Is anyone else confused as to why Batista is being booked as a mega star?

[shalliin]

Batista was a placeholder main eventer. A guy who yes, had the size to be a threat but didn't have quite the skill set needed to be the number one guy. he was at times decent in the ring, but far more often he was barely tolerable. He was the place holoder guy to feud against when people were tired of seeing the same feuds and wanted something different. He never carried Smackdown, but was someone they could rely on to 'call up' as it was when they needed to inject a little more solidity into a main event feud, but he was always the 3rd or lower guy in the ranks. Taker and Edge were 1 and 2 for the longest time and sometimes or or the other was swapped out by guys like angle, benoit or eddie along with the next rank of jbl ansd batista.
Batista was the kind of guy who only seemed to try when he was the one in the spot light or when he was pulling his big moves but seemed to be lazy and uncaring about trying to support his fellow wrestlers when he was supposed to be taking their moves.
And let's not fool ourselves. He's only back to try and cash in some fame and name recognition going into the summer and the release of what is undisputably Marvel's biggest movie risk property in 'Guardians of the Galaxy'. It's the least known of Marvel's properties that they've ever attempted to bring to the screen, and therefore it's success is going to be critical to the future of the Marvel cinematic universe. CA2 is almost a sure bet for at least double it's budget, Avengers 2 will likely wipe out most records, and if they proceed with Antman that's also a risky proposition.
So don't think for a moment that Batista is back because of his love of wrestling or that he's here for anything more then the short term. He's here for the WWE promotion machine of getting his name out there and by association, getting interest from the wwe audience to see his movie. Yes, Riddick did well, but he was a bit player and the focus was on Vin Diesel. Batista's become a 2010's version of Bolo Yeung. Big, musclebound mostly silent badass who always ends up getting his ass kicked and killed by the movie's hero.

 

[The Eighties]

The problem is that WWE have overreached with Batista, he was a main eventer and one of a handful of guys to play the #2 to John Cena over the last decade, but he's not a guy you push your roster aside for and give the main event of WrestleMania to the moment he returns.

I mean take out the Bryan situation, Cena, Taker, Brock and Triple H are all bigger draws, it simply makes no sense to have him in the main event, and that has led to the extremely negative response towards him.

 

[thebarber]

I was just interested in finding out if anyone else is stunned as to how Batista is being pushed as a mega star on the level of Rock, Austin or Undertaker. When Batista left 4 years ago he was at his peak in wrestling and I only considered him an upper mid carder but despite WWE having a talent filled roster of young guys needing their chance to shine on the biggest stage WWE brings back Batista who at his peak was worst than Ziggler, Rhodes, Wyatt's, Bryan, Rollins and Cesaro to name a few. Batista was a terrible talker as a face and only average as a heel, he is below par in the ring and had a physical presence that a few current guys have.

Conclusion - Batista who was good but nothing special as a talent or in terms of popularity with the fans comes back from 4 years off and gets a push that atleast 10 guys on the roster deserve and I simply cant understand why. Comment if you agree or disagree and why you do

Agree 1000%, Batista is Triple H's pet project from ten years ago, and being friends with HHH gets people places.
ORTON: Current and multiple time champion
BATISTA: Returns after 4 years, goes over in the Rumble and now headlining the greatest ppv of all time
SHEAMUS: Trips apprentice, will be slotted into a reasonably big match, possibly Undertaker in my mind.
NEW AGE OUTLAWS: 50+ tag team champions
KEVIN NASH: Gets rumble appearances over legends and current superstars who are far more deserving

Bcak on topic, Batista isnt and has never been a mega star, sure he had some good main event feuds, but I would look at the calibre of the guy on the oppositer side of the ring. Edge, Cena, Orton, Taker

 

[MCMG]

"Mega-star" is a little strong. He won the Royal Rumble. You can't expect them to not talk about the guy who is returning and then won the Rumble. They are hyping him up.

Batista was a good main-eventer. His return deserves attention and while he wasn't my first choice to win the Rumble, I'm not completely dismayed. I'll wait until he wrestles a few singles matches before really judging him but Batista is indeed a decent draw and deserves the attention he is getting. His return would have been so much better if it was a surprise and it is a real shame that it didn't happen.

 

[CrucifiedRaven]

I would have preferred to see Batista's push gone to Brock Lesnar, if they're going to go with a part-time main eventer. But, that wouldn't work, since Lesnar is too expensive for WWE. They'd need him to work way more dates if he was going to win the WWE Championship.

