Do You Want Batista To Return?

[Jack-Hammer]

It's no secret that Batista didn't receive the warmest of welcomes from WWE fans upon his return to the company early this year. Fans made no bones about not wanting to see Batista vs. Randy Orton at WrestleMania XXX for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship or Batista winning the title whatsoever. Plans were changed because they ultimately had to be, Vince looked like he was completely out of touch with what & who fans were interested in and Batista's glorious return ultimately comprised jobbing to Daniel Bryan and The Shield.

Batista left WWE after the Payback ppv in order to begin work on promoting Guardians of the Galaxy. Soon after, various reports began circulating about Batista's unhappiness with his return, that he wasn't booked the way was initially supposed to be, that it was supposed to be different, etc. Some reports say he didn't wanna job to Daniel Bryan 2 ppvs in a row, which is why Kane went against Bryan at Extreme Rules, while other reports say he had no issue jobbing to Bryan. So who knows what the real story is?

PWInsider.com released a report earlier today suggesting that Batista MIGHT be willing to return to work a WrestleMania XXXI program in a retirement match against Triple H. The report says that there's been no word on whether or not it's a direction WWE will be moving in. It's still a long way off, so anything could develop between now and then.

Personally, I've ZERO interest in Triple H vs. Batista, yet again, and I don't think I'm alone in that opinion. I don't think the notion of these two being given so much time to build a match between them at WrestleMania XXXI will be any more appealing than Batista vs. Orton was this year to most fans. Fans didn't want one of the top matches of the biggest show of the year to be between two guys who feuded throughout the late 2000s, nor do I think they'll want one of the top matches for next year's biggest show to be a "retirement match" between two guys who began feuding all the way back in the mid 2000s.

I can understand Batista being disappointed by his last run in WWE. I mean, I can't blame the guy as it'd only be natural to be disappointed by how it turned out. At the same time, I also think that Batista needs to realize that it isn't 2005 anymore and that the opinion of a LOT of fans aren't the same. When it comes to promo work, in-ring ability and fan interest, there are a lot of younger guys on the roster that are just flat out better than Batista. If given a preference, fans are more into Bryan, Punk, Ambrose, Rollins, Reigns, Ziggler, Cesaro, Wyatt, Harper, Rowan, Swagger, Rusev and some others in the spotlight. Fans have moved onto younger and fresher faces more so than the nostalgia of a 45 year old wrestler turned actor who many feel was never all that good in the first place.

Besides, there's a strong possibility that Batista's acting career is taking off. Guardians of the Galaxy is, domestically, the highest grossing movie of 2014 with $262.1 million as of yesterday. Worldwide, it crossed over the $500 million mark earlier this week. To top it off, critics are in a full out love fest over the movie. As a result, Batista's no longer gonna be someone that'll be in indie films or straight to DVD low budget action movies. Which means, major studios are gonna be looking at him, which means he has the same problem as The Rock. Major studios are going to be hesitant to hire him for a big project if he insists on wrestling, even every so often, considering the risk of injury he'll be taking.

 

[CyberPunk]

I have no problem Batista returning and putting someone over though I don't see him doing that. If he's going to fight Triple H at Mania, I'll pass because we've seen that. These two have nothing left to prove to anyone. Plus, both are on the wrong side of 40s and I would rather have him putting some one else over. Take into the account that Batista might ask for more money than before, and it's just not worth it. Granted, Batista's movie career is taking off, but he's still nowhere close to Rock that he warrants more money.

I'd rather see him come back to face Lesnar at around Survivor Series and be destroyed by him to further Lesnar's unstoppable monster push. The match might be monkey butt ugly, but still serves its purpose in grand scheme of things. I doubt he'll sign up for that though.

 

[Navi]

I think the fans would have welcomed him back with open arms, but they way they brought him back was horrible. It's not like 2008 again when Cena was the surprise entrant at number 30 at the Rumble. This year fans wanted to see Daniel Bryan in that match. Not a wrestler that hadn't been with the company for 4 years, and let's face it his previous departure wasn't that fantastic

Now I fully understand that the behind the scenes push was already on for Reigns, even though the Shield were still together. The way that Reigns dominated the Rumble shows that. The fans still wanted Daniel Bryan in the main event at Mania, when Batista won over Reigns that pretty much sealed his fate with the WWE universe.

