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Post by ASR (therockisback) on Oct 21, 2022 10:17:27 GMT -5
I’ve done these on Cena, Orton, Lesnar, Mysterio... now it’s Batista’s turn! It’s crazy how it’s really been 20 years since 2002, that year was one of my fav years in wrestling history & a changing point.
I’d say I’ve always been a big fan personally & he’s easily one of the biggest stars in the business, he’s one of the main faces of the ruthless aggression era & an underrated/under appreciated guy.
I’d even say he’s one the biggest crossover stars & he’s had a good movie career so far.
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Post by alanpartridge on Oct 21, 2022 10:31:27 GMT -5
I'd say he reached his peak 2005 and was an unstoppable monster. As he got older he became more stoppable. Vengeance 2005 at his peak 2014 Please Go Away!
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Post by theoutlaw1999 on Oct 21, 2022 15:30:08 GMT -5
Had Brock never left Batista would never have made it to the main event. In Evolution Orton was groomed to the next big star while Batista was only the muscle of the group.
I was never the biggest Batista fan out there, but I enjoyed his original face run and his film career has been awesome.
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Teddy Bearburg
Mid-Carder
Joined on: Oct 5, 2022 15:01:46 GMT -5
Posts: 392
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Post by Teddy Bearburg on Oct 21, 2022 15:37:34 GMT -5
In 2005, I thought he was the greatest wrestler alive!
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Post by hitmancmedge on Oct 21, 2022 15:45:13 GMT -5
For his age when he got started, size, etc he was great. He would have absolutely been the man in 2006-2010 if it weren’t for Cena (rightfully so) but to certainly a lesser extent the wwe was lucky to hit that two huge stars at the same time with Cena and Batista.
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TWJT
Superstar
Joined on: Aug 7, 2021 19:07:25 GMT -5
Posts: 539
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Post by TWJT on Oct 21, 2022 17:10:04 GMT -5
I wonder what Batista would have been like if he had wrestled as consistently as the other guys he came in with. We saw a lot of Batista (including as a top name) from 2002-2010, then he left for four years, we got a short little bit from him in the first half of 2014, and then he left us again and gave us a retirement feud in 2019. I was really into him around WM21, and fairly into him during Evolution. I'm proud of him for reaching big heights in Hollywood, I hope that he is offered some more roles where he gets to play major characters (it seems like Guardians of the Galaxy was really special, but the public needs constant reminders that you are the man). I hope he doesn't fizzle out, because he's hardworking and deserving of success. He worked a slow style, but he got pretty good on the mic and I think had more good matches than he gets credit for. His heel turn in 2010 showed us a unique side of him, no doubt. I guess all that's really left for Batista in pro wrestling is the WWE Hall of Fame, so I'm excited to see him reach that level. As mentioned, I just hope some more big roles come his way in Hollywood. I haven't heard much from him since GotG. I'm sure he's had other notable roles, and I'm guessing GotG was/will be more than one film, but I feel things need to be pretty constant or the public might forget about him. But yeah, no doubt, Batista is and was talented. Took him some time to come out of his shell, but I think the 2005 feuds he had with Triple H and JBL helped him a lot. Imagine if in early/mid 2002, someone would have mentioned that Bradshaw, the Hardcore Champion on RAW, would have been a big, world title, money feud within three years with Rev. D-Von's manager on Smackdown, Deacon Batista. Oh yeah, and Batista was also really good down here in OVW as Leviathan.
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Post by LA Times on Oct 21, 2022 21:43:33 GMT -5
I didnt think he was going to be any good when I first saw him, but became a huge fan after his face turn against HHH. He is what a wrestler should be looking like. I wasnt upset when he left in 2010 because it was time to move on but his return in 2014 was a disaster.
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Post by tmnt316 on Oct 21, 2022 21:56:31 GMT -5
Liked him in Evolution and when he went heel on Rey but was whatever on him as face.
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Post by JokerFC on Oct 21, 2022 23:52:37 GMT -5
Loved his face turn & feud with HHH. Vengeance 2005 HIAC is the pinnacle of his career handing HHH his 1st one on one defeat in the structure. He tapered off HUGE when he went to SD! and never recovered steam.
WM & HIAC matches with UT were excellent....I mean GREAT stuff.
His feud with HBK after HBK retired Flair was brilliant in 08...he was a monster in the stretcher match. Massive.
His heel turn was a long time coming....and IMHO? They squandered it because the Cena feud should have been ten times better.
