Is The Animal Returning?

[FitFinlay4Life]

I have just read an interview with Dave Batista in British Wrasslin Magazine, FSM.

Now, beyond the usual stuff of discussing his past and his current acting ventures, he had some interesting things to say about the PG product and a possible return.

After describing what appears to be a busy filming schedule ahead, he was asked about this affecting a possible return...

Dave Batista
If I had to pick between acting and wrestling, it'd be a no brainer with the latter coming out on top.

When asked if it was the PG move, injuries or the schedule were behind his retirement. He was quick to dismiss injuries and the schedule. He praised luminaries like Austin, Rock and DX who were the standard when he entered the business and had this to say about the current product...

Dave Batista
The show now seems a little hokey to me, and when I'm watching I don't believe that anyone on-screen is truly a tough guy. These guys are not my heroes; the Miz is not my hero and is not someone I am ever going to take seriously. He doesn't entertain me, and it's just stuff like that which makes it hard for me to connect, and relate to the product. I can't make people believe in it all if I don't believe in it, either.

Now, despite this damning indictment, Dave has also stated that...

Dave Batista
It wouldn't really matter to me what time of year it is. Some of the guys only want to go back because it's WrestleMania but that's not me. If I go back it's because I have good guys to work with, such as Hunter or the Undertaker.

Now, maybe it's just me but he seems to be sending out mixed messages here. Talking about wanting to return and how much he loves the industry whilst roundly criticizing the current product. I also find it strange that he singles out the Miz for particular abuse considering that he had such high profile feuds with guys like Eddie Guerrero, Shawn Michaels and Rey Misterio.

So, what does everyone else think? Are we likely to see a return from the Animal in the near future and, if so, what odds Mr Mizanin for his first opponent?

 

[Cosmic Hate]

He does have a point to a degree.

While I don't entirely agree with the whole "you must be a giant hulking monster to be a wrestler," it does help to have big muscly guys in the ring as your stars. Face it: Miz ain't intimidating anyone, and while smaller guys like Shawn Michaels, Chris Jericho, Bret Hart, and Brian Pillman are able to get over, you can't have an entire show filled with smaller dudes.

Also the means of getting over have been becoming less and less badass don't ya think? Theatrics can help just as well as victories. Stone Cold drove trucks into the ring and beat up his boss despite the cops being around, and Triple H drove a tank into WCW with the DX army. Mark Henry just beats up a bunch of people, and the Miz cheats EVERY MATCH.

 

[Red Head With Attitude]

I would like to see a return some point in the future but I'm not sure if I can see it happening right now from what he has said. However the mixed messages could mean one in the future possibly. Also from what he has said, yes if he did come back I could see a feud with The Miz if he feels that way, I think that would be a pretty interesting feud also.

 

[bwaller2525]

Batista never entertained me. As a fan, I prefer Miz over him any day of the week. I don’t give a shit about a guy being huge and tough, I care about a story and I care about being entertained and the Miz does both things very well.

That being said, Batista will be back eventually but it’s my understanding he is filming Scorpion King III right now so a return before 'Mania is unlikely.

 

[TheBigRedMachine]

It honestly hope he doesn't return. I never thought he had any mic skills, and to me he really wasnt all that good of a wrestler either, he was just big. The WWE will be better without him imo.

 

[ccotreau1]

I agree that majority of the wrestlers today aren't like what we saw in the early 90s and huge muscle heads, yet you had guys like Bret Hart and HBK, Savage, and Steamboat, who helped pave the way for todays "smaller" wrestlers, and at least Bret Hart, who was a little ahead of HBK (at least he had been when they both broke off on their own) and that Bret helped HBK advance where they both were smaller guys who both could perform better than most of the previous era stars

 

[closet_fan]

i don't think he'll come back. he already bashed a bunch of the wrestlers and said his character wouldn't work in the PG era, which he also hates.

why come back to something you hate?

 

[Harddyboy77]

He may be behind the whole 1/2/12 thing.Think about it.He's making the same comments that Jericho is making.He is in the new game but Jericho isn't.

 

[H33LTurn]

I agree the current product doesnt have the presence of the tough guy past its unfair to single out a specific superstar who is doing what hes told as opposed to guys who we know have a creative pull backstage and have played their role in shaping the WWE into a more PG place. I dont think its that much of all guys looking bulked up and having a bad attitude as much as having variety and saving the top spot for people who have actually earned instead of guys who fufill a storyline.

 

[ShakilKingofKings]

Batista never entertained me. As a fan, I prefer Miz over him any day of the week. I don’t give a shit about a guy being huge and tough, I care about a story and I care about being entertained and the Miz does both things very well.

