Spoilers ruined Batista's return....

[d_henderson1810]

It wouldn't have mattered, because nothing matters to the fans other than Daniel Bryan.

Everyone else has been getting booed, their matches pissed on figuratively for months in support of that little troll. Punk leaving has made things worse, because not all the cheers are focused on Punk only, and no-one else.

What happened to Roman Reign's push to the top? Oh, that's right, they have to hold off on it, because no-one will care unless it is Daniel Bryan.

I am getting sick of the "Yes Movement". There are other guys (like the Shield and the Wyatts) putting on good matches, but all people care about is goatface.

It wouldn't have mattered if it were Batista, Sting, or even "Stone Cold" Steve Austin who were coming back and won the Rumble, no-one would care because the bearded shrimp wasn't in it, (even though WWE never promoted Bryan in the Rumble match, but today's fans are so narrow-minded, that they can't think of another way for someone to enter a WM main event).

 

[Mitch Henessey]

Without the video packages, yeah, there's a chance for Batista receiving a stronger reaction during his return. But as others said, after the shock factor for a returning Batista wears off, the fans would still boo the crap out of him.

WWE horribly overestimated his star power, and Batista's poor ring shape is a big problem. On top of that, the timing for his return was just horrible. First, after a four year absence, Batista returns one week before the Rumble, he wins the Rumble on Sunday, and we're supposed to buy into him as this returning hero after his run as narcissistic heel?

To make matters worse, Batista returned on the tail end of the part timer brigade. To be fair, unlike Rock and Brock Lesnar, from what I remember Batista worked a house show or two, and Batista has a handful of Smackdown appearances under his belt. Still, the fans just see another former world champion, who's back for a big paycheck to steal the spotlight from other wrestlers on the current roster.

People want to see Daniel Bryan in the title picture. And when you consider the negative backlash for Batista's return, I think it's safe to say the fans are tired of seeing former "stars" return for a nostalgia run to relive glory days as a world champion, especially when said run comes at the expense of hard working wrestlers on the current roster, who are ready for the main event.

 

[KitsuneDreamer]

I was actually kind of pumped to see Batista back, I've been a moderate fan of his for quite some time.

I just think It wasn't the right time for him to come back. Had they had him come back as a surprise opponent for DB AFTER he won at WM probably would have gone over better.

As for his ring conditioning,
I obviously knew it wasn't going to be the same guy, he is 45 after all, but he has a full schedule, so once he acclimates to the pace again, he will get better as time goes on.

(I still feel for poor Rey and that number 30 spot,lol)

 

[Reflection]

This is a very good example of how one single man's error can result in such a big repercussion. If the return wasn't spoiled, they wouldn't have to prepone it, and could instead book it as a big surprise at the Royal Rumble. If he was a surprise entrant, the fans would cheer for him by instinct. There would be no Bootista, the discontent over Royal Rumble or the feeling that Batista is stealing Bryan's spotlight wouldn't be so widespread, and the "Yes! movement" wouldn't be as huge as it is now. Bryan would be booked against Triple-H without the "winner gets added to the WWEWHC match" stipulation, and Batista vs Orton would be a normal one-on-one face vs heel match, highlighting their past feuds and rivalry.
This is like two Japanese pilots making the mistake of not destroying that one Mitsubishi A6M Zero that had crashed, that the Americans later found and figured out everything about it; or Germany stupidly asking Mexico to wage war against USA using an unsafe line, which ultimately resulted in USA declaring war on them, thanks to British codebreakers.

 

[kadroan]

Im going to keep this very short and simple.

Pretend Batista's return had not been announced or spoiled by any journalist or website or nothing.

Picture this

You're watching the royal rumble. Entry number 27.

10...9...8...7...6...5...4...3...2...1...

Batista's entrance music plays. The explosion in the arena wouldve been deafening and im talking the rock or brock lesnar type of deafening because batista isnt that old that newer fans dont know who he is. and even if he had won the rumble Daniel Bryan wouldve been forgotten for at least that very night.

I believe we ruined this for ourselves and a perfectly good angle destroyed by spoilers.

Yeah, that's the internet for you. The only way WWE could have been saved from this disaster would have been to have a co-RR winner like they did in '94. Batista and Bryan could have been the winners.

I can't justify Punk having the possibility of being champ again after having the title for 365+ days, time for something different.

 

[WWEFanWife]

I'm kind of surprised by this thread, at least 6 peeps are bashing the OP by saying "Well it wasn't leaked..."

I don't watch wrestling that much and even I know it was leaked.
An arena somewhere in Arizona(?!) was made aware that Batista was going to be on a show there and they promoted it but it wasn't WWE's intentions.

As far as your story goes I totally agree, the element of surprise would've been awesome, and like another peep said, they should've made Bryan unable to walk after his match vs Bray so that people wouldn't think there was a chance of him coming back that night.