Who's Better?

[Dragon Chief]

Well with the reformation of Evolution, it is fitting to discuss out of the two wrestlers who were meant to go through this evolving process, Randy Orton and Batista, who ended being the greater wrestler within the stable. Both have pretty much been around the company for the same amount of time, Randy Orton having about four more years than Batista. However, for the time Batista was in the WWE he was always relevant, whereas Randy Orton had a few road blocks here and there.

Simple question here, who created a better legacy in the WWE, Randy Orton or Batista?

 

[Y 2 Jake]

Batista. Orton is a better all rounder, but when you look back over the career of each who will have more defining moments? I struggle to think of many for either to be honest. Both have a good body of matches and angles, but I don't see much highlight reel stuff from either.

Batista was THE man in WWE for a short period of time. Orton, despite his multiple world title reigns, never has been.

 

[Thewweera]

I would say Orton. He has had 12 years in the WWE, MITB winner and won more world championships. He is a far greater in-ring worker, and as said above, is a better all rounder.

 

[Mongoose McQueen]

Randy Orton won more championships but Batista had the better career overall IMO. Batista from 2005-2010 along with John Cena was the top guy in the business. I would say Cena and Batista were neck and neck in terms of being the man, although Cena was obviously the "true" man, Batista was a very close second. Batista is better on the mic, Orton is better in the ring.

I feel like Orton replaced Batista as the number two guy when he left in 2010, as a babyface and obviously that was a complete flop. Batista has always been better as a heel IMO but he is not completely intolerable as a babyface like Randy Orton was.

That's not to say that Orton has not had a good career, he certainly has but he's never been on the same level as Cena and Batista.

 

[The Life Of Pablo Ren]

I really don't agree with the people that say Batista has had the better career... I don't see it all actually.

They clearly put more focus on Orton in the original Evolution and then once Orton broke away from the group that's when they really started focusing on Batista.

2003 - Orton had the better year, though it isn't saying much.

2004 - Orton clearly had the better year, IC Champ, youngest World Champion.

2005 - Batista had the better year but let's not forget that Orton feuded with the Undertaker for the majority of that year.

2006 - I say it's even. Orton had a pretty forgettable 2006 but Batista was injured for over half of it.

2007 - I'll give the edge to Batista considering Orton didn't really come on strong until late 2007.

2008 - Orton had the better year. Granted he was injured from about May to August? But he was still the WWE Champion for the first four months of the year. The only thing I remember Batista doing in 2008 was having an 8 day title reign.

2009 - Orton, Orton had the best year of anyone in the company.

2010 - You know, even though Batista "quit" in May... I'm gonna say he had the better year. He made a pretty big impact in 2010 whereas Orton really just floated around until he became WWE Champion in September.

So that's 4 for Orton, 3 for Batista and 1 tie. And the more I think about it, the more I feel I should give 2010 to Orton because I'm forgetting a few things, but I'll leave it at 4/3/1.

I really do think Orton has had the better career just by that, and I'm not even bringing up the stuff he's done since Batista left.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

In my opinion, Randy Orton's by far the better wrestler. Whether it's talking on the mic or wrestling inside the ring, Randy Orton is simply FAR, FAR superior to Batista. Orton's had great matches against John Cena, Chris Benoit, Triple H, Edge, Shawn Michaels, CM Punk, Chris Jericho, Sheamus, Alberto Del Rio, The Undertaker, etc. while the vast majority of Batista's matches, no matter who they were with, just didn't thrill me all that much. Aside from his look, I've never seen anything particularly special out of or about Batista.

 

[BeastFromTheEast]

I'd say that all around Randy Orton is by far the better and more successful WWE superstar. He is great in the ring. He can actually sell for other people not just make his own moves look good. He has been around for a long while without any kind of long hiatus. That pretty much says it all for me.

 

[cmedge]

I'm gonna say Batista at this point.

Batista was always the bigger star than Orton, in 2005 when Batista and Cena were the top guys Batista for that year was the bigger star than Cena. Rarely anybody since 2005 has been a bigger star than Cena.

Orton has always been vastly better in the ring than Batista but on the microphone Batista has him beat. Since 2009 or 2010 and onwards Orton has sucked on the microphone. Orton might be better than Batista but he was never a bigger star than Batista. Batista has always been a close second to Cena in both of their respective careers. That's why their feuds in 2008 and 2010 were so much huger because it was the two biggest stars in Wrestling going against eachother. Edge and Orton were top heels but Cena and Batista were the top faces both number 1 and 2 guys in the company.

 

[Pedigree1]

Orton all day any day. Orton is clearly the better talker,and technical wrestler. Orton is a 12 time WWE/WHC champion. Batista for a short period of time,sure had his moments is a six time WWE/WHC champion.. But outside of batista being muscular,nothing was special about him.. Orton though,is a genetic machine and clearly heads and shoulders above batista.

Batista had maybe one or two great matches in his career,while Orton battled HBK,Cena,Trips,Taker,Jericho,ADR and all of them were great matches!

 

[Softcore Holly]

Hm, topic title is kinda off. "Who had the better career" would've been more fitting, oh well.

Anyway Orton is a easy choice for me in both cases. In the ring Orton is clearly the better wrestler and had a ton of amazing matches. Of course Batista had some great matches as well, but not as many or as memorable as Orton's.

Mic wise Orton is the winner there too. Batista never really stood out on the mic until his last run as a heel, during his Evolution days he was practically mute and once he went out on his own as a face he really wasn't anything special. Orton on the other hand had some amazing promos in his career, especially during his 2009 run. Admittedly mic time during his last title run has been pretty boring since he had to play lapdog to HHH/Steph, but that's still pretty good compared to the current "Deal with it" thing Batista's doing right now.

