Heat On Batista Already?

[Jack-Hammer]

On the main page and several sites, there's a report that the Twitter feud between Alberto Del Rio and Batista has resulted in some already impressive heat being put on Batista. Some of the Tweets have included:

"So I hear Alberto Del Rio is talking trash. Just one question… Who the hell is Alberto Del Rio?!!!"

Alberto Del Rio responded with:

"I'm the one wining all the major titles while u were getting ur ass kick by your plumber (Vince lucero) See u at the rumble… Like we say in #Mexico U can buy muscles but U can't buy Huevos cabron"

Batista included another Tweet, which has since been removed, and it's the one that's led to the problems:

"Seems 2 me that some C level stars in a B level star era have bought into their own hype. Don't turn a work into a shoot. #realitycheck"

The reports state that this third Tweet has resulted in the feeling that Batista took it upon himself to bury the entire WWE locker room with a single Tweet. Allegedly, some people in the locker room aren't that wild about Batista returning only to immediately be walking into one of the main events at WrestleMania.

As to the feeling of the locker room, I can appreciate the feelings of frustration to a greater degree with Batista than I did with The Rock. After all, The Rock is a genuine Hollywood action star and was among the biggest stars of the Attitude Era, some would say the biggest. Batista isn't anywhere close to The Rock in terms of overall in-ring ability, charisma, promo skills and drawing ability. He's just not in The Rock's league by any stretch. So the concept of Batista getting the royal treatment without having the ability to warrant said treatment is much more understandable.

As to his comments labeling the current locker room as part of a "B level era", there's no real excuse for them, nor is there any means of putting a positive spin on it. For all intents & purposes, he put down the entire locker room; but I'm sure he'll be more than happy to take WWE's money anyway. While I wouldn't personally put Alberto Del Rio as a star of the upmost caliber, personally, I wouldn't put Batista on that level either. There are a good number of wrestlers on the roster that are FAR superior to Batista and, in my opinion, he's an example of a C level star who's long since bought into his own hype. If given a choice, I'd take one guy like Punk, Cena, Bryan, Orton, Ambrose, Rollins, Reigns, Langston, Ziggler, Cesaro, Wyatt and a few others over 10 Batistas, I'd go with the one.

Also, he might want to think twice about getting into a real fight with Del Rio. Del Rio has some serious MMA chops. While a 9-5 win/loss record night not exactly be the best in the world, Del Rio is a guy that's spent a LOT of years training as a hardcore grappler rather. Unlike Batista, who's fought a single MMA fight against an over the hill never-was for a big paycheck, Del Rio's been involved in MMA training for the better part of 15 years.

 

[BaconBits]

The thing is, with the exception of Cena and Brock and Taker on a nostalgia level, he IS a bigger star than the rest of the active roster.

And his perception of ADR and the roster rings pretty true. He does especially lack star power in an era that lacks star power overall. No matter how hard they push him, nobody feels him, and currently, people aren't feeling much of anybody. They've resorted to bringing in guys like The Rock, Lesnar and Batista to get people to be interested in the product.

If "guys backstage" have "heat" with him, they had better start thinking of ways they can get over so they can get plum deals like Batista. Or they need to get out of the business because they aren't cut out for it.

 

[DarksideEric]

The thing is, with the exception of Cena and Brock and Taker on a nostalgia level, he IS a bigger star than the rest of the active roster.

And his perception of ADR and the roster rings pretty true. He does especially lack star power in an era that lacks star power overall. No matter how hard they push him, nobody feels him, and currently, people aren't feeling much of anybody. They've resorted to bringing in guys like The Rock, Lesnar and Batista to get people to be interested in the product.

If "guys backstage" have "heat" with him, they had better start thinking of ways they can get over so they can get plum deals like Batista. Or they need to get out of the business because they aren't cut out for it.

Currently people aren't feeling much of... anybody?

There's two guys the crowd really loves ever since at least 2011.

I don't think Batista was a bigger star than Punk, especially in 2011, and I think Bryan has shot past whatever level Batista thinks he was on.

 

[lil steroid meat]

Meh. Batista wasn't exactly the greatest in ring or on the mic so I don't know what would make him an "A level star". After all, his main competition in his "prime" in 07-08 on Smackdown was Edge, Khali, Mysterio, etc.

That being said, WWE officials are pansies and the talents are too if they are lobbying to "punish" Batista over this. This same shit apparently happened to a legend like Dusty Rhodes because he went off script in a segment with Stephanie McMahon. The powers that be, or whoever decides who has "heat" seem very egotistical and feminine.