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jason1980s
Main Eventer
Joined on: Sept 30, 2009 14:58:56 GMT -5
Posts: 2,311
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Post by jason1980s on Oct 22, 2022 0:21:48 GMT -5
I'm happy he made it so big just on the off chance that nobody jobber turned wannabe drill instructor Dewayne Bruce might think for just one second about Batista's fame and fortune. How many potentially great stars did wrestling lose because of his drill 'em until they throw up or leave BS? It probably hurt WCW more than it helped having him around. How many guys in his Power Plant made any kind of impact in wrestling? Yes, I know Giant, Goldberg who weren't exactly hired for wrestling ability, DDP (who had already been somewhat well known) and a few random guys who were popular in later WCW.
Edit: Looking at Power Plant's wiki...jeeze, this doesn't look good for a lot of guys we consider legends.
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Post by Codyverse: Tag Team Champion on Oct 22, 2022 7:28:45 GMT -5
Always liked Big Dave
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Post by hbkjason on Oct 22, 2022 11:26:38 GMT -5
Huge fan.
His face turn was fantastic and so much fun. I have seen him live many times and even during a House show he put in maximum effort.
He is one of those guys that I feel are way better in the ring than people give him credit for. He was able to have a good to great match with people of all sizes. Before Eddie passed I was really looking forward to a long feud between the two.
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Post by Next Man’s Knowing Rock on Oct 22, 2022 21:13:04 GMT -5
He was limited, especially at first, but he surely exceeded everyone’s expectations. When he debuted he was just a “body guy” who seemed like his ceiling was that enforcer/bodyguard role. He wasn’t a great promo, but he quickly got real good at backstage scenes and subtle reactions to everything. He blossomed in Evolution.
His Rumble win and rise against HHH would be complained about heavily these days as too predictable, but it worked brilliantly. He was great as the more serious babyface alternative to Cena’s white rapper persona. I lost interest in Batista somewhat as his big babyface run went on, but he had me hooked when he became an obnoxious, paranoid, pretentious heel. “You’re supposed to be my friend” is one of wrestling’s most memorable lines to me. He even hit some fantastic promos as a bad guy.
All in all, I think he’s slightly underrated. My top five Batista matches, in no particular order:
-Batista vs Undertaker, WrestleMania 23 -Batista vs HHH, Vengeance 2005 -Batista vs John Cena, SummerSlam 2008 -Batista vs Orton vs Bryan, WrestleMania 30 -Evolution vs Shield, the first time (Extreme Rules 2014 I think)
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Post by Kill Em' All on Oct 23, 2022 9:01:10 GMT -5
I think he hit huge amount of success very fast. And it definitely felt like blink and miss it. In three years he was on top. And pretty much was the Second guy in the late RA Era and was gone in the Early PG Era.
He’s had some bad performances and I think it was easy to tell when he had bad showing. But he was the perfect babyface to counter Cena. And I liked how the second end of the RA structured Raw around face Cena and SmackDown on face Batista.
I think he inherited rough on star power SD in late 05. But his performances against Triple H, Taker, Edge always felt like big deals.
And when Cena faced Batista at SS 08 it felt like very big deal. Kids loved Batista growing up. His Heel run in 2010 was very refreshing.
His 2014 run fumbled but we did great WM and Shield program out of it. And his final program with HHH to me was great
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Post by cordless2016 on Oct 29, 2022 12:29:50 GMT -5
Underrated as hell. Guy was surprisingly agile for a man his size, and knew how to tell a story in the ring (it paid off learning from HHH and Flair).
Batista was over like crazy in 2005. He was the man, and even helped bring in an uptick in Raw viewership during the early months of that year. What hurt him more than anything was a combo of his age and injuries. Post 2005, the WWE was all in on Cena. Batista, at best, was presented as 1-B to Cena’s 1-A.
I’ve always wondered how far Batista would have gone had he jumped into the world of professional wrestling a decade earlier. His age and size no doubt played into his injury issues that plagued him for years. I don’t think he’d have had an issue getting over during the attitude era due to his size and athleticism, and his mic work stood out from many as well.
Cross-over appeal, I’d argue he’s the biggest name outside of wrestling of the “OVW 4.” Brock had the UFC success, and Cena has become more well known due to Peacemaker, but Batista has stared is several highly successful Marvel films. I’ve met various non-wrestling fans who know who Batista is off that alone, while not as many with Cena and Brock.
