Final Chapter: My Memories of the Animal Dave Batista

With the passing of the 27th edition of WrestleMania, it’s great to observe the WWE and their attempts to give the fans a great show. While their attempt may’ve misguided and money motivated, it’s great to witness the presence of The Rock, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Undertaker, and Triple H many years after their respective debuts in pro wrestling.

Each man playing an extravagant role in the success of the Attitude Era, all played a role in some of the in ring action of the event.

Now that the years have passed by and each has stood the test of time, one man has arisen as the leader of the new era. Since mid-2005, John Cena has reigned as the face of the WWE. Winning multiple titles along the way, John Cena has become one of the biggest draws in professional wrestling history.

Only surpassed by Hulk Hogan and Stone Cold Steve Austin, John Cena has become one of the greatest WWE Superstars in a short time.

As big as John Cena is, that faithful night he won the WWE Championship at WrestleMania; there was another man who was just as big as Cena himself.

The Animal, Dave Batista.

Unlike Cena, in 2004, Batista was almost an afterthought. Evolution had run RAW for almost two years and Batista was used as the proverbial jobber along the way. While winning tag team titles on two separate occasions, Batista never won a mid-card title during his time in Evolution.

As my hate for Triple H and the group itself began to grow, the cracks on the surface was destroying the group like a bite from a black mamba. Dubbed the future of the group by Hunter himself, Randy Orton quickly entered the main event scene after losing the intercontinental title. Orton won a battle royal on RAW and won the World Championship from a scorching hot, Chris Benoit.

Orton’s win is one of the most significant in WWE history. For starters, Orton became the youngest World Heavyweight Champion in WWE history. Secondly, it marked a rare occasions when a heel defeated a top face for a World title cleanly.

Orton’s tenure with Evolution would end the next night after a savage beating at the hands of his fellow members.

While Batista was involved in the beating, the Animal seemed to grow weary of Triple H and Ric Flairs antics. One particular moment came when Triple H fooled GM of the night, Chris Benoit, into believing that Batista had legitimately destroyed Triple H in a backstage fight. The fans roared when they thought Batista took out Triple H.

When it the fans were informed that Evolution has set up the plan so Hunter wouldn’t have to defend the World title the negative reaction flowed in but the WWE didn’t overlook the cheers for Batista. I thought of the segments as genius and misleading but when Triple H informed Batista that he should’ve pinned Jericho, Batista’s demeanor changed.

Things seemed to echo this scenario for coming months. Batista and Triple H took part in numerous occurrences where Batista would object to Triple H’s direction or the two would argue over something specific. While things simmered between the two, no physical confrontation would occur.

Batista entered the 2005 Royal Rumble and won the match after eliminating John Cena.

This is where the big question flew throughout the WWE. Would Batista go after Triple H or take the WWE title from John Bradshaw Layfield? I certainly didn’t have trouble predicting the decision but Triple H’s antics were a hardly unnoticeable tactic.

Triple H would expose himself in a conversation with Ric Flair but had no knowledge that Batista was standing outside of his door. When the contract signing took place later that night, Batista tricked Flair and Hunter into thinking he would leave for Smackdown.

Big mistake

Batista gave Triple H his signature thumbs down and destroyed the Champion with a Batista Bomb threw a table.

Like the Batista himself said, “It’s all about the Game and how you play it, well the Game got played”. After weeks of the Game gaining seemingly no momentum for their match, Batista destroyed Triple H and ended the Triple H Era on RAW.

I was ecstatic. The Game had run RAW for almost three years and it looked as if there was another top dog. Like most of Triple H’s challengers, they held the title for almost three months only to drop it back to him. Unlike those occasions, Batista defeated Triple H three times in a row.

In the process, breaking Triple H’s undefeated streak in the Hell in a Cell match. Triple H went on hiatus while Batista was immediately drafted to Smackdown. With John Cena’s placement on RAW, it only seemed right if Batista was moved to Smackdown.

Batista’s Smackdown tenure proved to be successful as his time on RAW. The Animal defeated JBL, Eddie Guerrero, and leading Team Smackdown to victory over Team RAW. At the time, I was in front of the TV screen for Smackdown every Friday Night.

Probably the biggest Batista fan I know, I and numerous others participated in a number of debates.

What was the subject? Who would win the Batista/John Cena match?

Batista would go down with a triceps injury shortly afterwards and the scheduled match at WrestleMania 22 with Randy Orton was out of the window. The World Champion was forced to relinquish the World title much to my dismay. The storyline mentioned that Mark Henry took out the Champion.

As I watched Batista leave the ring in tears and hug Superstars as he left, I expected the Animal to return as dominant as ever.

And he did just that.

Months after numerous backstage interviews, the vignettes began airing. The return was imminent and the Animal returned to Smackdown, destroying Mark Henry in the process.  One of my biggest mark out moments besides CM Punk cashing in the MITB.

After Henry himself went down with an injury, Batista defeated the likes of King Booker, Mr. Kennedy, and Finley before refocusing on the World Championship.

At Survivor Series 2006, Batista regained the World title from King Booker.

Batista would retain in matches with Booker, Finley, and Mr. Kennedy before Undertaker chose Batista after winning the 2007 Royal Rumble. Firmly believing Batista could bury the streak, I had my money on Batista dropping the Deadman with a Batista Bomb and retaining.

In the last great WrestleMania, Undertaker extended his Streak to 15-0 while Batista wrestled his best match and garnered his first significant loss. The two had numerous matches afterwards but an injury put Undertaker out and brought Edge in.

Edge feuding with Batista was the first time I didn’t care for the result. I had reinvested my interest in Edge after he created Rated RKO but no one’s light shined brighter than Batista’s. Edge used his undermining tactics to rid himself of Batista but went down with an injury shortly afterwards.

Batista received a number of title matches over 2007; Batista regained the World Championship in a match with Great Khali and Rey Mysterio.

Another mark out moment for yours truly but I felt the WWE dropped the ball when Batista dropped the title early to Edge. After finally defeating Undertaker cleanly, Batista’s third reign as Champion ended when Edge regained the title.

This is where I’ll end the story because I consider it Batista’s fall out of grace. While I was a Batista fan, I had zero knowledge of the backstage problems and the IWC itself.

Batista has certainly got into altercations with a number of people. From Booker T to Shelly Martinez to Mickie James, it seemed as if Batista wasn’t the all-around nice guy most saw him as.

Batista seemed to have never recovered from his loss to Undertaker at WrestleMania and wasn’t able to hold on to a World title over two months since then.

Testimony to this would be Batista’s one day was WWE Champion and one week as World Champion. As most will judge Batista for his antics late in his career, I would rather remember the Animal from 04-07.

I choose to remember the guy who ended the era of Triple H and thrilled me every time Saliva’s I Walk Alone, rang throughout the arena. Now that the Animal has left the WWE, I cherish the moments he did give us and thank him for the WrestleMania atmosphere he helped create for WrestleMania 23.