Alternate Reality: Was Batista's Return Really A Blessing Or A Curse?

[That N Word]

Alternative Reality: If Batista hadn't returned in 2014 and Punk still walked out:

A major chain reaction would have happened. Brock Lesnar would have won the Rumble and turned face to defeat Orton for the belt at Mania. Bryan would have still defeated Triple H but would not have been inserted in the main event because no one would have booed a Brock Rumble win thus not getting his moment. John Cena will have faced The Undertaker defeating him turning heel in the process. Meaning The Wyatt Family vs. The Shield would have been pushed to Mania. Also meaning The Uso's big moment and win over The New Age Outlaws would have as well.

Now because we never have the Triple Threat Main Event Bryan doesn't get injured because the RKO/Batista Bomb spot never happens. Which would mean Brock vs. Bryan at Rumble and Brock retains the belt. Cesaro who was originally planned to win the MITB Briefcase Match,but didn't happen because the title one was announced first with him as an entrant because WWE was unsure rather to do the briefcase match or not. Cesaro would cash in his briefcase on Brock immediately after and holds the belt until RR, where Brock takes it back. which means Cena is only a 14x World Champion. Reigns wins the Rumble and fans boo because they felt either Bryan or Cesaro deserved it.

At Fastlane, we get Reigns vs. Bryan vs. Cesaro. in a #1 Contenders Match with Reigns winning. This leads to Brock vs. Reigns. Now because Seth never had the briefcase his huge moment never happens instead Reigns turns heel and aligns with Heyman to win the belt. Now after Mania,Brock's rampage still happens. Roman would back out of the rematch like Seth did. Brock gets suspended and while he's gone we get a Reigns/Cesaro feud with Reigns,The Authority,and Heyman screwing him at every turn. The next feud is Ambrose, then Brock. Brock gets screwed by Taker. Reigns next challenger is a newly turned baby face Wyatt. Reigns wins that feud. At NOC, Reigns defeats Sting. At Survivor Series, he defeats Brock clean. After his win, Brock raises his hand up and the rivalry ends there with a baby face turn for Reigns. Triple H would come to the ring and congratulate him before getting a Spear.

Now Mr.MITB Seth Rollins cashes in and wins. Now in this scenario Rollins doesn't feud with Kane because he was never cocky champion. He was just the mid carder of The Authority. Meaning the live event match never happens and neither does his injury. Rollins would win at TLC thanks to a screwy finish from Triple H. At Rumble he beats H to earn entrance in the Rumble Match. Cena screws him out of it and a returning Daniel Bryan wins the whole thing leading to Bryan vs. Rollins for the title and Cena vs. Reigns in the passing of the torch for WrestleMania 32.
So based of of this was Big Dave's return a blessing or a cursed?

 

[Softcore Holly]

I don't think you needed to go that far forward to see that his return was overall a blessing. Oh sure it didn't start out that way, not by a long shot. WWE wrote themselves into a very lousy situation and Big Dave got most of the blame(granted him coming back in such lousy in-ring shape really didn't help matters) but they made the best of it and everything ended up working very well by the end of his last run.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I think it was more of a blessing for a different reason than WrestleMania ultimately turning out the way it did, though that was part of it.

I think the return of Batista and how fans responded to it was something of a wake up call for Vince McMahon. This is just speculation on my part, so I don't mean to suggest it's rock solid gospel or anything. I think that even though Vince might deny it, even though he may never admit it to another soul, I think he was forced to realize, even if it was only slightly, that he's no longer as in touch with the mind set of fans as he once was. While it MIGHT have galled him to no end, the fact of the matter was that fan attitude had changed to such a degree that it actually forced him to alter his WrestleMania plans.

The response Batista received from fans had to be something of a slap in the face to Vince, something he wasn't at all prepared for. I think this truly signaled something to Vince in that many fans are no longer simply going to rally around a wrestler simply because he might want them to. Now, unfortunately, Vince is still as pig headed as ever and is reluctant to change course on anything he's got his mind set on, but Batista's return was a start; his return, plus the overwhelming popularity of Daniel Bryan, the growth of NXT, the overall success certain stars from NXT have had on the main roster, etc. have changed the way WWE looks at things, especially when it comes to scouting talent.