That being said, Batista will be back eventually but it’s my understanding he is filming Scorpion King III right now so a return before 'Mania is unlikely.

He finished filming for that film quite a while ago (the film is already available to watch), so it could be him, but it won't be.

It seems that he's trying to keep his foot in the door about working with guys like Undertaker or HHH who come from an era he 'gets', rather than going up against smaller guys who rely more on their charisma like Miz. I can see him returning next 'mania.

 

[lazeric]

Honestly I think a lot of ppl missed the point he was making. He wasn't calling Miz out he was simply stating how having him as a go to heel wouldn't have worked in the attitude era. WWE makes Miz's character into a cheating coward but in a lot of his matches he goes over cleanly, that breaks his cred as a heel and makes him less believable. Honestly I think Dave will return sometime this year becuz of 2 import reasons:
1. He isn't the superstar The Rock was when he left so he won't be headling any big budget movies nor is he the accomplished athlete like Lesnar so I doubt UFC comes calling anytime soon
2. Vince is gnna offer him big enuff money and with HHH running things more he'll have more say so over his character than ever before
It'll be interesting to see how things unfold if he does return becuz some ppl hate to admit it but the guy is a major talent. Maybe they have him return as the guy Johnny Ace is always texting I wouldn't mind a Batista vs CM Punk fued.

 

[Cosmic Hate]

Batista could return if he's convinced that WWE is changing into a more edgy product where his character can truly shine. I believe he's just frustrated that Wrestling is now targeted mainly towards kids instead of towards 18-35 year olds. Kids don't pay for PPVs or merchandise on a consistent basis, and because there's a misconception that kids are so impressionable they'll kill each other if they see blood in a cartoon show the stories can't be as edgy or envelope-pushy. Batista will not work in the WWE while it tries to pander a product to a demographic it was never meant for.

 

[HBsam31]

Ok, now I know Batista has had some brutal matches with HHH and Undertaker in cages and cells, but how on earth is he fooling everyone into thinking he was some pioneer of the attitude era? This whole topic confuses me to be honest. I can't remember a single cutting edge promo he cut, nor do I remember him being very good on the mic at all. His retirement speech entertained me, but come on. I am not a Batista hater either. I loved his coming up feud with HHH and was glad he got the wins against him, but his importance is greatly exaggerated in his own mind and obviously in some of these fans minds. The only difference we would see in Batista today is he wouldn't have the brutal bloody matches he had in the past. To his credit I do agree that the stars of today are a little less believable as heros, but other than that I wish he would just stay away.

 

[Cosmic Hate]

Ok, now I know Batista has had some brutal matches with HHH and Undertaker in cages and cells, but how on earth is he fooling everyone into thinking he was some pioneer of the attitude era? This whole topic confuses me to be honest. I can't remember a single cutting edge promo he cut, nor do I remember him being very good on the mic at all. His retirement speech entertained me, but come on. I am not a Batista hater either. I loved his coming up feud with HHH and was glad he got the wins against him, but his importance is greatly exaggerated in his own mind and obviously in some of these fans minds. The only difference we would see in Batista today is he wouldn't have the brutal bloody matches he had in the past. To his credit I do agree that the stars of today are a little less believable as heros, but other than that I wish he would just stay away.

Batista's got one thing though: The marks. He was fun to watch, even if he wasn't a technical mastermind. He put on a good show and everyone loved him.

He's not a pioneer of the Attitude Era and doesn't believe he is, he's just not willing to be family friendly.

 

[Loveless]

Ironically the last time I saw him it looked like someone had stuck in a washer-dryer on too high a heat. I'd take Miz over him a fight looking like he did.

 

[greginator5000]

I think that Batista is coming back. Because Batista was on that WWE Interaction a few weeks back and said that he was in nigotiations with the WWE to come back.

 

[HBsam31]

Batista's got one thing though: The marks. He was fun to watch, even if he wasn't a technical mastermind. He put on a good show and everyone loved him.

He's not a pioneer of the Attitude Era and doesn't believe he is, he's just not willing to be family friendly.

Ok i can agree with you on this. It just seems that he thinks he was more cutting edge than he actually was, but I will relent my point a bit by agreeing he doesn't want to be family friendly, and I would actually respect him for that.

 

[kokoBawesome]

1/2/12 could be Batista. The Rock is filming a movie right now, and he can take off every few Mondays to pop by..... like every 12 Mondays or so. Maybe closer to four times a year.

Just being a dick, sorry but you set me up so well.

I'm just got done watching the Batista I Walk Alone dvd on Netflix Instant and it ends with him saying that he wants to be a wrestler forever and that he loves it. Clearly this is for the camera, but its funny that this came up seconds after this thread popped up.