First off, it's a shame that talent can't speak their mind without being punished by some system. If you have a problem with what he said, then approach him about it like a man.

Secondly, is he really lying? Like I said, Batista wasn't exactly a show stopper himself, but that doesn't take away the fact that prior to 2013, (when WWE finally decided to start building new stars and Ambrose, Rollins, Reigns, Langston, Cesaro, Wyatt and co. rose to prominence) the WWE has relied on Orton, Punk, Cena and HHH + the Ruthless Aggression/Attitude Era part timers to pay the bills, other than that, it's lacked star power. And this is no fault of the talent, because the writing has been shitty most of the time so the stars haven't really got a chance to blossom into their own character. Big E Langston for example, if you go on his Instagram, is an outgoing dude with a weird sense of humor that could really be getting him over with promos . . . but you'd never be able to tell because the WWE doesn't really allow people to cut promos anymore, let alone be their own characters. Outside of Punk, WWE has played it safe with generic stars and storylines from 2010 to the beginning of 2013. It wasn't exactly the prime of wrestling, R-Truth was main eventing WWE matches in 2012.

So while I don't think Batista is that big a star himself to act like he's some type of gift to wrestling (because any other muscular dude with a functioning brain could have taken his spot in literally everything he's done in the WWE), I don't exactly disagree with his opinion of the WWE over the past few years and I think the concept of "backstage heat" over someone's opinion is feminine as hell, it's high school shit.

______________________________________________________________________________________

EDIT: But then again, WWE product has been pretty decent lately outside of Cena/Orton part million, so maybe this is a work and WWE is taking a page out of TNA's book (and doing it better for goodness' sake by not advertising and promoting a dude that they don't have signed to a fucking contract) and working the Internet to raise interest and ratings upon Batista's return.

 

[The Butcher]

Batista has never been one for mincing words on Twitter, and Del Rio insinuating that Dave's muscles were bought would certainly constitute "fighting words" for most meathead types, so here we are. Make no mistake, though, Bat's isn't wrong. This era lacks star power, and Del Rio has not proven to be a part of the solution to that issue. Similar to BaconBits, I think that any full-time Superstars who take exception with stuff like this (the insult and the part-timer taking a 'Mania spot) need to step their game up. I'm sure that Batista will be able to withstand any degree of heat that can be generated by the boys (unless Booker T is among them, perhaps), and if such a stupid insult really got some of the more insecure workers' panties in a bunch then they need a to grow a thicker hide.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

It wasn't the smartest move on the part of Dave... and it perhaps shows that he has been given a bit of a big head during the negotiations to get him...

The roster will probably have taken umbrage to an extent, but they probably were anyway because his being brought back said the same thing. The person who is probably wringing his hands is HHH, who went to bat for Batista but also to get ADR in the company, so that is gonna be somewhat awkward.

I doubt this is going to affect plans too much, BUT it might just cost Dave the Rumble win he was probably scheduled for to salve the "insult" to the roster.

 

[Harthan]

Obvious work. Batista's whole gimmick was how awesome he was compared to everyone else. He demanded the spotlight. His character legitimately believed he was a bigger deal than John Cena in his prime. This is precisely the kind of thing heel Batista would say. Leaking out to the dirt sheets that there's heat on him is just the thing to start conditioning people against him because everyone and their mother knows Batista is a better heel. He'll get a huge pop at the Rumble, that's unavoidable, but I have little doubt he'll be a heel at Mania. Starting to get people against him now is all the better for booking purposes.

There's NO WAY that a Twitter war between del Rio and Batista isn't completely orchestrated by the WWE to get the reaction they want.

 

[Mongoose McQueen]

Since leaving the WWE in 2010, Batista has been affluent about not only the PG approach that WWE have taken to their programming but also the way that they use their talent. In a couple of articles, Batista has Criticized the product and the talent at one point even saying that it was so brutal, he could not watch the product. This was in 2012 and now in 2014 Batista is making a big comeback to the WWE after a four year absence. Obviously, he is trying to make in impact and get himself back the mix etc....


The reality is, with the exception of John Cena, CM Punk, Randy Orton, Batista is bigger than most of the roster and hence why WWE are bringing him back.

