From 2002-2010, Who was bigger? Randy Orton or Batista?

[pepentorresHHH]

I was just thinking about this the other day, both guys started basically at the same time together, joined evolution, had feuds with HHH, won world titles, won royal rumbles and they even crossed paths sometimes over the years... but who had the biggest impact or who had the biggest role while both guys were there??

Randy Orton might end up being look at as bigger than batista because just by his age he should be around the half of his career, but he has won tag titles, ic championship, world heavyweight championships, wwe championships, youngest world champion in history, 2009 royal rumble winner, main evented wrestlemania 22,24,25 and the faction legacy

Batista cant be counted out because he did a lot with arguably less than randy, he didnt have the pedigree or the wrestling ability but he had the push, larger than life physique and an ability to draw in the crowd. He won tag titles, world heavyweight championships, wwe championships and had great feuds with Triple H, the undertaker and John cena to name a few, he won the 2005 royal rumble and main evented wrestlemania 21,23,26

So while both randy and batista were around together (2002-2010) who do you think was bigge, had a bigger impact or who did you like best??

Discuss.....

 

[willdefrangesco]

I would say Randy has and always will be bigger and better than Batista, although Batista had the better 2005-2006. It's pretty much set that Orton will go into the Hall of Fame and be considered one of the greatest of all time.

 

[a member of wwe universe]

the above posters that say orton had/has the better run than batista are not providing any valid reason. If you followed the progression of both guys careers, you would know batista had the better run. Yes orton won at mania 26, formed rated rko, legacy (which turns out crap) but orton was never positioned as the company man throughout the entire career like batista and cena. Had orton won at mania 25, it would have been a different story.

I beleive the key point is who was bigger overall? not just wreslting ability.

Batista was clearly the lead man of smackdown feuding with taker, edge etc at the mainevent spot. He was given the strap more often and actually carry the brand. Whereas for orton, he was overshaddowed by hhh and cena on raw.

In the cena and batista feud, the wwe achknowlegde those two as the biggest star since attitude era. Well of course people can argue its wwe way of promotion. Though it is worth mentioning this point because it is true given both guys careers progresses identically in terms of accomplishment, wwe's way of booking them, and their consistency of maineventing.

 

[FlairFan2003]

when they were both around, Batista was bigger. Batista was equally good as a face or heel, wrestled world title matches at WrestleMania vs both HHH & Taker, and in my estimation was more over with the crowd.

Ultimately because Batista voluntarily quit at the height of his popularity, his career, much shorter than Orton's, will be looked at as less successful. Like or not longevity counts. Unless Batista comes back for another extended run I would say Orton tops him for the sum of their careers, but when both were at their height circa 06-10 Id give the edge to Batista.

 

[Kodo Sawaki]

the above posters that say

Batista was clearly the lead man of smackdown feuding with taker, edge etc at the mainevent spot. He was given the strap more often and actually carry the brand. Whereas for orton, he was overshaddowed by hhh and cena on raw.

This...

Arguably Orton was never No1 man and was always overshadoved by the others while Batista was No1 face on Smackdown for so many years.

In my eyes in terms of wrestling, Orton> Batista but in the eyes of WWE Batista was(arguably)always bigger. He emerged from Evolution storyline bigger than Orton and continued to mainevent while Orton wasn't heavily maineventing before 2007. Batista received immediate push and hang onto it until he retired(beat HHH three times in a row and beat Cena cleanly at Summerslam) while Orton was not there until later(Cenas injury, his long-term WWE championship reign on RAW). They both made heavy impact but bigger impact was Batista

But make no mistake, they are both WWE Hall of Fame material and they will probably be there eventually.

 

[shattered dreams]

I am pretty sure Batista was the bigger draw and it may not have even been close. Does that make him bigger? Depends on who you ask. As far as stories go I think Orton would probably surpass Batista but that could shift if you choose to weight the later part of that time frame heavier than the beginning.

