Well i never complained back in the day about Austin and Foley, so it would be hypocritical to do it for Batista now. That means i have to wait about 5 years after Batista is retired before i can do that, lol.
Meh. The people that complain about Austin and Foley bother me too. No one complained when Austin carried the company for five years, but now that he's gone "he onlee nos fiv movez" Foley gave more blood that the Red Cross to entertain. All the hate thrown at him seems excessive.
That's fair enough, although i stand by my view that if they put him in less gimmick matches, he wouldn't take so much time off. Out of maybe 8 PPV appearances, 5 of them are usually in gimmick matches of some kind, 1 of which is always HIAC and another is always EC considering that he's been in both of the last two since it became a NWO tradition.
It's the main event. It's not like he's in MitB or anything. And I don't think one "I Quit" match shortens a career that much. He's not in TLC matches, he's just basically in different kinds of no-DQ matches. It's the ladder matches that kill you, not the stretcher matches.
That being said, EC looks like it takes it's toll, but once a year, it won't kill him.
Yes that's true. The only counter argument i could think of (and i might not be right anyway), is that the RAW ratings didn't improve between his return the night after Mania,
Unannounced return. It isn't like they were trying to draw ratings with him on that night.
NBA playoffs. This is always the low point in the ratings. WWE does better against Monday Night Football than it does against the playoffs.
They didn't improve until Ric Flair cropped up....... A-GAIN! So, in that 2 month period, Batista hadn't benefitted Raw at all. But yeah Batista>Punk
Batista doesn't hurt ratings. People stopped watching when Punk was champion. I don't blame Punk for that as much as I do the way his reign was booked.
I'd say the same for his ring work, but like i say, it doesn't really appeal to me.
This is fine. I would argue that he's a great worker and you're missing the point of his character. He's huge, so he picks people up and throws them. But it's cool if you're not into that. It's the "Batista sux cuz he's big and dose not fly" posts that sound bad. I, personally, prefer to see someone thrown than to see someone jump, but to each his own.
His character to me seems like it's simply him. Not him with the volume turned up like they used to say about Austin and Rock, but just him, and i just struggle to find a reason to care.
That's one of the things I like. Speak softly, carry a big stick. People complain all the time that the WWE uses the same gimmicks all the time. At least with Batista, he's not so over the top that it gets cheesy.
Yeah, but what i was really getting at is the way his matches end. I mean did Randy and Dave sit down with Vince Sunday, and Vince said to them:
"Ok guys, i want you to go for about 20 minutes, mostly with Randy kicking your ass Dave. Around the 14 minute mark Randy, i want you to signify that you're going for a punt, and then Dave you spear him and then Randy you spend the next 5 minutes running away. Dave counter a couple of RKOs and then Randy, you slap the ref, because that ending worked soooooo well last time, and then Cody and Ted run in, then Ric runs in and that's it."
This is so wrong. It was Hayes they sat with when this meeting happened.
Actually now i think about it, that probably IS what happened.
I'm not so bad with it. Orton used heel tactics to save his belt. The heel IC champs used to leave all the time in the middle of the match. It's the oldest heel trick in the book, getting counted out or DQ'd. I don't think it hurts Batista. They put on a good match, and now they get to do it again in a cage.
I've never been certain, but do the talent decide the end of a match or the bookers? I always thought the bookers said, 'you lose and you win after he comes out and hits you' and the rest was arranged by the talent and the talent only?
The booker can set up special circumstances, like run-ins or DQ's.
I dunno dude. Sometimes the character and the situation in the storyline can affect the promos. But then i guess when all you do is chase the title or retaliate at sneak attacks, then you're limited to what you can say.
Yeah, yelling, "You took my woman!" isn't very effective prose in a feud over someone getting kicked in the head, unless the headshot caused brain damage.
But nearly everything to do with the promos. Plus i don't think we'd have had so much going on in the lower mid card if the 'Attitude' hadn't come around. Think of all the jobbers and loveable losers that wouldn't have lasted 10 seconds in WWE if they hadn't had things like the Hardcore Title? Crash and Hardcore Holly, Al Snow and God knows how many ex-ECW talent would have really struggled without that, for instance.
Some holdovers from Attitude still exist, most notably, jobbers with personality and HHH. This current era is a combination of everything from the last 20 years. Undertaker and Kane are still cartoons, HHH is still feuding with Stone Cold in his mind, Vince thinks he can swerve and bump ratings two points. We just need to find a new focus, and move the company that way. Huge guys who act as themselves, don't say much, and take car eof business in the ring seems like a good idea. Judging by how over Batista is with 90% of the audience, I'd say this is the right direction.
He moves very well for a 40 year old man. Most athletes retire at 35 because their bodies can't handle it anymore, and none of them take the beating he does. They have an offseason, Batista doesn't. He gets huge pops, doesn't kill ratings, doesn't kill story lines with offensively bad promos, and seems like he's going to stay out of trouble. Seems like someone to hate to me.