I really don't think anything he could have done after that would have helped him. Not to mention the fact that he could barely breathe and looked gassed a minute or two into each match he had. The only way to make his return relevant and to involve the hottest group at the time, Shield, was to bring back Evolution. And honestly I'm glad they did. The two matches at the PPV's were fantastic, and both could be MOTY candidates.

If he does end up returning, then I would like to see him help put Reigns over. Yes he did it with Evolution, but Reigns is the next big thing and he is the one who could use the help the most. Rollins and Ambrose are fine on their own, especially Ambrose. How would he do it, would depend on how they are going to book Reigns from here on out. He could either feud with him, which I wouldn't find very interesting, or help him beat the hell out of the Authority. In effect do was Ambrose is doing to Rollins right now with the MITB suitcase. We only have another 7 months till Mania and used correctly Batista could be a big help, or a big fat zero. Creative would have to live up to their name, which they haven't done for quite some time now.

 

[Bagpipes]

Zero interest in Batista to be honest. The tough guy/badass gimmick has overstayed its welcome for me and his promos during his most recent run were just so awful that I really don't know what he has left to offer, except maybe helping to put a younger guy over

 

[Softcore Holly]

I think Big Dave can be a asset, he's a big name whose stock has risen thanks to Guardians and while his return was full of bad ideas he has put over DB and the Shield before leaving. Also if the plan is for Brock to really hold the title till WM31 they'll need big names to stall for Reigns and atm WWE doesn't have many big names on the level of Batista.

That being said I would only be interested if he can get back into great in-ring shape, which I can only imagine to be a huge challenge for him after being gone for so long. The Batista that runs out of gas after 5 minutes and/or needs to be carried by either partners or his opponent(s) I wouldn't care about, in that case there's a entire roster of full-time guys that can work full matches without missing a beat I've much rather see.

Simply put, if he can put on good matches then great, if not then he can stay gone.

 

[Alastor]

I think everyone would be disappointed if they were in Batista's shoes for his return at the Rumble. The backlash was incredible through no fault of his own. Personally, I would be interested in a feud between Batista and the Miz if the Miz maintain his current douchebag actor gimmick when Batista return. Everybody loves to hate on the Miz, it would be easy for Batista to get a face reaction.

 

[NegativeFeedback]

He should come into the Rumble as a face and start eliminating a bunch of bad guys. Then he should eliminate Daniel Bryan, and get instantly booed. He then starts screaming at the crowd "Why are you booing me???!!!" and then someone else throws him over the top.

The next night, he calls out Daniel Bryan. He says he's the biggest hero WWE has ever had, but Daniel Bryan has consistently ruined it for both him and for the WWE Universe. Bryan tells them they can settle it in a match, but Batista tells him that would be a mistake. He doesn't want to hurt Daniel Bryan, he wants to be his friend. He then tells the crowd that he is FRIENDS with Daniel Bryan and doesn't deserve to be booed. He even starts doing the YES chants. Bryan and Triple H will have their own beef for EC, with Triple H wanting to get rid of the Yes Movement once and for all, and when Triple H has his stooges attacking Bryan, Batista comes in for the save. He then starts Yessing to the crowd. Hopefully, he gets booed anyway for being such a begger for attention.

At EC, you have Batista vs. Randy Orton, and Bryan vs. Triple H. Batista Yesses his way to the ring to some loud boos. He isn't well-received in his match, so he gets sick of it, tells off the crowd, and bails. Countout loss. Bryan vs. Triple H will have their own match later in the night, and when the ref is down, Batista will come out, spear him, and help Triple H win.

The next night, Batista says he's sick of pandering to this crowd of losers. He won't let Bryan or the YES Movement outshine him. He's going to destroy Bryan once and for all after he takes him out at WrestleMania. And after the match, Batista is going to go away, and the crowd will be BEGGING him to come back, because with Bryan gone, they will be left with NOTHING!!