 

[BringBackJWangYang]

Honestly I loved what both wrestlers brought to the company. And there are many factors in deciding who was better, but I would have to pick Batista for one reason. Orton is great as a heel, but as a face, you dont really buy it because everyone knows that in real life he has had moments where he jerk side comes out. There was a situation in like 2007 when he broke some guys camera and flicked off a bunch of people as he left while denying them autographs. I love when wrestlers stay in character, but that was too far. Batista on the other hand was an excellent heel, and his size made you hate him because of his bully advantage over smaller guys and his great mic work. But what made him better is he was just as good as a face. I loved watching the animal Batista fight the undertaker because their matches were great to watch, and they fought on smackdown as well, (free show) which was great. I thought his teaming up with rey mysterio, as well as beating edge up was icing on the cake. It really comes down to the backstage politics, but from a fan perspective, Batista was great and I therefore think SLIGHTLY better.

 

[Jerichoholic8894]

Batista, he was the face of the program he was on, Orton was the 2nd biggest star to Cena.

Overall, Randy Orton is better than Batista, but at the time among polularity it was Batista

 

[NotoriousMEAT]

Yeah I'm going with Batista. He was #2 behind Cena until the day he left. Orton spent the majority of that time in the upper mid-card and teasing in the main event, but wasn't until the end of 2007 that he really became a top star. Batista had what 3 World Titles by then, a Royal Rumble and probably 30 PPV main events under his belt. And even when Orton did reach the main event, Batista didn't stop. He carried SmackDown for the majority of his run and along with Taker is what kept it mostly relevant.

Both have had tremendous careers, but head to head, Batista comes out on top.

 

[Wald]

Batista by a distance for me, he was just a bigger draw, better all-rounder and if he were Orton's age he might have given Cena a proper run for his money as top star

For evidence just look at their Wrestlemania matches in this period, ME denotes main event

Wrestlemania XX - As a team with Ric Flair vs Rock & Foley

Wrestlemania XXI -Orton vs Undertaker
Batista vs Triple H for the World Title (ME)

Wrestlemania XXII - Orton vs Angle vs Rey for the World Title (ME)
Batista was injured

Wrestlemania XXIII - Orton was in the Money in the Bank match
Batista vs Undertaker for the World Title (ME)

Wrestlemania XXIV - Orton vs Cena vs Triple H for the WWE Title (ME)
Batista vs Umaga

Wrestlemania XXV - Orton vs Triple H for the WWE Title (ME)
Batista was injured

Wrestlemania XXVI -Orton vs DiBiase vs Rhodes
Batista vs Cena for the WWE Title (ME)

So a quick glance might make it look like they had similar enough careers, but if you look into it more you see that Batista was involved in three main events that were positioned to be the highlight of the show and that the only match at Wrestlemania he had after his breakthrough with Evolution that wasn't in the main event was with Umaga.

Orton, on the other hand, is only really given one proper starring role, with Triple H in a singles match, the other title matches are parts of Triple Threats that weren't designed to be the show stealer. He also has two throwaway matches to Batista's one (and this with Batista sitting out two Wrestlemanias to Orton's zero).

Batista was a bigger star than Orton, I have no doubts about that

 

[Nate DaMac]

Batista by far. Hell, Batista was poised to be the top guy before Cena came out of nowhere. If not for Cena, he would have probably been the face of the company.

 

[WRESTLING_GENIUS]

IMO in that timeframe Batista had better feuds and Title runs, but Randy Orton from 06-10 had better storys, and accomplishments.... Orton was the first to get the push beating Benoit for the world title at SummerSlam, Batista wasnt even relevant for another 5 months til he won the rumble in 05..... The next year Orton was in the main event with Rey and Angle while Batista was hurt on the sideline.... But when he came back he had great feuds with EDGE, Taker, Mark Henry, and even made Khali look good and he had a good title reign to.... At this same time Orton was preparing to be a lenghty WWE Champion with great title defenses and Main Eventing Mania 24 against HHH and ena beating both two times in arow(back to back ppvs)..... To make a long story short there about even in my book cuz both did things the other didnt which amounted to the same success rate in both.... But since Orton is still around in the long run i gotta give him the edge....

 

[braveh]

Around New years revolution 2005 Batista was already over. At that years WM he was huge. That was years before they found a decent gimmick for Orton. Orton probably sold more merchandise the last couple of years that Batista was still around but if you sum it up there is no question that Batista was a main eventer since 2005.