As for Batista - I agree, it's the wrong call. He should be in one of the big main event matches, for sure. Probably against Triple H or Brock Lesnar. But he shouldn't be the one getting the title shot. We all know the reaction Bryan is getting, and we all know the build to 'Mania XXX should be Bryan's chase for the world title.

Now they could have booked Batista more like they did Rock last year. And have him win the title from Orton at the Rumble instead of win the Rumble match itself. That'd set up Batista - the new Authority champion vs Bryan, the fan favourite. Because I think it's clear, nobody wants to see Randy Orton main eventing any more matches.

EDIT: Batista is a bigger star than the OP gives him credit for. But he is nowhere near as big as he, or Triple H & Vince think he is. The fact that they're considering making the WWE title match a triple threat by adding in Bryan is a clear example of this.

 

[The 1-2-3 Killam]

Batista is the longest reigning World Heavyweight Champion in the WWE's incarnation of that belt. He beat Triple H, the star of the company at the time, to take it. There's a very good chance that, had he not been injured, he would have surpassed the year mark and dropped the title to Eddie Guerrero at WrestleMania, also assuming that Eddie hadn't passed away.

Batista carried Smackdown alongside Undertaker and Edge for years. For a long time, their product was arguably superior. If you want to talk about who was second to John Cena, until Batista left he was the guy. They totally trashed his legacy in the last feud with Cena, having him go out a crybaby who gets duct tapped to the ring, and carted around in a wheelchair. Remember, he was the PWI #1 wrestler in 2005.

I'm not saying Batista is a mega-star, on par with the returns of The Rock, Hulk Hogan or Steve Austin. But he is in the top two or three of the last generation of stars, and his time off has been recent enough that he should be back in ring shape soon, if he isn't already. For what it's worth, I don't think WWE is treating him the same as Rock. At least he had to win the Rumble to get his shot. They kind of just gave it to Rock with no storyline reason, other than he came to the ring and said "I'm the #1 contender" in six months.

I think they are treating Batista with the proper respect a 4-time World Heavyweight Champion, 2-time WWE Champion and 2-time Royal Rumble winner should be treated. Like a guy who's been in some of the best WrestleMania events of the last decade, should be treated.

 

[Sid Schmid]

Here is my two cents worth .
Batista flat out SUCKS. People keep saying he 'drew', where is the evidence to support this? The bloke can't wrestle , can't talk and nobody missed him after he'd gone
He then waltzed back into the company like a megastar (something he never was or will be) and took the spot of younger, more talented wrestlers.
The real reason why he is positioned where he is is because of who he his friends with, triple h.

 

[HBKistheHOF]

I don't know If I would go as far as to say he was an upper mid-carder but I definitely agree with the majority of what was said & I've always considered guys like Brock Lesnar, Randy Orton, Edge, Chris Jericho, Rob Van Dam, Kurt Angle, Eddie Guerrero & Kane that were around during the same time Batista was to be much bigger deals than him, along with the obvious Shawn Michaels, Undertaker, Triple H, Ric Flair & John Cena.

Batista always came off to me as a Lex Luger type. Where he was pushed to the main event pretty fast because of his size/look & while he could surprise every now & again with a better than decent match, he never really belonged much in the main event & was more of a transitional or flash in the pan type of champion. Bascially just a novelty act. & I actually wouldn't mind Batista being back at all if he was treated as such. I really want to see some grudge matches like Batista vs. Alberto Del Rio. I'd also like to see Batista square off against such superstars as Brock Lesnar, Daniel Bryan, The Shield, The Wyatt Family, Damien Sandow, Big E Langston, The Real Americans, Fandango, etc. But winning rumbles matches, going after world titles, facing Orton & main eventing Mania??? No thanks.

 

[FlairFan2003]

The problem here is that when Batista was at or near the top of the depth chart, featured in the most prominent fueds and matches, ratings were much bigger that they are today, almost twice what they are today, PPV buys were up across the board and so was house show attendance. In that regard, Batista is a major star because when he prominent on the program a lot more people, by a wide margin, were watching than they are today.

How much of that credit goes to Batista and how much goes to WWE propping up much of it's year round programming during that time with much more established stars like HHH (over ten years in, prominent main eventer since Attitude Era Heyday), HBK (was a top tier guy in the 80s as a tag wrestler, a major player in the singles scene through out the 90s), UnderTaker (WWE legend, full time wrestler since the late 80s) and Ric Flair (the only guy to be a Top 5 Wrestler in both the 80s and 90s besides Hogan & Savage, one of the most popular legends of all time). Having that roster propping up the company certainly benefited WWE and Batista. The question is how much interest does his return bring now without much help from those guys ?