So it's settled for WrestleMania: Daniel Bryan vs. Batista, 1-on-1.

 

[L@RISANO]

As long as he is put into the right programme, then I have absolutely no problem with Batista returning.

As many have mentioned; A match with Brock at say, the Royal Rumble PPV, to further Brock as the Unstoppable Force of nature, would be perfect for Batista, and could also provide some sort of continuity, considering he 'quit' because he wanted his own one-on-one WWE World Title match for the title.

With the tough guy image he has, Batista would be an interesting opponent for Brock, and I'd honestly say that given his performance as Drax in GOTG, WWE could actually push such a match in terms of promotion big time, and if Brock ends up overpowering him, it could look even better for whoever manages to finally stop Brock's reign of dominance in the WWE at Wrestlemania 31.


Tbh, I'd also give Randy Orton his 1-on-1 WWE World Heavyweight Championship rematch as well.
Let him have a crack at the Brast Incarnate...thus Brock Lesnar could well go into Wrestlemania 31 boasting a victim list of: Mark Henry, the Big Show, the Undertaker, John Cena, Batista and Randy Orton... surely, that is a who's who of Current WWE, and whoever gets the rub when Lesnar is finally beaten would be benefitting Big time from being Conquerer of the One who Conquered the Undefeated Streak of the Deadman!

 

[WarroBODFan]

Yes, I'd be interested in seeing him back. Not if he comes back as a heel, as what else is he going to do other than be a glorified jobber like he was this year? For me, it would only make sense for him to come back as a face seeing as he walked out on Evolution. He'd get support if he was anti-authority. I don't think he'd work in a Daniel Bryan role of going for the title, but a short feud with the authority I'd be kinda interested in. Not saying he couldn't have another heel turn in the future, but I don't see the point in that.

 

[Mustang Sally]

Soon after, various reports began circulating about Batista's unhappiness with his return, that he wasn't booked the way was initially supposed to be, that it was supposed to be different, etc. Some reports say he didn't wanna job to Daniel Bryan 2 ppvs in a row, which is why Kane went against Bryan at Extreme Rules, while other reports say he had no issue jobbing to Bryan. So who knows what the real story is?

I consider all that and figure Batista wanted to be booked as a world champion, at least for a while.....and then contrast it with his apparent willingness years ago to be pinned cleanly by Rey Mysterio.....which I still count as the most visually absurd thing I've ever seen in pro wrestling.

In other words, who in hell knows what Batista wants from all this? Who knows what he expected when returning to pro wrestling? It wouldn't have surprised me if he thought of himself as the second coming of Hulk Hogan; that the fans would go absolutely crazy for him. Or, perhaps he had a more realistic view of his impact, although he still had to be unpleasantly surprised at the negative reaction that greeted him. I can't blame WWE for altering whatever glorious plans they had for him, but who knows how he saw it?

Personally, I could care less if he comes back again. People keep writing about his grand success in movies, as if the popularity of this "Guardians" thing is due to Batista alone, which I seriously doubt. Then again, I could be wrong since I haven't seen the movie.

If they want to have him show up one last time at WM31 to fight Triple H, I think that would be fine. Body to body, Batista would be a worthy opponent for Trips. They could build a "score to settle between legends" program for it.....and the fact it would feature two huge names would be a plus.

Conversely, if Batista would be crushed that this effort wouldn't be getting main event status and his feelings would be shattered at the prospect, he can stay home, for all I care.

 

[JoeyJoeJoe]

No interest -- It's not because he sucks, it's because he is misused and miscast. He has a very narrow band in which he can work. I also don't think they can undo the damage during his utterly poor return to the WWE this go-around. Batista works as a douchebag heel -- probably because he's a douchebag in real life.

If Guardians of the Galaxy keeps him out of the WWE, I won't be disappointed, though there is no way that Dave Batista had anything remotely to do with the success of that movie. He is not Dwayne Johnson. He is as bad and wooden as any other wrestler turned actor. He just was in the right place at the right time.

