Batista - Heel Or Face?

[Yodude "The Rock" Barber]

I saw this as a thread with CM Punk, and I thought, why not start one with Batista, who had numerous feuds as a heel and a face.

Heel - Spent most of his early career as a heel, joining Evolution. Some heel notes included -
Being the one to get the $100,000 for taking out Goldberg.
Teaming with Ric Flair, and winning the tag tittles. (more than once)
Turning on Rey Mysterio.
Assisting Vince Mcmahon with the beating of the returning Brett hart.
A recent feud with John Cena over the WWE Tittle, Winning it once.
Headlining Wrestlemania With Cena over the WWE Tittle.

Face - Spent another good part of his career as a face, mainly on SD!
Some face notes included -
Defeating Triple H at Wrestlemania 21 for the WHC, and beating him again at Backlash.
Feuds with JBL and Eddie Guerrero, and Undertaker .
Leading his Survivor Series Team to victory.
Won the tag team tittles with Rey Mysterio
Losing to the Undertaker at Wrestlemania 23 for the WHC.

So what do you feel he was better as? A heel or face?
I believe he has had better stuff as a heel, but his career basically centered around him being a face. So i believe since he also had good stuff as the monster face, and was that for most of his career, Im going to go with Face.
What do you guys think?

 

[Ferbian]

While Batista had a period of being somewhat entertaining during the start of his face run, mostly due to how he kept retaining, and was incredibly over on the background of having kicked Triple H's ass 3 times in a row.

But, I remain convinced that Batista is a better talent as a heel, he's absolutely golden on the microphone as of late, he's had some great feuds as a heel, and I grew to love him during the time where he was with Evolution.

Batista's character suits to be a heel, he's brutal in matches, a legitimate beast, and his finisher is just so powerful that it's hard to believe at first sight in a match that this guy could possibly be the good guy.

I'll go with Batista being better as a heel.

 

[People's Champ]

Agreed with Ferbian. Batista is so much better as a heel. He is so much better on the mic when he's a heel over being a face. That's probably because he really does only care about making money, and probably really was upset about Cena's push. Anyways I love heel Batista. He has the look of a monster too. He really is a beast and that finisher can be devastating. As a face, it would be hard to say I didn't want to change channels. I didn't find him entertaining at all. So heel Batista is much better than face Batista.

 

[wushady]

I've never cared much for Batista, but he does make a great heel. Maybe because he's such a dick in real life. Don't get me wrong he had a great run as a face. He was over huge and had a long title reign in 2005 to early 2006. I just think being a heel fits him better.

 

[gremmlinsmith]

Batista's heel work is at least 125% better than his face work. Look at him. What about him says face? The heel character he has now is perfect for him, and he should NEVER turn face again. I really do believe Dave Batista the man is a dick, and he's just being himself.

 

[FunKay the Inevitable]

Batista is better as a heel. In small doses, Batista is good as a face. Don't get me wrong, after he turned of Triple H, he was red-hot. Everyone was behind him. That whole run made him look great and he was very enjoyable. After that, going after King Booker, fued with Undertaker etc...He was pretty stale. He got boring.

As a heel, he's cut some of the best promos this year. He's been hated by everyone. He's very enjoyable as a heel. He plays his role very well, and it may have something to do with the fact that he's just more believeable as that guy. When he said that he didn't like taking photos with fans and signing autographs, I could well imagine him really being like that.

Overall, Batista is a better heel than he is face.

 

[Ruthless-RKO]

I have to say face, he has been a face most his career and I think he was a good face, really over...as a heel though, he kind of acts like a baby, defeat after defeat going back...I kinda like him better as a heel, when the spotlight hits him, he is good at giving heel promos aswell..

Im gonna have to say face though...

 

[Amarillo del Bosque Verde]

I like Batista more as a heel. Maybe he didn't exactly get as much accomplished as he did as a face but he was more entertaining. As a face he was kind of generic. A plain John Cena type pretty much. As a heel he defined himself.

In evolution he was the muscle of the group. On his current heel turn, he was a winer. He complained about why he wasn't the face of the wwe and got pissed when the spotlight wasn't on him.

So I gotta say heel.

 

[Buffalo Dave]

Batista as a heel is way better than face. As everyone else that thinks he is a better heel and has agreed he is way better on the mic as a heel same goes for myself. Dont get me wrong when he first turned face it worked for a while but every time he would get on the mic it felt like he was trying to be something he's not, and seemed a little forced, the heel role I think just comes more natural to him.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Batista has shown himself to be much better as a heel in my opinion. Everything about Batista's demeanor and presence changed for the better when he turned heel. And most surprising is that Batista cut some pretty damn good promos during his time spent as a heel.

As a face, Batista was little more than a bland meat sack with a killer build and practically no skill on the mic. While Batista isn't as dominant as a heel, he's infinitely more interesting to watch and listen to.