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Post by LA Times on Oct 29, 2022 15:06:36 GMT -5
Underrated as hell. Guy was surprisingly agile for a man his size, and knew how to tell a story in the ring (it paid off learning from HHH and Flair). Batista was over like crazy in 2005. He was the man, and even helped bring in an uptick in Raw viewership during the early months of that year. What hurt him more than anything was a combo of his age and injuries. Post 2005, the WWE was all in on Cena. Batista, at best, was presented as 1-B to Cena’s 1-A. I’ve always wondered how far Batista would have gone had he jumped into the world of professional wrestling a decade earlier. His age and size no doubt played into his injury issues that plagued him for years. I don’t think he’d have had an issue getting over during the attitude era due to his size and athleticism, and his mic work stood out from many as well. Cross-over appeal, I’d argue he’s the biggest name outside of wrestling of the “OVW 4.” Brock had the UFC success, and Cena has become more well known due to Peacemaker, but Batista has stared is several highly successful Marvel films. I’ve met various non-wrestling fans who know who Batista is off that alone, while not as many with Cena and Brock. I dont think Batista wouldve done well in the New Generation Era as the WWF was avoiding pushing guys like him due to the steroid scandal. In all likelyhood, he wouldve been in WCW or ECW, underutilized or underpaid respectively before signing with the WWF later in the decade.
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Post by JokerFC on Oct 29, 2022 17:21:51 GMT -5
Underrated as hell. Guy was surprisingly agile for a man his size, and knew how to tell a story in the ring (it paid off learning from HHH and Flair). Batista was over like crazy in 2005. He was the man, and even helped bring in an uptick in Raw viewership during the early months of that year. What hurt him more than anything was a combo of his age and injuries. Post 2005, the WWE was all in on Cena. Batista, at best, was presented as 1-B to Cena’s 1-A. I’ve always wondered how far Batista would have gone had he jumped into the world of professional wrestling a decade earlier. His age and size no doubt played into his injury issues that plagued him for years. I don’t think he’d have had an issue getting over during the attitude era due to his size and athleticism, and his mic work stood out from many as well. Cross-over appeal, I’d argue he’s the biggest name outside of wrestling of the “OVW 4.” Brock had the UFC success, and Cena has become more well known due to Peacemaker, but Batista has stared is several highly successful Marvel films. I’ve met various non-wrestling fans who know who Batista is off that alone, while not as many with Cena and Brock. Yup. Being Drax was absolutely huge for him......folks looked him up based off that. I actually used to work with a fella who didnt connect the dots. helped that Drax was one of the most consistently entertaining parts of GOTG too.
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Post by TKO Propagandist on Oct 31, 2022 6:15:57 GMT -5
1 of the greatest of all time. Should have wrestled more during 2014-2019 but atrocious creative left fans booing him.
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Post by hbkjason on Oct 31, 2022 11:24:45 GMT -5
I would put him miles above Brock Lesnar in every regard!
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ℍ𝕒𝕣𝕕 𝕋𝕠 𝕂𝕚𝕝𝕝
Main Eventer
ask me about how Verizon owes me over $4,000
Joined on: Nov 4, 2016 15:44:22 GMT -5
Posts: 2,514
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Post by ℍ𝕒𝕣𝕕 𝕋𝕠 𝕂𝕚𝕝𝕝 on Oct 31, 2022 14:00:54 GMT -5
I sort of feel like overall that he will be underappreciated for the guy he was. Someone who got into wrestling a later than most. A guy who took great mentorship from people like Ric Flair and Triple H. From 2002-2005 you can clearly see him get better and better each year. I also viewed him to be someone who really responded to what the fans thought. He was getting booed like crazy when he came back in 2006 because he was having bad matches. Then he made some changes and was one of the best performers of the year in 2007 and 2008.
His 2014 run was one to forget but I can't take away how great of a foil he was for that Daniel Bryan storyline leading to WM30, as well as those two great Evolution Vs Shield matches. And I actually did find his WM35 program with Triple H to be pretty enjoyable. It seemed like a great way for Batista to end things on his own terms.
If you grew up watching wrestling in the RA, no doubt that Batista was one of your favorites. I always loved Batista and he will always be one of my favorites of all time.
Some of my favorite matches of his are Vs Triple H At Vengeance 2005, Vs Undertaker at WrestleMania 23, Vs John Cena at SummerSlam 2008 and WrestleMania 26. I also loved his short term feuds against HBK in 2008 and Eddie in 2005.
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