flair, it was only a matter of time before Batista made his move.
That move came on an episode of RAW. Having won the Royal Rumble, Batista could choose to either face Triple H for the World Heavyweight title as a member of the RAW stable, or John Bradshaw Layfield as a member of the Smackdown roster. Both Triple H and Flair had been working to convince Batista to challenge JBL, and Batista had led them on that that was his intention. When all three met in the ring for a contract signing, it was Batista who double-crossed them, turning his thumbs up signal to a thumbs down before powerbombing Triple H through a table, signing his contract and punctuating the altercation saying “Hunter, I’m staying right here on RAW.”
The match itself wasn’t particularly memorable from a technical perspective, and Batista admitted in his “I Walk Alone” DVD that his fourth and fifth lumbars in his back were damaged and that he went through the match numb in his left leg because of his sciatic nerve.
Still, the crowd at the Staples Center in Los Angeles was into it the whole way. When Batista kicked out of a shot to the head from the title belt 20 minutes into the match, the crowd exploded in anticipation of a potential Batista win. A minute or so later, Batista hit the Batista Bomb for the three count to win his first world championship.
Batista would hold the title for the rest of the year before suffering a tricep injury after Mark Henry botched his World’s Strongest Slam move, forcing him to vacate the title and sit out until July 2006.
Batista vs. Undertaker at Wrestlemania XXIII
April 1, 2007
Following the injury and layoff, Batista regained the World Heavyweight title at Survivor Series in November of 2006, pinning King Booker after hitting him with the belt. Just as Batista qualified for his first title shot at Wrestlemania XXI by winning the Royal Rumble, Batista would have to defend his title against the Rumble winner The Undertaker at Wrestlemania XXIII.
Undertaker walked into Ford Field in Detroit, Mich. having gone 14-0 at Wrestlemania, but there was legitimate belief that Batista could be the one chosen to end the streak. The matchup between the two tall powerhouses was well anticipated, and it turned out to be one of Batista’s finest matches.
Perhaps trying to make up for missing the previous year’s Wrestlemania with an injury, Batista had several high spots that were uncharacteristic of him, including a shoulder block from the top turnbuckle and a powerslam through the announcer’s table.
The match had several near-falls, beginning with Undertaker’s Last Call powerbomb and chokeslam, followed by Undertaker kicking out of the Batista Bomb. The Undertaker eventually hit the Tombstone Piledriver to pin Batista to go 15-0 at Wrestlemania.
The two feuded on-and-off for the next few months, with Undertaker losing the title when Edge cashed in the Money in the Bank briefcase on Undertaker after a cage match with Batista. Batista would win the title back at Summerslam 2007 that August by beating The Great Khali, who had won the belt after Edge dropped the belt due to injury.
Batista defeats John Cena at Summerslam 2008
August 17, 2008
There was no title on the line, but it hardly mattered. This match was their first meeting in a singles competition, with the two stars rising parallel to another. The bout began to build up when Batista was drafted from Smackdown to RAW, joining Cena, who had won his first title the same night as Batista at Wrestlemania XXI.
The two had held the tag team titles briefly earlier in the month when they teamed up to beat Cody Rhodes and Ted Dibiase Jr., and the pairing of the two crowd favorites served to stoke their rivalry. The team lost the belts the following week.
The match was performed at a fast pace, and both wrestlers hit their finishing moves once only to have their opponents kick out. The high spot of the match was Batista countering a Cena leg drop from the top turnbuckle, turning it into a Batista Bomb. Cena kicked out, but Batista finished him off with another Batista Bomb for the three count.
The match took legitimate tolls on both men. Cena sustained a herniated disc in his neck from the first Batista Bomb, while Batista injured his hamstring delivering the second followup Batista Bomb. Both would require surgery and sit out for several months.
Batista would return 8 months later in April 2009, winning the WWE championship at Extreme Rules in a cage match with Randy Orton. Once again Batista would vacate the title due to an injury, but would return as a heel, assaulting his tag team partner and friend Rey Mysterio Jr. After a series of matches with Mysterio, Batista would turn his monster heel gimmick on Cena, culminating in PPV-headlining matches that lead up to his departure. – Rappler.com
Ryan Songalia is the sports editor of Rappler, a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA) and a contributor to The Ring magazine. He can be reached at ryan@ryansongalia.com. An archive of his work can be found at www.ryansongalia.com. Follow him on Twitter: @RyanSongalia.
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