Second Round: San Francisco - Diamond Dallas Page vs. Batista

[klunderbunker]

This is a second round matchup in the San Francisco Subregion. The ring and arena are universal throughout the first round and the organization is not a factor. There is a 20 minute time limit. Vote using any criteria you like. Most votes in the poll at the end of the time period wins. In the case of a tie we will go off of the number of written votes. In the case of a second tie, both are eliminated. Assume one week has passed since the first round match.

Location: Cow Palace, San Francisco, California.

Diamond Dallas PAge

Vs.


Batista

Voting is open for 4 days.

 

[Hulkamaniac]

Man, DDP got himself a lucky draw through this tournament so far. He deserves to go over Batista again, although it's a relatively close match up. DDP was maybe the second most over guy in the world one time, and this is exactly the type of match he would win kayfabe style. Over a monster heel who's not quite the top of the food chain. After kicking out of a Batista Bomb, Dave whips Page off the ropes for a spinebuster. DDP counters it in mid-air to a Diamond Cutter and pulls off the come from behind win. Again, a very lucky draw for DDP thusfar in the tournament.

 

[Ferbian]

I think in this match, while DDP might be able to put on a decent fight for Batista, Batista on a kayfabe view would be destroying DDP in less than 10 minutes, Batista is a beast, and he'd probably dominate DDP throughout this match.

From a wrestling ability standpoint, certainly it's pretty clear that DDP is gonna be the upper hand in that, because well, we all know Batista isn't the greatest guy in the ring, but I still think he's put on some decent power house matches, that (while some may disagree greatly with me) in my eyes has been pretty good, especially his matches with Triple H (who he defeated every time by the way.. + to Batista) and John Cena has proved to be what I would even go as far as to call great matches, also with The Undertaker, who he has also beaten (not at Wrestlemania although, but he put up a match that definitely had Undertaker on the edge if you ask me)

As opposed to DDP, certainly you could argue that he's faced some pretty tough guys in Nash and Goldberg to name two, but while Goldberg is definitely the definition of intensity and brutality, I still think Batista has a little bit of an upper hand from a kayfabe view for the whole fact that he's been mentored by two of the best, one of them who could even give a run for his money in this tournament, Triple H.

Batista it is.

 

[GenMe]

DDP is great in the ring, but I think that Batista stronger and smarter than DDP. DDP will put on a good match like he always does, this two man would have give us a hell of a match. I think that at the end of the match Batista will come out with the win.

Vote for, Batista.

 

[Turd Ferguson]

What I find interesting about this matchup is that these are two guys who both started real late in their wrestling career (30s) and both had successful runs in their 40s. Despite being considered "old" for the business, both guys also had World Title runs, and were huge stars that their respective companies built their company around. This is a very interesting matchup between two franchise players.

I'm going to give the nod to DDP here. Sure, Batista has the size advantage, but it's not like that's stopped DDP before. DDP in his prime thrived off of being the underdog. He worked for everything he had, unlike Batista, who was rescued from undercard hell by his buddy Triple H. DDP did some of his best work as both a face and a heel, whereas Batista's best work only came as a heel. DDP also made a career off of slaying some of the biggest stars in this business, both popularity-wise and in size.

Some of the guys who DDP has beaten:
Hulk Hogan
Randy Savage
Eddie Guerrero
Curt Hennig
Chris Benoit
Bret Hart
Paul Wight
Kevin Nash
Sting
Goldberg
Ric Flair

He's also won the WCW Title in two fatal 4 ways:

1.) DDP defeated Hulk Hogan, Sting and Ric Flair
2.) DDP defeated Kevin Nash, Goldberg, and Sting

The fact that he came out the winner in two fatal four ways against some of the biggest stars WCW has to offer is very telling of how good a wrestler he was. That above list of people he's beaten are legends of this business... that was when they were all still very much top stars of WCW. Why can't he beat Batista, who is not as good as any of the guys listed above?

DDP does what he does best here. He'll work his ass off to victory, pulling off the huge upset as he always has done, and he'll continue on to the next round.

 

[Big Nick Dudley]

Have to go with DDP here. The man put on a lot of gutsy performances in his career, and I don't think this would be any different.