Fact is, guys like Hogan, Flair, as well Rock, they drew interest in their returns and propped up ratings even when the business itself was in a down turn, they may not have re ignited the greatest periods of company profits every time, but they significantly increased interest and numbers every time they returned. HHH does that now but to a lesser extent, I think Austin could still do it if he could wrestle (Flair & Hogan cant do it anymore outside a small budge in TV ratings because they cant wrestle).

Why is Batista treated/promoted like a Mega-Star ? Because when he was high in the company the numbers were an awful lot better than they are today.

Is Batista a Mega-Star ? The jury is out on that one, we'll see how interest builds now that he is back and getting a good push.

 

[FlairFan2003]

I don't know If I would go as far as to say he was an upper mid-carder but I definitely agree with the majority of what was said & I've always considered guys like Brock Lesnar, Randy Orton, Edge, Chris Jericho, Rob Van Dam, Kurt Angle, Eddie Guerrero & Kane that were around during the same time Batista was to be much bigger deals than him, along with the obvious Shawn Michaels, Undertaker, Triple H, Ric Flair & John Cena.

Batista always came off to me as a Lex Luger type. Where he was pushed to the main event pretty fast because of his size/look & while he could surprise every now & again with a better than decent match, he never really belonged much in the main event & was more of a transitional or flash in the pan type of champion. Bascially just a novelty act. & I actually wouldn't mind Batista being back at all if he was treated as such. I really want to see some grudge matches like Batista vs. Alberto Del Rio. I'd also like to see Batista square off against such superstars as Brock Lesnar, Daniel Bryan, The Shield, The Wyatt Family, Damien Sandow, Big E Langston, The Real Americans, Fandango, etc. But winning rumbles matches, going after world titles, facing Orton & main eventing Mania??? No thanks.

Luger however did very well as a Main Event Star, in fact people forget that he carried WCW during the first year of the NwO storyline because they took Sting off TV for storyline reasons and Flair was out 6 months after having shoulder surgery. They were the two biggest names on the roster to oppose the NwO surge and without them WCW basically became the Lex Luger & Friends show, remarkably doing very well. Even before the NwO story, WCW's ratings were very good, often beating RAW, and Luger was a major player alongside Savage, Sting, and Flair (Hogan was more part time during this period in 1996).

 

[kadroan]

Lack of star power.

The Rock had better shit to do this year.

Honestly it's a shame, because if he stuck around, a Batista appearance would be no more special than a Ryback or Sheamus appearance (and that's disrespectful to Ryback honestly, because ever since he's got the Bully gimmick, he's shown glimpses of star quality in his promos, on commentary, and on his Instagram/Twitter).

I guess he was a star in his Smackdown prime (a time when it was really only Taker, Mysterio, Edge and Batista), but when were you really happy to see Batista? All his feuds really revolved around Edge, Taker, Khali, etc. Another dude with muscles and corny pre-written one liners. No real gimmick.

I'm sure this thread is filled with fake businessmen who put the WWE's PR goals over their own enjoyment of the product trying to justify his position because of the publicity of being a supporting character . . . in a Marvel property that nobody outside of hardcore comic book fan knows exists. So it doesn't even really help the WWE in that aspect.

He does do what he's supposed to in the ring, I'll give him that. But honestly I would have taken Lesnar in Batista's spot, at least we would have gotten some more Heyman promo work.

Batista is really nothing special. He has no gimmick, isn't especially gifted on the mic, and doesn't have the fluidity or general aura of badassness of a Goldberg (if we're talking muscular dudes with no gimmick who just show up to beat people up).

Also does not help that he coincidentally comes back and steals the spotlight from the most over dude since the Attitude Era. And on top of that is friends with HHH, which opens up another can of worms.

I will say he doesn't dress like a bum like most wrestlers.

Maybe I'm speaking too soon, my opinion might change if he has an entertaining heel turn.

Yeah same here. I would have took Heyman. A Batista push probably been more appropriate around Summerslam when his movie drops

 

[multiverseman.com]

Lol how could you only consider him as an Upper Mid Carder when he was consistently in WHC feuds and was basically the #2 guy until his heel turn and departure?

You're not helping your case by mentioning the WHC as though it's a bigger deal than it (or was). Being the WHC meant you were the upper midcard champion. That only proves the original point.

 

[laodaron]

Not during his first run in the company, it didn't. There's solid argument that the WHC was higher than the WWE Title for quite some time.

Look at this list of WHC Champions.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_World_Heavyweight_Champions_(WWE)

That is certainly NOT a list of upper midcarders.