Batista's Loss at WrestleMania 30 Cements Disappointing Return

There are many Superstars who celebrated after Sunday night's WrestleMania 30.

Daniel Bryan enjoyed the greatest night of his career as he stood before 70,000-plus fans in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, the new WWE World Heavyweight champion and the most popular star in the entire sport.

Brock Lesnar did what no other Superstar had ever done: He knocked off The Undertaker at WrestleMania, bringing an end to his legendary undefeated streak at the Showcase of the Immortals.

John Cena faced his fears and defeated Bray Wyatt despite every attempt by the cult-like Family leader to play mind games with the leader of the Cenation.

One man who will not be celebrating Sunday's show is the man who was forced to tap out in the main event, securing the WWE title for Bryan and ensuring that the Yes Movement would live on. That man is the Animal, Batista.

Batista's loss at WrestleMania 30 capped off a return to WWE that has been anything but what he expected. He made his triumphant return in, of all places, Dayton, Ohio. Rather than being welcomed back with wide open arms by fans, he was greeted with a polite babyface pop but nowhere near what a returning hero should be.

The Animal's win in the 2014 Royal Rumble was forever tainted by a loud chorus of boos from a very passionate Pittsburgh fanbase that knew what it wanted and knew that the former World champion Batista was not it. The negative response he received that night, as well as in arenas all over the country throughout the remainder of January and into February necessitated a character change.

Batista dropped the babyface character like a bad habit, embracing the heel persona that was so entertaining when he left WWE in 2010. Now, four years later, he rediscovered the fire and turned the fans' jeers on them. He mocked them and adopted a new mantra: Deal with it.

Unfortunately for him, it is Batista who will now have to deal with the fact that the new wave of WWE talent is posing a threat to Batista and his kind every day. That new wave will not sit back and continue to watch part-time performers walk in the front door and take valuable television time from them without a fight.

Batista's return to WWE has been a disappointing one for the Animal. It is most certainly not what he thought it would be when he signed to come back. The audience has changed, his fellow Superstars and what they look like compared to years past has changed and most importantly, Batista has changed.

When he finally is able to mesh his ring and microphone skills together as he did when he was referred to as one of the best big men in WWE history, Batista will be an incredibly valuable asset for WWE, even at his age.

He will be WWE champion by the time summer rolls around. The star of the upcoming film, Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy, WWE will not pass up the opportunity to have Batista walk red carpets with the title in his possession. Whether he has the title because he earned it or simply because it would make for a nice photo-op will determine just how fans look back at Batista's return to the company.

For now, there is no other way to categorize his return than "disappointing."