I'm inclined to think he will return if not for the fact that he's a shitty MMA fighter, most likely a below average actor, too old now to be a competitive body builder, and eventually much like Foley and Flair will tell you.... you gotta pay property tax on the mansion in Florida somehow.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

If WWE offered Batista enough money, he'd come back in a heartbeat. Nobody could blame him for that at all. At the same time, I don't look for him to be back anytime soon. John Cena vs. The Rock is set for WM, right now it's looking like it's going to be Taker vs. Triple H II with HBK as the special guest ref, it's also looking likely that Shaq will take on Big Show at WrestleMania, there's the outside chance that Brock Lesnar MIGHT be open to appearing at WrestleMania though I personally doubt it. There's been talk of CM Punk vs. Chris Jericho for the WWE Championship, etc. WM is still a long ways off and I agree that changes can and will happen to varying degrees. However, it looks like the big money matches are already or are close to being locked for this year.

In recent weeks, Batista has blasted the WWE product as well as several wrestlers. For a while now, Batista has criticized WWE's "direction" and has repeatedly said he doesn't do "PG wrestling". As I've said in other posts, I don't really buy into Batista's anti-PG stance due to the fact that he stayed in WWE for over 2 years after it originally went PG. WWE officially went PG back in April 2008 and Batista didn't leave WWE until post WrestleMania XXVI.

During that time period, Batista was a main eventer, he was headlining big ppvs, he was wrestling for and winning World Championships. I don't recall hearing very many criticisms of the PG Era while he was on top. I think Batista's biggest problem with WWE's new direction doesn't lie with the PG direction so much as it does with who WWE has pushed. I think that Batista kind of saw the writing on the wall and saw that WWE was going to be bringing up guys to higher profile spots in the company that were far more talented than Batista. I agree that most of them don't have the sort of intimidating physical presence of Batista, but Batista almost seems to think that's where it should end. Nevermind if a wrestler has charisma, can cut good promos and can deliver high quality wrestling matches night in and night out, if he happens to be 6'0" and only weigh about 210 lbs, then that seems to counterbalance all of those positives in Batista's mind. I'm not saying that Batista had some sort of ESP that allowed him to see just who the WWE would be elevating and when, but I do think that he saw that things were changing in WWE and that he could possibly be in danger of losing his spot.

To me, Batista has never been all that entertaining. He was almost painful to listen to on the microphone for most of his career and most of his matches never really did anything for me. Not that most of his matches were abysmal or anything, but I just never saw anything special in Batista apart from his look. Taking that way, Batista had nothing to bring to the table. Sheamus, CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, Dolph Ziggler, Cody Rhodes, The Miz, Alberto Del Rio, Christian, Mark Henry & Zack Ryder are wrestlers that've been elevated in the WWE over various points in the past couple of years. In my view, from an overall perspective, are far more entertaining to watch do their thing than Batista ever was. I wouldn't take 20 Batistas for 1 CM Punk quite frankly. The big guys mentioned, the ones that bring the physical look of a world class ass kicker like Sheamus & Mark Henry, can bring the exact same things to the table that Batista can but are 10 times better at doing it than he was.

Compared to the vast majority of the guys WWE has really pushed or elevated in the past few years, Batista looks like he's standing still.

 

[kingkulin02]

For those saying Batista was not entertaining than u r wrong. I am not a hige fan or nothing but as a Heel Batista was awesome especially in that final feud with Cena at Wrestlemania 26 it was some of his best mic work n I think it was the pinnacle of his character to become entertaining but he left that was dumb move on his part but if he comes back with that same mic work n uses it now it would be golden n his mic work during that feud was pretty entertaining go to youtube n search I hope he returns cause atleast we can believe Batista will hurt someone or is a threat unlike Miz lol!!!

 

[Arsenal]

I agree with what Batista is saying. He is correct that the current product is lackluster. There's no way I can take the Miz and Daniel Bryan seriously as legitimate threats, partly because of their lack of "build" and partly because they look small and weak compared to previous champs, including the "small" guys you compare them to like Randy Savage, Bret Hart, and Shawn Michaels who all looked bigger and badder than Miz and Bryan do.

I also would like to see Batista come back. His heel run at the end was VERY entertaining, and he brings star power the WWE sorely needs back right now, because currently they have a weak roster that can't draw, which is why they're relying on The Rock to sell WrestleMania.