 

[Mustang Sally]

I think that even though Vince might deny it, even though he may never admit it to another soul, I think he was forced to realize, even if it was only slightly, that he's no longer as in touch with the mind set of fans as he once was.

I love the thought, especially as it might pertain to the future of WWE, yet it seems too big an awakening for a man like Vince McMahon. When you've got one person in absolute charge of an organization for so many years......who's so used to commanding people and forcing his ideas on everyone, can you imagine how hard it would be to come to a realization such as that? Yes, more power to him if he can do it, but I don't know that he's capable.

At the same time, if Mr. & Mrs. Levesque could take advantage of the Batista mess to hammer away at Vince, perhaps some of the seemingly immutable WWE structure can be changed. Maybe some of it has happened already; when exactly did Paul Levesque gain such control over NXT? Before or after Batista? What other areas might he have turned over to his family/subordinates? Anything? Nothing?

If Vince McMahon has come to some hard realizations.....great. If he's learned nothing from the Batista debacle.....well, it's business as usual, I suppose.

One thing seems certain; at least Batista has learned from it, which is why he's not anxious to return.

 

[Deoxyribonucleic A.C.I.D.]

Here's the thing: If Batista had not returned, CM Punk would not have walked out on the WWE. Why?

Here it goes:
WWE didn't want Bryan with the title. That was perfectly clear. Which means that if Batista had not returned, somebody else would win the Rumble. Who? CM Punk. Punk was the #1 face at that time. He would cerainly have won that Rumble. Which means: If Punk was scheduled to win the Royal Rumble and finally main event Wrestlemania, he wouldn't have walked out. He would've stayed and he would leave when his contrat expired in July.

Lesnar wasn't going to win that Rumble. That was well documented ever since Summerslam, when they fed CM Punk to Brock Lesnar. Lesnar defeated Punk at that Summerslam, becuase they had already planned Undertaker vs Lesnar for Wrestlemania.

The card would look like this:
CM Punk vs WWE Champion Randy Orton vs World Heavyweight Champion John Cena
Undertaker vs Brock Lesnar
Daniel Bryan vs Triple H

That's what I believe. I believe that no Batista means yes CM Punk, since Punk would have won that Royal Rumble. Definately.

I forgot to address the main point of this thread

Batista was definately a blessing in disguise. First of all, if Punk had won, Bryan would never get his Wrestlemania moment. Fans wouldn't have booed Punk back then, had he won. Punk would have his moment at Wrestlemania adn then I believe he would have had his last match with the company in July's MITB against Daniel Bryan. I don't think Punk would want to resign at that point. So it's heel Punk vs face Bryan after Wrestlemania. The feud ends at Punk's last night in the WWE, at MITB 2014. Bryan then goes on to drop the belt to Lesnar at Summerslam as planned.

Which means: No Daniel Bryan injury and return. And no Daniel Bryan injury and return possible means, yes Roman Reigns at Wrestlemania 31, beating Brock Lesnar. And I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing.

Damn that Rumble back then really was a catalyst for some many things and still is, up to this day, 2 years later.

 

[midgensa]

This is a fun thread ... of course your "Butterfly Effect" post is a ton of fun to read, but, as a previous poster pointed out ... there seems to be no way that Punk walks out if Batista is not gifted that spot.

I think that Undertaker vs. Brock was in the cards for a long time, so, I don't think Brock wins the Rumble, but I am not sure where they go with it. Punk definitely could have won and had a huge face run into WM.

In the overall scheme of things, I think Batista's returns is a curse because it cost us CM Punk. Love him or hate him, he is entertaining and the E could certainly use him right now. Had he been the Rumble winner and heading into Mania ... he probably even re-ups in July and we never see this UFC business.

Also, the feuds that could have come with a heelish Punk vs. Bryan would have been great. And all the work between Bryan, Punk, Rollins, Reigns, Ambrose, Wyatt and Lesnar could really have kept things super interesting.