 

[Terry Gyimah]

Definitely want Batista back just as long as they put him in the right program but I would want to see Batista get his 1 on 1 shot for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, a program with the current champion Brock Lesnar now that would make me happy truly as a fan

 

[kadroan]

Yeah I'd love to see him back in the WWE but not like the mega star they tried to push him to be.

Since he likes being heel, I'd just have him rejoin Evolution and feud with Ambrose once he's done with Rollins

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

I think Batista was booked all wrong on his return earlier this year. WWE should have recognised that the fans were not going to be satisfied with anyone but Daniel Bryan going to WrestleMania to challenge Randy Orton, and Batista unfairly received their anger.

The return of Big Dave was a big deal. He is a main event level talent, one of the biggest names in wrestling still able to compete and I was really pleased when I heard he was going to come back, but coming in as a face absolutely sucked. Batista is a born heel in my opinion, and that's how he should come back. I would like to see challenge Daniel Bryan on The Bearded One's return, leading to a 1 on 1 match between Batista and Bryan at WrestleMania 31, with Batista claiming that Bryan had stolen the spotlight from him on his return, and costing him his 1 on 1 Title match at WM30, and they have a Career v Career match, with Daniel coming out on top, ending Big Dave's active career.
A handshake at the end would be good to see too.

 

[Soulblazed]

Batista should come back as a heel only..That's the role he fits into best and he's admitted to that countless times..He cuts some funnyass promos without ever trying to do so..I've never understood why people bitch about his promos..Also, he can make his matches more interesting by using Jiu Jitsu now that he's a Purple Belt in Gracie Jiu Jitsu..Maybe he can use a Rear Naked Choke to choke opponents out after Batista Bombing them..

 

[MCMG]

He can't make the quality of Raw any worse. If they have the right program then a Batista return would be a great opportunity. He proved he can still go in the ring. He is a big name and a superb heel. The WWE should bring Batista back and let him do his thing. There are a few injuries and guys like Jericho and Brock may not be around for long. His last run saw him work with younger guys and that is a great role for Batista.

Batista vs HHH doesn't interest me at all but pair him with Bryan, Reigns, Ambrose, Sheamus, Ziggler and I'll be delighted. Even a match with Cena given how great those two were together. There are also options with Evolution after their wonderful matches with The Shield, I'd like to see what they could do against The Wyatt Family.

 

[Mitch Henessey]

As a heel? Yes. Batista is more effective (and entertaining) as a heel, and if he returns, WWE needs to use the narcissistic ******** version of Batista, not the returning hero, because we all know what happened earlier this year, when WWE tried to push Batista as a face.

My main concern with Batista is his age and his ring shape. Batista is 45, and you could see he was clearly gassed and out of breath during the majority of his singles matches this year. At Wrestlemania XXX, you had Orton and Bryan to help carry the load, and you can say the same thing about The Shield VS Evolution matches, but if you're going to get the most out of Batista, he needs to go one on one.

Now, WWE needs another top heel with the credibility of a main eventer, and Batista has the track record. Lesnar only makes sporadic appearances, and WWE's recent schizophrenic booking leaves too many question marks with Bray Wyatt.

Also, I'm not sold on Guardians Of The Galaxy solidifying Batista's status as a legit Hollywood star. He did a good job in the movie, and he deserves the credit, but let's not get ahead of ourselves here. The Rock is still on another level, and he's MILES ahead of Batista as a better actor and a star in Hollywood. First, Batista has to prove he can step outside of the "snarling tough guy" comfort zone, and star in a film with a leading role, so she can showcase a more commanding screen presence.

 

[BigDaddyKewl]

If Batista wants to return then I think there is a spot for him. He is one of the biggest stars since 2000s and his stock has risen now with the success of Guardians of the Galaxy. However if it's just going to be a part time stint then the WWE shouldn't invest too much into him. I could see him coming in for a few months like RVD, Jericho and The Rock have done in these past few years.If he does return I'd rather see some new opponents for him like Bryan, Reigns and Lesnar and not a bunch of rehashed feuds like Triple H, Orton and Cena. There are always looking for big names to help sell the big PPVs like Summerslam and Wrestlemania.