 

[Sully]

Well looking at the title, I was planning on saying face, but after reading all of his accomplishments..I'd have to say heel. I mean, Batista looks like he made much more of an impact as a heel, but Batista seems to get a better draw as a face, plus, Batista's promos are better as face too, as with a heel promo, he just seems boring and inexperienced.

For me, it doesn't really matter whether he's a heel, or he's a face, it seems to be pretty balanced either way.

 

[Dan E. Inferno]

I think it's safe to say that Batista performs better as a heel. His character, attitude and promos all work much better as a heel. I think that's partly because it's the real life Dave Bautista coming through. I hear that he's a bit arrogant and a bit of a loner backstage. There's no doubt that when he turned heel last year, it was the first time in a while that people actually started to care about him. That can obviously be directly linked to the fact that he became more interesting as a heel.

On the other hand, more of his success seems to have come as a face. He won three world titles as a face. During this time he also had some good feuds and good matches with HHH, Undertaker and Eddie Guerrero. So, I'd have to say that, despite the hate he gets, Batista has had solid runs as both a face and a heel. However, for me personally, he is better as a heel on account of him being more interesting to watch.

 

[Morpheus101]

I didn't like Batista as a face as he bored the shit out of me, but he's GREAT as a heel. As a heel, his character has become interesting again and I like it, even if it mirrors the fact that Batista might/might not be an asshole like that in real life. At this stage, I hope he doesn't retire anytime soon. Batista is now the kind of heel that is great to have around as he can put people over and can generate legitimate heat.

Long live Batista as a heel!!!!

 

[legacymember]

Batista is way better as heel than face. I was marked out when he had the turn last year, and whent he started his feud with John Cena. Batista as heel si awesome. He has excelent promos as heel, and I enjoy the selfish metrosexual character. I hope he will not leave yet.

 

[y2Anurag]

Actually i enjoyed his work as a face in 2005 during his fued with triple h.But after his firest regin he became a stale face.I think his this year's heel turn was awesome and was as good as it could be.So he is better as a heel.

 

[Monkey_Mania]

In 2005, Batista was red hot. Nobody could stop him (outside of torn muscles). I really liked him then. I think it was just me jumping on a bandwagon though, because my love for Batista went away shortly thereafter. Then he turned heel. He's just been so much more interesting now. They say the best characters are that of the performers true life identity. It seems to be shining through, and Batista is shining in his role as a heel. Batista is definitely better as a heel.

 

[Theo Mays]

I could never stand Batista as a face, he just bored me to death. I don't really remember my thoughts on Batista during his earlier heel runs, but I know I didn't find him boring and his current run right now seals the deal for me. He just fits the heel role so much better and his current run may be his most impressive. It seems like he has picked up his game (maybe it is because he wants a new contract or maybe he is just thrilled with the being a heel again). His mic work has improved and his in ring matches are much better as a heel in my mind. Face Batista just seems like a bore and you want him to leave, but when he is a heel you want more Batista.

 

[Da Prophet]

One reason I liked Batista as a face was because he would knock down everybody that got in his way.Also Batista was involved in every PPV world championship match in 2007 as a face.So thats another reason I liked him.But overall he is a better heel.He is better on the mic with his promo's and his attuide inside and backstage looks better.I do beleive that he is a better wrestler heel to, he can go mad and destroy a person cause he is a heel.So Batista is better as a heel.

 

[rko102]

I like Batista better as a heel. He's self-centered, has a huge ego and lays the beatdown on anyone who gets in his way (Mark Henry for example). And it's much more believable to have a guy that big and nasty looking totally destroy people rather than come out and try to appeal to the fans. The only thing I miss about him being a face is his pyros. Those were insane and so goddamn loud!

 

[BWEEZY2009]

It's hard to say to be honest. A lot of us are going to say heel because Batista is coming off a face run where he was so stale and he's recently turned heel.

For example.. If this is was back in the day when he just turned on the boring HHH.. I'm sure a couple people would say he's a better face (he was MAD over at the time)

That being said... I still have to go with heel.

I've always been a huge heel fan and his latest "spotlight" gimmick has been brilliant.

Wearing polo's/designer jeans (you noticed they've kind of cut down his out of ring attire because Otunga also is doing a similar gimmick.

 

[Notorious718]

When I first started watching WWE, Batista was already out with his injury and had already relinquished his first world title. So I never really got around to seeing much of his work until he made his return. I liked him at first. He was intense and the way he destroyed Mark Henry upon making his return impressed me. He (among other reasons) was what kept me tuned to Smackdown on a weekly basis. While he was still on Smackdown, him as a face never really bothered me.

I DID start to get bored of him after he got drafted to RAW in 2008. I never really got into any of his feuds and I began to realize how bad his mic work really was. I hated his horrendous commentary when he was at the booth calling matches and... I just couldn't stand it anymore. His heel turn was refreshing for me. His mic work improved by A LOT. His in-ring personality no longer seemed forced but rather naturally due to current gimmick seemingly coming off as a reflection of his real personality.

The spotlight gimmick is nothing short of excellent and his mic work has been nothing short of golden. I'm going to say that Batista is better as a heel.