 

[JohnJohnson]

I have to agree with Batista here. He is obviously a bigger star than almost the entire roster. This is surely a B level star era. I mean just think about it. Try to think of any other era in WWE history that relied on older part timers from previous eras so heavily. The closest thing that I could think of was when they brought in the nWo back in 2002. But even then, they weren't used to carry the shows. Any other time a part timer, like a returning Flair or Bret Hart came to do a part time deal for Mania or what have you, it's always been overshadowed by the main event superstars of that era. Nowadays, it is expected for returning stars of the past to return for Mania or Summerslam to carry the product and get people to buy the PPV. I'm not saying this is completely the talents fault, a lot has to do with booking, but either way Batista is still correct.

 

[joduke41]

Well I never liked Batista. He was in the WWE when it was more popular and was buds with HHH. He rode the coat tails of other stars. He was horrible in the ring,his mic skills sucked, and he thought he farted flowers. He thought he was going to be a big MMA star,wrong. He thought he was going to be a big Hollywood star,wrong. He may be a popular star,but then again so is Justin Bieber. Neither one would be considered talented or deserving of success.

 

[James]

Batista just taking a page out of his brothers book, burying people before you even have physical contact with them lol! But whatever, who cares let there be some legit heat so we can get a feud that looks real.

 

[LSN80]

As to his comments labeling the current locker room as part of a "B level era", there's no real excuse for them, nor is there any means of putting a positive spin on it. For all intents & purposes, he put down the entire locker room; but I'm sure he'll be more than happy to take WWE's money anyway. While I wouldn't personally put Alberto Del Rio as a star of the upmost caliber, personally, I wouldn't put Batista on that level either.

This is true. And while most would agree with your assessment that Batista isn't a top flight star, it's still important to note that he's gone farther in this business, at least in WWE, then Alberto Del Rio will ever go. And if you don't see Batista as a Main Event player, which I don't buy either, that's the way he's been presented during his tenure in WWE. (1.)A Wrestlemania Main Event, one that he won. (2.)A Royal Rumble win. (3.)A match with Undertaker at Wrestlemania. To the best of my knowledge, there are only 6 names(Flair, HHH, Orton, Edge, HBK, and Batista) that have done all three things(not accounting for wins and losses), and those are the three things that are either most relevant to getting a big Wrestlemania match(Winning the Rumble), or a featured match at Wrestlemania. (Undertaker and the Streak.)

As for the tweets between Batista and Del Rio, they're certainly a work. Del Rio is a solid enough worker that he could lead Batista through a 10-15 minute match, and not lose anything in doing so. Ideally, they eliminate each other from the Royal Rumble match, and that sets up a Wrestlemania match between the two. Hey, there have been dumber reasons for having a match. Kane and Booker T did the same thing in 2007, eliminating one another, and the fallout was a match between Kane and Booker at what was then No Way Out. If they follow through on having Batista win the Rumble, Del Rio would be a nice tune-up match at Elimination Chamber for him.

If I were other wrestlers, heck yes, I'd be ticked. At the same time, you have to think that most of them don't take it personally. I know Batista has always been anti-social and arrogant behind the scenes, and if he secured a Rumble win as part of his agreement to come back, I'd be bitter too. But at the same time, it's these part-time stars that DO draw people to Wrestlemania. It's a business foremost, and devloping the best card regardless of company standing is the right priority to have. This doesn't mean, however, that I'm happy seeing Batista back. I'm not. He was a one-note character for years as a face, a whiner who was screwed over again and again during title matches. That is, if he wasn't forfeitting a title due to injury. When Batista opens his mouth, I think he fails to realize that he's exposed plenty of personal things about himself that people can use against him.

However, when it comes to facing reality, there are very few full-time stars who are portrayed as being on Batista's level. Cena, Punk, Orton, Bryan, and the Shield. So if he's coming back as a full-time wrestler, he's going to be at the top of the card. It's still a week before his return, and we're discussing this already. Goes to show what kind of star Batista truly is.

Myself, I seem to remember a Twitter war that got very personal between them, and all they did was Main Event Wrestlemania's 28 & 29. WWE has been known to capitalize on real life issues between performers before, with Lita/Edge/Matt Hardy being the most obvious. If this is truly personal, don't see what's going on here being different then other feuds which have stemmed from real-life issues, specifically those being put out there via Twitter.

Especially if a news feed on a wrestling site is tracking their tweets.