Batista is a powerhouse. He's bigger (not much taller) and stronger than Page. He would probably dominate most of the match. Page could get some offense in, but Batista would own him physically. But let's not forget how resilient Page was. The guy could take a beating, and hit a Diamond Cutter out of nowhere to pick up the win. This match would be, IMO, a prime example how being able to nail the cutter out of nowhere gave Page a great advantage in just about every match he was in. Page hits the Diamond Cutter in surprising fashion, gets the pinfall.

 

[The Brain]

I think DDP may be slightly overrated. I admit I didn’t watch a whole lot of WCW so maybe I’m not giving him enough credit. I remember him being a lower mid card guy struggling in feuds with Dave Sullivan and Johnny B. Badd. Then his good buddy and neighbor Eric Bischoff took over and suddenly DDP was hanging out with guys like Karl Malone and Jay Leno. I know DDP isn’t the only guy to have his friends help him to the top so I don’t want to hold that too much against him. I just don’t seem him on Batista’s level. I see DDP as a popular top contender who can take a champion too the limit, but despite his title reigns I don’t see him a championship material. Batista gets my vote here.

 

[Big Sexy]

I think DDP may be slightly overrated. I admit I didn’t watch a whole lot of WCW so maybe I’m not giving him enough credit. I remember him being a lower mid card guy struggling in feuds with Dave Sullivan and Johnny B. Badd. Then his good buddy and neighbor Eric Bischoff took over and suddenly DDP was hanging out with guys like Karl Malone and Jay Leno. I know DDP isn’t the only guy to have his friends help him to the top so I don’t want to hold that too much against him. I just don’t seem him on Batista’s level. I see DDP as a popular top contender who can take a champion too the limit, but despite his title reigns I don’t see him a championship material. Batista gets my vote here.

You're knocking DDP for having Bischoff as his friend and thus giving him a push, yet you say nothing about Batista and his friendship with Triple H and Ric Flair. DDP at least worked hard in the mid card for a years before going up to the main event. Batista had a short stint as D Von's bodyguard and then was thrust right into the limelight with Evolution. Overall I think DDP had more success and I also believe he was far more entertaining so my vote goes to him.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

In my view, DDP is pretty overrated. I never really bought into him as someone that was a main event caliber guy. DDP was gutsy and would take on anybody WCW put in front of him, but he's not nearly as good as some have tried to make him out to be. DDP had some big wins over some big names in WCW, a lot of them , however, were well past their prime. Page's runs with the WCW World Heavyweight Championship were utter jokes and took place when WCW was really starting to go south. He held the title for a total of 28 days so I certainly can't think of him as a dominant champion and his third reign was ended by David Arquette.

Batista is a beast. The guy is nothing but sheer, raw strength and power. He's had some pretty good matches and he's had some downright shitty matches. He's been a dominant competitor in the WWE since about 2004. His first few runs with the World Heavyweight Championship were pretty dominant and his first one ended due to him having to give up the title due to injury.

Overall, I've never been overly wild about these two. Batista is almost universally hated by the IWC and DDP is one of the most overrated talents in WCW during the 90s. While I honestly do think Batista would ultimately be too strong for Page to overcome, there's also no way I can vote for a man who lost to David Arquette.

 

[The Brain]

You're knocking DDP for having Bischoff as his friend and thus giving him a push, yet you say nothing about Batista and his friendship with Triple H and Ric Flair. DDP at least worked hard in the mid card for a years before going up to the main event. Batista had a short stint as D Von's bodyguard and then was thrust right into the limelight with Evolution. Overall I think DDP had more success and I also believe he was far more entertaining so my vote goes to him.

I don't know how close Triple H and Batista really are. That seems to be more of a tv friendship. I also said I know others have had success because of friends in high places so I wouldn't hold it against DDP too much. You're right Batista had a short stint as D Von's bodyguard and was thrust into the limelight. What's wrong with that? Look at the guy. He has main event written all over him. Why should he spend years in the mid card when he doesn't have to. DDP spent years in the mid card because he is more of a mid card guy than Batista is. Just because DDP worked hard in the mid card for years and Batista didn't doesn't mean he's better. In fact I'd say that's a point for Batista. He was a star pretty much from the start and didn't have to stuggle for years like DDP did.