 

[DCLXVI]

I think Dave got kind of a raw deal on his "return"... although I'll admit, I wasn't watching WWE during his peak. He was gassed quickly on the first few matches back but he seemed to get back into the flow of things by the time it was time for him to leave to promote Guardians of the Galaxy. I kind of got a kick out of him but the end of it. Though I agree, I really don't see him coming back in any full time schedule nor do I think it would really help anyone at this stage in the game. I see him sticking to acting and I'm glad his movie did well.

 

[HBKistheHOF]

Although I was very uninterested in Batista's return initially & I still don't care for the fact that he returned as a babyface & won the rumble, I actually really ended up enjoying Batista's 2014 return.

I have actually always been a big Batista fan but when it leaked in late 2013 that Batista would return at The Royal Rumble or just prior, I kind of just rolled my eyes. He was off doing movies, MMA, etc. & it kind of felt too soon IMO. Not to mention it was also reported he might be working Randy for the title at WM if he did return, which for some reason seemed likely to me that if he did return he would just work the same old guys he worked with before like Orton & Triple H, which really didn't interest me at all.

But everything turned out really good in the end. The rumble was historic in it's own right for several reasons with the match itself being one of the better ones recently I thought & considering Batista winning only made Bryan's hill to climb that much bigger, it worked out pretty well. I actually thought Dave's mini-feud with Del Rio was pretty solid too, even if some others don't agree. & then his Mania 31 main event match & program with The Shield was all 5 star work hands down. So all in all, I think his return was awesome & warrants another comeback for sure, just hoping he get's some more creative control & is booked a little better from the start.

The matches and/or feuds I would like to see if/when Mr. The Destroyer returns:
Batista vs. Dean Ambrose
Batista vs. Roman Reigns
Batista vs. Bray Wyatt & The Wyatt Family
Batista vs. Jack Swagger with Zeb Colter
Batista vs. Cesaro
Batista vs. Dolph Ziggler
& if it's even possible... Batista vs. Brock Lesnar
But let's face it, Batista couldn't dethrone Lesnar right now but also would probably end up looking too weak or getting hurt if he was just suplexed around sort of like Cena was, so this probably won't happen.

 

[Just Do It]

He wants to, but it will be interesting to see whether he does or not now, considering all of the film offers he must have coming in. Batista didn't really get a chance to shine upon his return as it was either Tag or multi man matches he was in. I would have loved to see some big time one on one matches.

 

[Terry Gyimah]

Batista is becoming a really big deal in Hollywood and honestly being in Hollywood he will end up staying in Hollywood much like The Rock but only show up once in a while and I say good for Batista because it is the fans who could not even appreciate him and now he is succeeding in spite of the fans

 

[WimpyKid4Life]

I say, Yes- return as soon as possible. He adapted and that's why he didn't parish. Since he came back, he was a part of Alberto del Rio's last major feud, helped put over Daniel Bryan in his biggest win of his career, made an Evolution return possible, and had very Batista moments along the way to entertain the WWE Universe even more. I liked Batista's return and it was one the greatest parts of the first half of WWE 2014. Him parodying Reigns was hilarious and there was also the slap heard around the WWE Universe. For everything he's done for this company this year and beyond, as well as the entertainment he brought, I believe he deserves a great send-off and I know I will be entertained by it. That's why I say he should return and as soon as possible.

 

[STAR PLATINUM $9.99]

Only in the right position. like Lesnar vs Batista.

 

[Terry Gyimah]

Lesnar vs Batista for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, this is like the ultimate dream match, a dream match no one has ever seen before because these two have never went one on one with each other in a WWE ring and the last time Batista and Lesnar's paths have ever crossed was way back in the day in OVW when both of them were very raw, green as hell rookies in developmental but now both are mega stars in their own right so why not have these 2 monsters go at it?