 

[Best in the World 79]

Shit. Batista was a star no matter how any of you classify his wrestling ability or microphone skills. Besides full time guys like punk, cena, Orton, and Bryan, nobody is a legit enough star in a lot of folks eyes. Punk wasn't accepted as a star until his promo. Orton and cena wrestled guys like taker and angle and hhh and those cats consistently. So they're obviously over. Bryan is over on his own. Everyone else either sucks and is pushed or they're over as shit and they get burried. Del Rio is a good wrestler but overall he sucks. Straight up. Can't talk. No charisma. Nothing. I agree that the whole "backstage heat" is feminine and bitchy. Batista drew money. Obviously more than a lit of guys these days so they wanted him back. I fucking bet you don't see the crowd jumping for a Del Rio return in 2021. Wrestlers used to cut themselves with razor blades. Now they bitch because old timers outdraw them.

 

[Blade]

If it's a work, then fine. Batista vs. Del Rio at Elimination Chamber will be an okay reintroduction to Batista, even if it's just a glorified squash match to remind us what Batista is. I think every tweet for something like this is at least advised on by WWE. WWE can be meticulous about this kind of thing. If Batista quickly turns heel, him talking about how WWE is in a "B" grade era could be kinda fun to watch, especially if he eventually joins up with his buddy Triple H and the Authority, the people who called Daniel Bryan a "B+" player.

If it's not a work, and Batista is going to be a face for several months or longer, then it is a stupid thing to say. Batista surely isn't as big a star as he thinks he is. Do we have to remind him that he was moved to Smackdown and Cena was brought to Raw because Batista didn't do much for ratings? Cena is far passed Batista, Punk is above Batista in my opinion, especially when it comes to moving merch. Daniel Bryan could surpass Batista in the next year or so. Roman Reigns is on his way to being a better version of Batista.

Hell, a lot of Batista's WWE career was during a lower point in WWE than now. Not from a ratings standpoint, from a quality standpoint. Batista was part of Evolution, the group that sucked the life from Raw week after week after week for years. And then Batista was moved to Smackdown when Raw started becoming the better show again. So yeah, if this is a shoot, then Batista is kinda full of crap...

 

[CrucifiedRaven]

I don't know how there's heat on him. All he did was speak the truth. Maybe by saying it's a "B era" he buried an entire locker room, but I don't think so. All it does is mean that Batista thinks he's better than everyone else, and we'll see if that is indeed true come the Rumble or 'Mania. Don't forget... they need to book him STRONG. And we know in today's world that shoots get you over. All this does is add interest to his return.

I know it's a different era then when Batista was last involved, but the fact of the matter is, they need to book Batista strong in order for them to get their money's worth out of him. If John Cena can beat Del Rio clean on a B PPV... Then Batista, who is rumored to be main eventing WMXXX, should also be seen as better than Del Rio. He's on Cena, HHH and CM Punk's level. Whether it's true or not doesn't matter, when he returns he needs to be seen as on a higher level.

The same way they used Henry to get Lesnar over as monster, they should be using Del Rio to put Batista over as on a way higher level.

 

[CrucifiedRaven]

If it's a work, then fine. Batista vs. Del Rio at Elimination Chamber will be an okay reintroduction to Batista, even if it's just a glorified squash match to remind us what Batista is.

If it's not a work, and Batista is going to be a face for several months or longer, then it is a stupid thing to say..

I disagree man. I think these two statements are contradictory. If it's a work then fine, as long as Batista squashes Del Rio? Batista should be squashing Del Rio regardless. Same way Lesnar squashed Henry. They need a semi respectable sacrificial lamb in order to make the superstar look huge. And in no way is Del Rio the superstar in this situation.

 

[Pedigree1]

I agree with Harthan in the fact that this is a work and nothing more than a work to Gardner interest! Im sure there are people backstage that well quite frankly resent the fact that Batista,coming in after damn there a four year layoff to get a spot in the RR,and let alone has a huge shot at Maineventing WM.

TO be honest that would,piss me off as well.. But as far as star power goes,we have Cena,Punk,Bryan,Orton,and a couple of Future stars in the making Big E,Roman Reigns.. That is not too bad of a start. I have never cared for Batista,he thinks the world revolves around him and his shit doenst stink. I dont know if he thinks he is the rock and deserves the immediate spot or not,but news flash for batista he most certainly is not the rock,he is universes behind him on that one.

So yes i believe its a work,but i also believe there is heat on him already

 

[shooter_mcgavin]

It's not going to hurt him.

I remember when he did something similar when he said RAW was better than Smackdown! The reason basically being that he said people in Smackdown! would give less effort and were lazier than the guys in RAW. Of course he was drafted to Smackdown! shortly after and I can only assume he wasn't very popular backstage. I mean Booker T had a backstage fight with Batista with most guys siding with Booker so it show how much heat had yet it didn't hurt his spot at all.