 

[BestWrestlingOpinions]

I have to say Orton. I like both Orton and Batista, especially their 2005-2010 years. In fact, Orton was my favorite guy back then. With that said, Orton is miles ahead in the ring (probably in the top 10 performers ever) and is decent on the mic. So, as far as in ring performance goes, Orton has the upper hand.

I remember Batista being the main man on Smackdown a lot of time, and in my opinion, he was pretty enjoyable. His feuds with Edge and the Undertaker have been ones that come to my mind when I recall great rivalries, but I can say that Orton's psycho-crazy persona, the great storyline when he was the champ at 2009 can top anything Batista has done.

Orton had amazing matches with Cena, HHH, Punk, Jericho, Jeff and so on. Batista had his, but Orton has just had better.

Yeah, Orton's 2009 was so amazing and nothing Batista has done comes close to that. In fact, Orton at 2009 is one of the best storylines WWE has pulled out during that decade.

 

[thorwald]

Asking this in about 2007 the answer would have easily been Batista. Asking it after Mania 26 when Batista left, and his reputation, and general popularity was on the wane, and Orton miiiiight have the edge... Asking it now the pendulum really has swung Orton's way. He's improved a great deal in the thing, and while I still think Batista on the mic is the far superior of the two, he's not done anything yet to suggest he's gotten any better when it matters most.

 

[JJ15776]

I have to say Orton. I like both Orton and Batista, especially their 2005-2010 years. In fact, Orton was my favorite guy back then. With that said, Orton is miles ahead in the ring (probably in the top 10 performers ever) and is decent on the mic. So, as far as in ring performance goes, Orton has the upper hand.

Come on now. Randy Orton isn't a top 10 performer TODAY. He's never been a top 10 active performer at any point in his career. He's barely top 10 in his own family all time. He has Batista beat, sure, but that's not saying much...it's like saying Batista is light years ahead of Orton on the mic. It's not something to brag about.

Yeah, Orton's 2009 was so amazing and nothing Batista has done comes close to that. In fact, Orton at 2009 is one of the best storylines WWE has pulled out during that decade.

It was one of the best storylines during the decade, for sure. Unfortunately, an even better one was the rise of Batista in 2004-2005. That obliterates anything Orton has ever done or could ever dream of doing. It wasn't just one of heel go best of the decade, it was one of thr best in the history of pro wrestling.

To answer the question, Batista hit a peak that Orton will never approach. That very few in the history of the business will ever approach. Batista was THE face of the company for awhile. Yes, even ahead of Cena briefly. Remember, Batista won the Royal Rumble instead of Cena in 2005, and Batista was the one who main eventer WrestleMania 21 instead of Cena, when they were both winning their first world title. Obviously, Cena caught up with him shortly thereafter, and kind of pulled ahead when Batista got hurt the next year...but Batista was always a very strong #2, or a 1A. That's something Orton just can't claim. His face run was a disaster, there's no doubt about that. He wasn't just behind Cena, he was behind Sheamus as well. Think about that. Sheamus was a bigger face than him.

On the other hand, Orton has the longevity. While there have been times that Orton was suspended, and times when he was depushed and put in midcard tag teams with Edge, he's never taken a significant amount of time off.

So do you take a 10 year career with ups and downs, or a 6 year career that hit an incredible height but disappeared of the face of the Earth? I won't tell somebody they're wrong to taking the former, but give me the latter any day. I'll take the face of the company, even if he's not around as long.

 

[MCMG]

Orton is better in the ring. Orton is, overall, better on the mic. Orton is a bigger draw too. I like Batista. He is a good pro wrestler but he simply isn't as good as his peer in Evolution.

I say Orton is better in the ring but Batista has produced some classics with the same opponents. He was far more experienced than Orton but his WM match with Taker was fantastic. As was his couple of matches with Cena although they were probably on par with Orton's.

Overall, I'll say Orton but that is no disservice to Batista.

 

[JoVilla21]

People will remember Batista before they remember Orton and to me, that's what matters. Jericho and Edge have more championship reigns than Austin but people remember Austin before them. Batista was in Cena's league, and at first, it was Cena who was in Batista's league.

Orton, to me, is more like the Triple H of this era. A reliable stable main-eventer, multiple title reigns, top heel from time to time but was never THE Guy; always 3rd at best.

 

[Dagger Dias]

Overall, I would say Randy Orton. Batista had a much better career in his initial run but leaving for 4 years hurt him. During this time Randy Orton kept improving and adding to his list of accomplishments. He's won more titles and accomplished more in WWE than Batista has at this point. Let's take a look at each of their list of bragging rights.

Randy Orton
World Heavyweight Championship (4 times WHC, 8 time WWE)
World Tag Team Championship (1 time with Edge)
WWE Intercontinental Championship (1 time)
Royal Rumble (2009)
Money in the Bank (2013)
Leader of Legacy stable
Unified the WWE and World Heavyweight Championships

Batista
World Heavyweight Championship (4 times WHC, 2 time WWE)
WWE Tag Team Championship (2 with Flair, 1 with Cena, 1 with Mysterio)
Royal Rumble (2 time 2005, 2014)


When you look on their list of accomplishments, Orton's is far superior. Batista was a bigger star a few years back, but when all is said and done Randy Orton's career will be looked back on as being the better one overall. Orton has created a better legacy for himself (no pun intended) than Batista and I doubt that the years remaining in their careers will change that in Batista's favor. That's not to say they won't both reach legend status, Orton is just more successful.