 

[JohnJohnson]

Batista might not have had the most charisma or the best mic skills, but he wasn't horrible on the mic and he did bring a great deal of energy with him to the ring. He was very intense and when he wrestled he made his moves look high impact. His role was a powerhouse and he played it very well. His mic work wasn't bad at all and I like the way he built up his turn on Evolution. Besides that, it's not like there are many people with good mic work anyways. Most heels will either bash fans or brag about themselves. It's easy to do and a cheap/uncreative way to build heat. Most faces just come out smiling and stand up to the bad guys. I think the problem he has with the PG era is that everything is made generic for the kids to understand. If the kids watched the attitude era they would be confused about who was the good guy and who was the bad guy because they all had their own characters and most weren't so obvious. For example, look at guys like Sheamus and Mark Henry. Both were big guys that were booked as brutal monsters, but when they became faces they would smile all the time. Look at air boom, they have to come out and smile and show the kids the value of team work and getting along. It's all dumbed down and generic.
And we all know that there are several guys in the past that were smaller. But even they were muscular and looked like wrestlers, plus had something to offer. Macho man was jacked up and very charismatic, HBK was shredded and was great in the ring, Bret Hart was still bigger than most top guys on the roster now and was one of the best technical wrestlers period. A lot of the guys that look good in the ring now only look good because they are wrestling the same match all the time and because everything else is watered down. All of the guys that are "golden" on the mic would be either average or shit back in the attitude era. The charisma isn't there anymore. So the argument isn't really there for them being small but good in the ring and full of charisma(at least not for most). And even though there are a lof of decent small guys doesn't mean that the roster should be full of them. In the NBA there are several short players that are/were great(Iverson anyone?), but the majority of them are tall because that is advantageous in that sport and that's what we all think of when we think of basketball players. When people think of pro wrestlers they think of big strong guys that can slam and throw other big strong guys around. Batista looks like a pro wrestler. Miz(since he used Miz as an example) doesn't look like a pro wrestler. I don't think Batista's problem is that he won't be booked at the top. I think his problem is that he will have to pretend to get beat up by guys half his size just because they speak fluently. Ziggler, Miz, Truth, Rhodes, Ryder, Punk, Air Boom combined, ADR....none of those look like they can believable hurt Batista and pin him down for a 3 count. HBK was able to pull it off because he was able to make his matches look believable. That's why he is considered one of the best. He sold really well and could adapt to his opponents to put on a good match. None of those guys I listed could put on a 60 minute match. Not because of cardio either, but because they can't adapt and change it up. Within 10 minutes they'd have completely used their entire arsenal.

 

[TheGreatLegend]

I have just read an interview with Dave Batista in British Wrasslin Magazine, FSM.

Now, beyond the usual stuff of discussing his past and his current acting ventures, he had some interesting things to say about the PG product and a possible return.

After describing what appears to be a busy filming schedule ahead, he was asked about this affecting a possible return...



When asked if it was the PG move, injuries or the schedule were behind his retirement. He was quick to dismiss injuries and the schedule. He praised luminaries like Austin, Rock and DX who were the standard when he entered the business and had this to say about the current product...



Now, despite this damning indictment, Dave has also stated that...



Now, maybe it's just me but he seems to be sending out mixed messages here. Talking about wanting to return and how much he loves the industry whilst roundly criticizing the current product. I also find it strange that he singles out the Miz for particular abuse considering that he had such high profile feuds with guys like Eddie Guerrero, Shawn Michaels and Rey Misterio.

So, what does everyone else think? Are we likely to see a return from the Animal in the near future and, if so, what odds Mr Mizanin for his first opponent?

All those guys you named were Wrestlers not reality stars who pretend to be a tough guy. I can't take Miz seriously either. Miz is the same guy who used to say "Hoorah" on Smackdown in 2005 and some days ago he was getting beaten up by Alex Riley and now all of a sudden Miz recently "Took out" R-Truth and John Morrison which I think was a complete failure on WWE's part to make Miz look like a tough guy.

BTW I agree with Batista. Today's WWE is really hokey. Since PG came WWE has been childish. Batista last fued with Cena was really a letdown on WWE's part in which they made Batista look really week. I hope Batista returns to WWE though. He will be a great addition to the starpower which WWE is lacking nowadays.

 

[SimonH82]

I for one did not like what the WWE did to the Batista character...they made him a Rock-Lite without the mic skills.

I would want to see the Animal...a monster heel who attacks people for no reason...done!

 

[Cats Pajamas]

Bautista has a ton of things to say about WWE post career, but I'm still not sure which way he's headed. I'd assume he wouldn't mind coming back if the money was right.

I can easily see his point with the Miz, though, sorry to all the Mizards out there. There is absolutely nothing about him that says "tough guy". I watched his title reign closer than most, just because I was so unconvinced by him and was hoping for WWE to show me a magic trick that made him look legit.

I'd like to see him back for a while though. Not all that much against Miz, more so against Sheamus or Barrett, that'd be Hollywood. His last feud with Cena was pretty good in my opinion.