 

[BillAlfonsos_Whistle]

Batista is the worst "top" Wrestler in WWE history.
His return will be a black eye on an era that resembles Post-hogan mid 90s WWE.
You have your Bret Hart (CM Punk) and your HBK (Daniel Bryan) just need a couple more years and a correct push and some kind of godsend absence of Cena for this to be complete.

 

[BaconBits]

n
You have your Bret Hart (CM Punk) and your HBK (Daniel Bryan) just need a couple more years and a correct push and some kind of godsend absence of Cena for this to be complete.

Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels on top drew some of the worst numbers in history. Hell, it damn near bankrupted the company.

If you compare Punk and Bryan to those two, it's not exactly a great comparison. You're comparing them to two of the most overrated performers in history. Sure, HBK and Hart are great at fake technical wrestling, but they lack in the absolutely most important ability a wrestler must have, the ability to draw money.

And it completely makes Batista's point for him.

 

[Cody Trail]

Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels on top drew some of the worst numbers in history. Hell, it damn near bankrupted the company.

If you compare Punk and Bryan to those two, it's not exactly a great comparison. You're comparing them to two of the most overrated performers in history. Sure, HBK and Hart are great at fake technical wrestling, but they lack in the absolutely most important ability a wrestler must have, the ability to draw money.

And it completely makes Batista's point for him.

I'll agree with you about The Hitman. Ric Flair said it best: Bret Hart couldn't draw a dime outside of Canada. But there's no real way of really knowing whether or not Shawn Michaels was or wasn't a draw. If anything, he had just enough popularity to keep WWE from fully going bankrupt against WCW at the time. He may not have made them a profit, but he was the only thing from keeping any profits at all coming in.

 

[BaconBits]

I'll agree with you about The Hitman. Ric Flair said it best: Bret Hart couldn't draw a dime outside of Canada. But there's no real way of really knowing whether or not Shawn Michaels was or wasn't a draw. If anything, he had just enough popularity to keep WWE from fully going bankrupt against WCW at the time. He may not have made them a profit, but he was the only thing from keeping any profits at all coming in.

Shawn Michaels can absolutely be pointed to as a bad draw. If he was even half as good as many people claim, viewers wouldn't have switched to WCW in the first place.

 

[MrMojoRisin]

I disagree man. I think these two statements are contradictory. If it's a work then fine, as long as Batista squashes Del Rio? Batista should be squashing Del Rio regardless. Same way Lesnar squashed Henry. They need a semi respectable sacrificial lamb in order to make the superstar look huge. And in no way is Del Rio the superstar in this situation.

That right there... is the problem with how the part timers are booked, and the reason why every year they need to rely on them to carry WrestleMania.

Del Rio, whether you like him or not, is one of their main event players. He should NOT be squashed by a returning part timer like Batista. A guy like Batista, who will not fit into the companies long term booking plans, should be used to elevate and legitimize a guy like Del Rio.

Rebuild Batista's credibility by having him squash guys on the undercard. Guys like R-Truth, Curtis Axel, Christian, ect. Build Batista up in this regard with those guys, then when he gets to a guy on the level of Del Rio, you have that guy be the one to knock him off... and the end result is a stronger full timer like Alberto Del Rio, so that eventually as a company you don't need to have part timers like Batista carry WM... you can just have them supplement a show that is carried by your full time guys.

It's classic monster heel booking from the past. You'd bring in a monster heel, build them up by having them tear through the lower card guys, then put them up against one of your top guys. That top guy would prevail and beat the monster that no one else could, the monster would leave for another territory, and you'd be left with a stronger guy at the top of the card than you had when you started.

 

[The Eighties]

Some of the ignorance being bandied about is unbelievable, when I read the comments from Bertie and Batista I thought it was just two arrogant pricks being...well...arrogant pricks, but the guy on the first page who suggested it might be a work and that it could be setting up Batista to play the prima donna character he was playing when he left may be right.

As for Shawn Michaels 96 title reign, a month after he became champion WCW launched arguably the biggest angle in the history of pro wrestling featuring Hulk Hogan, Macho Man, Sting, Ric Flair, Roddy Piper, Kevin Nash and Scott Hall. Meanwhile Shawn had the mid card duo of Bulldog and Owen to work with in the dated Camp Cornette faction that also featured a past his best Vader and an angle over Dianna Hart. The fact Shawn kept WWF afloat was a miracle and something Vince has acknowledged time and again, and the reason he paid Shawn his full contract the 4 years he was away.