 

[Big Sexy]

I don't know how close Triple H and Batista really are. That seems to be more of a tv friendship. I also said I know others have had success because of friends in high places so I wouldn't hold it against DDP too much. You're right Batista had a short stint as D Von's bodyguard and was thrust into the limelight. What's wrong with that? Look at the guy. He has main event written all over him. Why should he spend years in the mid card when he doesn't have to. DDP spent years in the mid card because he is more of a mid card guy than Batista is. Just because DDP worked hard in the mid card for years and Batista didn't doesn't mean he's better. In fact I'd say that's a point for Batista. He was a star pretty much from the start and didn't have to stuggle for years like DDP did.

Batista has a main event body but I wouldn't say he is a main event talent. With the exception of his recent heel run I've never liked his promo skills and although his ring work isn't horrible he isn't exactly good in that regard either. He had some good to great matches with Cena, Taker, and Triple H but not too many of his matches stand out. I was a big WCW watcher around the time DDP was near his peak and he was always good in the ring. He was also insanely over and could really work the mic.

EDIT: I do think DDP is slightly overrated but I still think he's better then Batista.

 

[Little Jerry Lawler]

You're knocking DDP for having Bischoff as his friend and thus giving him a push, yet you say nothing about Batista and his friendship with Triple H and Ric Flair. DDP at least worked hard in the mid card for a years before going up to the main event. Batista had a short stint as D Von's bodyguard and then was thrust right into the limelight with Evolution. Overall I think DDP had more success and I also believe he was far more entertaining so my vote goes to him.

You must be confused with correlating Evolution to limelight. Batista was a midcard guy from the time he debuted to WM 21 even he was in Evolution. Batista's 2004 PPV matches consisted of him teaming with Flair, Bad Blood against Jericho, and Summerslam against Jericho and Edge in a triple threat matches. That's all that I can remember. Batista was hardly featured in matches as part of Evolution. You can use that argument with Orton but not really with Batista.

In my view, DDP is pretty overrated. I never really bought into him as someone that was a main event caliber guy. DDP was gutsy and would take on anybody WCW put in front of him, but he's not nearly as good as some have tried to make him out to be. DDP had some big wins over some big names in WCW, a lot of them , however, were well past their prime. Page's runs with the WCW World Heavyweight Championship were utter jokes and took place when WCW was really starting to go south. He held the title for a total of 28 days so I certainly can't think of him as a dominant champion and his third reign was ended by David Arquette.

Batista is a beast. The guy is nothing but sheer, raw strength and power. He's had some pretty good matches and he's had some downright shitty matches. He's been a dominant competitor in the WWE since about 2004. His first few runs with the World Heavyweight Championship were pretty dominant and his first one ended due to him having to give up the title due to injury.

Overall, I've never been overly wild about these two. Batista is almost universally hated by the IWC and DDP is one of the most overrated talents in WCW during the 90s. While I honestly do think Batista would ultimately be too strong for Page to overcome, there's also no way I can vote for a man who lost to David Arquette.

Batista has had shitty championship reigns to be honest with you. His title defenses against HHH and JBL were average and don't get me started with him and Eddie Guerrero. His second title reign was no good either with him being in tag team matches because he was shit when he came back from that injury. Bringing up David Arquette means nothing because he was booked to win that match. HHH lost to Brooklyn Brawler and JBL lost to The Blue Meanie. Do I hold that against them? No I don't and that holds for DDP as well.

 

[The Brain]

Batista has a main event body but I wouldn't say he is a main event talent. With the exception of his recent heel run I've never liked his promo skills and although his ring work isn't horrible he isn't exactly good in that regard either. He had some good to great matches with Cena, Taker, and Triple H but not too many of his matches stand out. I was a big WCW watcher around the time DDP was near his peak and he was always good in the ring. He was also insanely over and could really work the mic.

EDIT: I do think DDP is slightly overrated but I still think he's better then Batista.

Fair enough. I said in my first post that I didn't watch a lot of WCW. From what I saw DDP had great charisma, but he seemed to be a step behind the bigger name guys. I don't think he was on quite the same level as Hogan, Sting, Savage, and some of the other top name guys. Batista on the other hand fits right in with Cena, Triple H, and Taker. We can vote on any criteria we choose and I personally am not taking mic work into consideration much here. I think Batista gets a lot of unfair hate on the forums. He's not as bad as he's made out to be. I just don't see the DDP of 1999 going over the Batista of 2005.