 

[Hardymania]

Not even a question. Batista. He was the face of the WWE only behind John Cena (even though he was the face of the WWE to me because I only got SmackDown!). Batista had better fueds and more memorable title reigns. Randy Orton began to really flourish after Batista left the WWE. When Batista was holding the world heavyweight title Randy was still fueding with Rey Mysterio and Matt Hardy.

 

[The Brain]

It’s hard to give one definite answer within the specific timeframe you’re asking. From 2002-2004 Orton was bigger. He was very clearly being groomed as the breakout star of Evolution while Batista was more of an enforcer. After a lengthy IC title reign Orton won the world title at SummerSlam 2004 and immediately became a face after being kicked out of Evolution. I remember it was assumed that Orton was going to take on Triple H in the main event of WM21. The fans just weren’t accepting Orton as a face and they threw their support toward Batista out of nowhere. Batista pretty much took the spot that everyone thought was going to Orton (too bad Batista was hurt at WM22 because that story wrote itself).

From 2005-2007 Batista was clearly ahead of Orton. Way ahead. Other than Cena Batista was the top guy in the company and in 2005 you could argue that they were neck and neck. As others have said Batista was always the main guy on Smackdown while Orton was behind Cena, Triple H, and Edge on Raw. Orton did ok for himself during this time but it wasn’t until 2008 that he finally started living up to his main event potential.

From 2008-2010 Orton and Batista were pretty close. I think I’d say Orton was bigger during this time. He was feuding with Triple H and Cena, including a successful title defense at mania against both of them. He won the Royal Rumble. He main evented WM25 as champion. He made a change in his character from the arrogant heel into the twisted viper. Batista was doing well too but he was far less consistent than he was before.

To finally answer the question I’m going to say Batista was bigger. Even though I said Orton was better in six of the nine years I think Batista’s 2005-2007 was better than anything Orton did during that time. It also helps that Batista was far more successful as a face than Orton was.

 

[XXJJ]

I would go with Orton. Evolution days Orton was bigger, Batista was bigger in 2005. 2006 Batista was hurt. The last few years Orton with his viper gimmick was bigger than Batista.

Both have had great careers. Batista departure from Evolution was done better. Resulting in a monster 2005 for him. Orton's leaving Evolution felt a little rushed. Orton is like 10 years younger than Batista. He is going to kill him with longevity though assuming he doesn't get suspended again.

 

[HBsam31]

Never have been a huge fan of Batista, but to me he was the bigger star when they were both around. It may not even actually be close. Batista got mega over by beating HHH three times. Other than Taker I am not sure if anyone else has done that. He and Taker had an epic feud. He was the top star one Smackdown, and he seemed to be recognized as the number two star next to Cena. Orton eventually got close to Batista, and I am sure he will surpass him now that Batista isn't around, but in the time period mentioned for me it is Batista.

 

[HBKistheHOF]

This is kind of hard to say since Batista's whole on-air career ran from 2002-2010 & Orton is still going decently strong & several of my favorite moments since Evolution for Orton came in 2011.

But I gotta go Batista.

Orton was looking EXTREMELY promising during his time with Evolution. And he had an AMAZING program with the Undertaker. As well as creating one of my favorite teams ever later on, in Rated-RKO. But besides those moments Orton drifted in & out of relevance until 2008 when he became WWE champion. And even then he didn't become a solid champion until 2009 with feuds with Kofi & HHH.

Batista, while not quite having the programs or moments that are as memorable for me or as enjoyable, was pretty much in the main event picture anytime he wasn't injured from Mania 21 onward. He had a solid program for a world title first. He became the face of Smackdown in mid-2005(about 6 years before Orton would "take over"). He came back to have an even longer and in some ways almost better program with the Undertaker & somewhat re-claim SD. Then he moved to RAW, where he would fall into irrelevance for awhile, but still become World Champ again & WWE champ for the first time(beating Orton). Then he had his crowning moment in his career IMO, his heel turn & feuds with Rey & Cena before quiting.

So while all in all I have enjoyed Ortons work ALOT more, Batista was the bigger star when he was around & had a overall more solid run from 2002-2010 IMO.