Instead, Batista's return led indirectly to Reigns downfall, directly to Punk's departure, and somewhat directly to Bryan's major injury. Those are all negatives.

 

[Spencesc11]

Batista doesn't come back I would be willing to bet Punk would've won that Rumble because the WWE was not ready to put Bryan over. Punk beats Orton at Mania.

Summerslam that year
CM Punk vs. Daniel Bryan (Face vs. Face) - that would've been epic!!!

Shield vs. Wyatt Family feud should've carried longer to. That was one of the best feuds the WWE has had over the last 5 years or so and was way to short.

 

[Sexcellence of Sexecution]

Batista returning was clearly a blessing.

When he returned and won the Rumble the fans booed the shit out of him and chanted for Daniel Bryan. This ultimately forced a Batista heel turn, and created a heel that the fans legitimately disliked and wanted to see get beat at WrestleMania. On the other hand, the perception that Daniel Bryan got fucked at the Rumble made him the biggest babyface on the roster, to the point that he was getting Austin 99 volume pops.

For once they actually had a babyface the crowd cared about and cheered for and a heel the crowd actually hated, and you got a great WrestleMania because of it. The emotion from the fans was genuine on both sides, and that's when wrestling is at it's absolute best.

 

[Stone Cold Tea]

Ah yes interesting theory. What if though The Rock never gets injured at WM29 meaning the next night on Raw Lesnar comes out and F5’s him. This sets up the Main Event for ‘Mania 30 meaning there’s no way Bryan gets his moment.
On a bigger scale this means The Streak doesn’t get broken by Lesnar. So does that mean John Cena vs ‘Taker? Did John Cena injure The Rock to break The Streak. He’s a shady guy.

 

[Kodo Sawaki]

First of all, if you think hat Cesaro would go anywhere near title you are delusional. I like him as much as the next guy but never gona happen. Second of all, Brock would always gona be facing Undertaker at Mania 30, no way he would go anywhere near title. Not even Reigns would be winning Rumble because even WWE thought it was too soon eventhough he got that 12 eliminations in the process.Punk would always gona get HHH because he had a feud with The Authority(Kane eliminated him in that match) so would most likely be him to win Rumble and would never left. Batista returning mostly hurted him because he was pushed aside eventhough fans didnt react very well to Batista and loved Punk. Oh, and almost anyone(aside of maybe Punk and people like Reigns because they are not Batista) was booed on that match. Heck, even Mysterio was booed because he was not Danyel Bryan.

So based of of this was Big Dave's return a blessing or a cursed?

I liked it mostly because Evolution vs The Shield after Wrestlemania. So would say blessing in disguise.

 

[That N Word]

:

First of all, if you think hat Cesaro would go anywhere near title you are delusional. I like him as much as the next guy but never gona happen. Second of all, Brock would always gona be facing Undertaker at Mania 30, no way he would go anywhere near title. Not even Reigns would be winning Rumble because even WWE thought it was too soon eventhough he got that 12 eliminations in the process.Punk would always gona get HHH because he had a feud with The Authority(Kane eliminated him in that match) so would most likely be him to win Rumble and would never left. Batista returning mostly hurted him because he was pushed aside eventhough fans didnt react very well to Batista and loved Punk. Oh, and almost anyone(aside of maybe Punk and people like Reigns because they are not Batista) was booed on that match. Heck, even Mysterio was booed because he was not Danyel Bryan.


I liked it mostly because Evolution vs The Shield after Wrestlemania. So would say blessing in disguise.

Actually that was the plan before Bryan got injured and that was still during his mega push. He was originally planned to win the briefcase and cash it in on Lesnar at SummerSlam who was suppose to defeat Bryan for the title at the event.

But as we all know Bryan got injured and WWE announced the Title MITB Ladder Match because at that time it was suppose to be the only one. They were debating on the second one before ultimately deciding to go with it. But it was too late for Cesaro to get the briefcase because he was already announced for the title match. And WWE decided to go with Brock vs. Cena instead.