 

[Big Sexy]

You must be confused with correlating Evolution to limelight. Batista was a midcard guy from the time he debuted to WM 21 even he was in Evolution. Batista's 2004 PPV matches consisted of him teaming with Flair, Bad Blood against Jericho, and Summerslam against Jericho and Edge in a triple threat matches. That's all that I can remember. Batista was hardly featured in matches as part of Evolution. You can use that argument with Orton but not really with Batista.

He was in a group with the biggest name in the WWE in Triple H and one of the biggest legends in wrestling history in Ric Flair. He was constantly getting involved and interfering in main event matches on Triple H's behalf. He may not have been going one on one with a bunch of main event guys, but he was most certainly in the limelight.

 

[Coco]

I'm going to give the nod to DDP here. Sure, Batista has the size advantage, but it's not like that's stopped DDP before. DDP in his prime thrived off of being the underdog.

Well, that makes sense. It's not as though Batista has a history of beating guys who are considered underdogs.

Unless you count Rey Mysterio, a man who got only one pinfall victory of Batista when Big Dave decided to be merciful for his little buddy. Every match they've had before and since then has ended with Batista looking like the better man, sans a cage match. The facts: This match isn't in a cage and the odds of Batista showing mercy to DDP are low.

Batista > Rey Mysterio

How about Shawn Michaels? Well, when Batista faced Shawn before his prime, Shawn barely walked away with a victory... A victory via a pinfall that caused a reverse decision a month later when Shawn went for the World Championship. Thus, the match with Batista in 2003 was also a reverse decision. Matches between the two in Big Dave's prime? Shawn got one victory via cheap tactics at Backlah 2008. Two months later, the two met again. You'll find Batista learns his lessons well after his opponents try to screw him over. He broke Shawn Michaels in half.

Batista > Shawn Michaels

How about John Cena? Oh, that's right. Aside from Shawn Michaels, Triple H, and The Great Khali, Batista's the only man to defeat Cena clean since February 2004. That's impressive.

Batista is at least equal to Cena, something DDP wouldn't be

So, why would DDP being the underdog help him here? Batista destroys everybody, including underdogs.

He worked for everything he had, unlike Batista, who was rescued from undercard hell by his buddy Triple H.

Oh, fuck off. Talk that shit all you want, but the main event of WM21 was in the books as Orton vs. Triple H for ages. Orton flopped and Batista caught on. Batista was pushed accordingly. It was the farthest thing from a political move.

DDP did some of his best work as both a face and a heel, whereas Batista's best work only came as a heel.

You lie.

Batista stayed over as a mega-face for years with a fickle crowd, his heat faltering only when he faced The Under-fucking-Taker. He was that over. In that time, he drew big money with Triple H in a dead wrestling industry and tore the house down with the likes of Undertaker, John Cena, Eddie Guerrero, Mysterio, Shawn Michaels, and more, looking the their peer rather than the useless oaf his haters would have you believe.

If that's not good work, I don't know what is.

You're talking absolute shit.

DDP also made a career off of slaying some of the biggest stars in this business, both popularity-wise and in size.

He said as though Batista isn't one of the only man in recent times to get clean wins over John Cena and The Undertaker and run over Triple H three times.

He's also won the WCW Title in two fatal 4 ways:

1.) DDP defeated Hulk Hogan, Sting and Ric Flair
2.) DDP defeated Kevin Nash, Goldberg, and Sting

Is this a fatal four way? I didn't get that memo.

The fact that he came out the winner in two fatal four ways against some of the biggest stars WCW has to offer is very telling of how good a wrestler he was.

Or how lucky he was to be booked in such clusterfucks. I

n case you didn't notice over the last five years, people don't get lucky against Dave Batista at 100% in standard one-on-one matches.

Even DDP supporters know your kayfabe arguments for DDP are crap:

If you're voting strictly kayfabe, I can understand a vote for Batista

 

[jmt225]

Diamond Dallas Page, all the way.

DDP was the better wrestler, champion, character... the better everything when being compared to Batista. He had better matches, and better feuds. Everything about DDP's career > Batista's.

People have been riding Batista's jockstrap lately because he's been a little entertaining in his heel role. Outside of that and a couple of good matches against GREAT wrestlers, he hasn't offered us anything else except shit. Why should I vote for someone like that over someone like Diamond Dallas Page, who entertained us all throughout his WCW run? There's no reason whatsoever. If you're voting strictly kayfabe, I can understand a vote for Batista, but in no other fashion should someone give their vote to him, unless they know absolutely NOTHING about WCW during their prime and latter years.

 

[Turd Ferguson]

Coco,

We all understand you're a Batista nuthugger. It's fine. I understand why you had to unleash your inner Michael Cole and rush to his defense to proclaim him as the greatest professional wrestler of this generation. I stand by that list of names in my previous post. Basically nobody went over nWo Hogan. DDP is one of the few who did. Go ahead and bring up Mysterio, Michaels, Cena, and The Undertaker. The list of names I brought up that DDP went through in WCW are legends of this business, and far more impressive than what Batista has done.

If DDP was "lucky" to be booked in those clusterfucks, then why did he go over both times? You're making it sound like he was an afterthought, he won the WCW Title in those circumstances.

DDP was so good that he could adapt his style to take on any opponent, whether it be technical whizzes like Bret Hart and Chris Benoit, a giant like The Giant, and the biggest wrestler of all time, Hulk Hogan. He succeeded against anyone WCW threw at him.

Oh, fuck off. Talk that shit all you want, but the main event of WM21 was in the books as Orton vs. Triple H for ages. Orton flopped and Batista caught on. Batista was pushed accordingly. It was the farthest thing from a political move.

Fact is, Batista was still a member of Evolution at that point, and the only reason why he was hired by the WWE to begin with was due to his physique. DDP looks like Joe Dirt's older brother. He had to work his way to the top by starting off as a manager and being on the losing end of many feuds early in his career, with the worst arguably being to THE BOOTY MAN. Batista always had a pipeline to superstardom due to his physique. DDP had to work for everything he had. That's what you weren't grasping.

 

[The Brain]

Fact is, Batista was still a member of Evolution at that point, and the only reason why he was hired by the WWE to begin with was due to his physique. DDP looks like Joe Dirt's older brother. He had to work his way to the top by starting off as a manager and being on the losing end of many feuds early in his career, with the worst arguably being to THE BOOTY MAN. Batista always had a pipeline to superstardom due to his physique. DDP had to work for everything he had. That's what you weren't grasping.

This looks like more of an argument FOR Batista. "DDP looks like Joe Dirt's older brother." That doesn't sound like a compliment to me. "He was on the losing end of many feuds." Good argument against DDP. "Batista had a pipeline to superstardom." So why would he loose to someone who struggled for so many years when he was an instant success? Don't forget DDP's pipeline to superstardom ran through his good buddy Eric Bischoff's backyard.

 

[It's...Baylariat!]

Umm.. fuck both of these guys. I'm not voting for either one of these hacks. Batista is flat out bad overall. This year and his year with Evolution and breaking away from them were great, but overall, he's awful.

And DDP is THE most overrated wrestler I've ever seen. According to these forums, he can beat anyone at ANYTIME because of the Diamond Cutter or because he's 'charismatic'. Give me a break. He had as much ring skill as the Disco Inferno and half the charisma. Now, sure they both draw good money and were main events for a while, but I don't base my decisions on that.

I base them on if they were in an actual match against someone and what the likely outcome would be. And I don't give a good fuck what happens with these two. Can we have a double countout via botched Batista Bomb that tears Batista's quad and sprains DDP's neck? That's my finish.

Vote for dignity. Abstained.

 

[Turd Ferguson]

This looks like more of an argument FOR Batista.

lol

"DDP looks like Joe Dirt's older brother." That doesn't sound like a compliment to me.

It wasn't meant to be. Look at him. Does he have the look of a superstar and a World Champion? No. That would be a detriment to most wrestlers. Not DDP. He worked his way to the top despite his scraggly look.

"He was on the losing end of many feuds." Good argument against DDP.

You missed the part where I said "Early in his career". At least try to be respectful here and stop trying to twist my words around.

"Batista had a pipeline to superstardom." So why would he loose to someone who struggled for so many years when he was an instant success? Don't forget DDP's pipeline to superstardom ran through his good buddy Eric Bischoff's backyard.

Batista was NOT an instant success. He was in a dead-end as Reverend D-Von's muscle until he got hooked up with Flair as his manager. And the entire wife-swapping thing with Bischoff? That's hearsay, much like those crazy Macho Man statutory raping Stephanie rumors.

 

[deem]

Yeah, I take Dave. I prefer DDP, but Batista's dominance in the ring is insane. Sure, DDP has pulled off some memorable upset victories in the past - There is a reason they are considered upsets, his record isn't that great.

He isn't the size of Mysterio or Michaels, he is a big guy. They are only considered upsets because, kayfabe, he isn't that good.

On the mic, character, I love him. And yeah, he is a guy that won't back down. Like a jobby version of Cena. Batista is probably the guy that has dominated the real Cena the most since his prime, that's enough for me.

I vote for Batista because Batista wins kayfabe.

 

[The Brain]

lol

You missed the part where I said "Early in his career". At least try to be respectful here and stop trying to twist my words around.

Batista was NOT an instant success. He was in a dead-end as Reverend D-Von's muscle until he got hooked up with Flair as his manager. And the entire wife-swapping thing with Bischoff? That's hearsay, much like those crazy Macho Man statutory raping Stephanie rumors.

First of all I am one on this forum who is always respectful. Just because I disagree with you does not mean I disrespect you. I wouldn't try to twist someone's words. Seems kind of silly since anyone can go back and read exactly what you wrote.

Secondly you said Batista had a pipline to sucess. Now you say he wasn't an instant success. If he was in a dead-end early in his career like you now say then you should praise him for overcoming it like you do DDP.

Lastly I honestly have no idea what you're talking about with the wife swapping. I just meant DDP and Bischoff were good friends. Your post is the first time I've ever heard anything about wife swapping. I don't even know if you're serious or this is just part of some joke that I'm not aware of.

Bottom line, in my opinion, the DDP of 1999 would not beat the Batista of 2005.

 

[8thwotwATG]

I am not a fan of either one of these two , but for the purposes of Kayfabe, Batista and Page stay even for a little bit of this, but then Batistas' overall superior strength and size begin to catch up with DDP,A powerbomb ends things with Dave getting the win. This being said, I won't be the slightest dissapointed if DDP goes over here either.

 

[ScreaminNormanSmiley]

im going to have to go with ddp here. i do admit im biased here as i hate batista and was a big ddp fan back in wcw. i do believe he was a better performer though. they both were champions and went over giant names in the business and neither of them were around for long so i cant use that as an argument. i do think ddp was better at promos and much better in the ring, and i know he wasnt a technichal master but he could put on very entertaininng matches and i can hardly stand most of batistas so it wasnt to hard of a choice for me.

 

[Coco]

Coco,

Guy.

We all understand you're a Batista nuthugger.

Stop destracting from the issues.

It's fine. I understand why you had to unleash your inner Michael Cole and rush to his defense to proclaim him as the greatest professional wrestler of this generation.

Stop destracting from the issues.

I stand by that list of names in my previous post.

The one that included Hennig and WCW Eddie Guerrero?

Wow. I'm sold.

Basically nobody went over nWo Hogan.

I would say in kayfabe terms, Michaels, Taker, and Cena are all made to look stronger than nWo Hogan as they don't require some of the suspect booking that he did.

Thus, Batista wins out over DDP.

If DDP was "lucky" to be booked in those clusterfucks, then why did he go over both times? You're making it sound like he was an afterthought, he won the WCW Title in those circumstances.

Multi-man title matches are used VERY frequently to give so-so guys victories without actually giving them victories. You did notice Swagger's first title defence, right? How about Punk's last year? Both triple threads.

Such clusterfucks don't really give anybody a whole lot of credibility.

DDP was so good that he could adapt his style to take on any opponent, whether it be technical whizzes like Bret Hart and Chris Benoit, a giant like The Giant, and the biggest wrestler of all time, Hulk Hogan. He succeeded against anyone WCW threw at him.

Your point is nullified by the fact that Batista has done it more consistently for longer than DDP did.

Fact is, Batista was still a member of Evolution at that point, and the only reason why he was hired by the WWE to begin with was due to his physique.

WWE hires nameless body builders all the time. Not every one of them that they hire is born to be Batista. Just because you don't like people who are hired because of their looks, doesn't mean it's a proper knock against him.

DDP looks like Joe Dirt's older brother. He had to work his way to the top by starting off as a manager and being on the losing end of many feuds early in his career, with the worst arguably being to THE BOOTY MAN. Batista always had a pipeline to superstardom due to his physique. DDP had to work for everything he had. That's what you weren't grasping.

I grasp it. I'm just not seeing why "hard work" automatically makes him better.

Also, Batista didn't have that pipeline. WWE frequently releases many nameless body builders. Your point carries no weight.