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Batista’s superstardom inside the squared circle led him to becoming a household name in Hollywood years later.Credit: WWE.com
Before breaking into Hollywood and achieving incredible success on the silver screen, Batista first tasted superstardom in WWE. It was there that he won multiple world championships, headlined WrestleMania and had one of the best buildups in company history.
His story is unique. As someone with virtually no prior wrestling experience upon his arrival in WWE, there was no guarantee he’d make it out of developmental.
His natural talent likely would have taken him far regardless, but it was his time in the Triple H-led faction Evolution that truly cemented his status as a star on the rise. After turning on Triple H in early 2005, he instantly skyrocketed to the main event scene and never looked back.
In the years that followed, Batista became an important pillar of the WWE product, specifically on SmackDown. His early battles with Booker T and The Undertaker proved he could hang with the elite, and his later encounters with John Cena and Randy Orton solidified his spot toward the top of the card.
In light of the 20-year anniversary of The Animal’s WWE debut that passed on May 9, let’s look back at the defining matches and moments that made him an icon.
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Despite a promising stint in WWE’s then-developmental territory Ohio Wrestling Valley, Batista’s debut on SmackDown in May 2002 as an enforcer for Reverend D-Von wasn’t exactly an encouraging sign of what lay ahead. Thankfully, that character didn’t last long and Batista was able to break off on his own later in the year.
Ric Flair’s tutelage of The Animal starting that fall was a key of his development both on- and off-screen. It also led him to being named a member of Evolution by Triple H in February 2003.
Triple H and Flair had already won countless championships by that point in time, but them taking Batista and Randy Orton under their wings was what made the group work so well. The up-and-coming duo of Batista and Orton were clearly primed for big things and aligning with two legends in Triple H and Flair would only help expedite the process.
During the official introduction of Evolution, The Game touted Batista and Orton as the undeniable future of the company. It essentially served as a stamp of approval of both men, and the audience had no choice but to buy into the hype as well.
Batista took full advantage of the opportunity and went from an unknown undercarder to a top prospect almost immediately.
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Evolution is widely regarded as one of the most successful stables in WWE because of how they were handled throughout their near-three-year tenure together. They quickly captured all the gold on Raw, dominated every division and were virtually unstoppable.
Of course, Triple H’s “reign of terror” was a point of contention among fans and understandably so, but Batista was simultaneously benefiting from being by his side for all of it. It was also incredibly fitting that he was ultimately the one to end it.
Heading into 2005, Triple H and Batista had been teasing tension for months. The crowd was slowly starting to get behind Batista and could see that he was visibly growing frustrated with his mentor.
Batista winning the Royal Rumble match that year perfectly set him up to challenge Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 21. As much of a milestone moment as that Rumble victory was, turning on Triple H during their contract signing on the February 21 edition of Raw was even more monumental for what it represented and the reaction it received.
Everything about Batista breaking away from Evolution was masterfully executed.
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Credit: WWE.com
It was no coincidence that WrestleMania 21 earned the biggest buyrate of any WrestleMania ever up to that point. It was a stacked card from top to bottom, but the build to Triple H vs. Batista for the World Heavyweight Championship in the main event sold people on the show.
Batista had the odds stacked against him with Ric Flair present in Triple H’s corner, but he didn’t let that faze him in the slightest. Instead, he fed off the roar of the crowd and took the fight to his former adviser like no one else had before.
What this match lacked in mat-based wrestling and technical holds, it made up for in sheer emotion and drama. It was a simple story that got Batista over immensely in the process.
The atmosphere for this outing was electric as the audience wanted nothing more than for Batista to beat The King of Kings and take his title from him. In the end, he was able to endure everything in Triple H’s arsenal and secure the three-count to become champion.
Batista was already a star in many ways leading up to that event, but his win over one of WWE’s greatest villains made it official.
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Credit: WWE.com
Batista winning the World Heavyweight Championship from Triple H at WrestleMania 21 was obviously the peak of their program, but they continued to feud in the months that followed.
The Animal beating his mentor once more at Backlash wasn’t enough to put their rivalry to rest. Triple H was obsessed with eliminating Batista and had one final chance to do so at Vengeance 2005 inside Hell in a Cell.
The stipulation favored Triple H, having already competed in so many prior to that point. This was where Batista had to showcase a completely different side to his personality and prove that his title reign wasn’t a fluke.
From an in-ring standpoint, this was the best bout Batista and Triple H ever had. It was brutal, it was bloody, and it encapsulated everything a classic Hell in a Cell clash should be.
They took each other to great extremes and endured unimaginable pain and punishment. A battered Batista retained his title after hitting Triple H with an emphatic powerbomb to close out the contest and one of WWE’s greatest trilogies of the century.
If Batista wasn’t legitimized before, he sure was now.
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Following his multiple triumphs over Triple H, Batista went on to reign as world heavyweight champion through January 2006, until a torn right triceps caused him to relinquish his title and miss WrestleMania 22.
He returned several months later and won the belt back from Booker T, with whom he had several solid matches. However, none of them were on the level of the gems he had with Triple H in 2005, leaving fans to wonder if he had peaked too soon.
Those doubts were wiped away when he entered a feud with The Undertaker en route to WrestleMania 23. Batista lacked credible challengers to his title at the time, and thus Undertaker was the perfect opponent for him on The Grandest Stage of Them All.
This marked a first-ever encounter between the two, which only added to the excitement. The fact it was contested for a world title didn’t stop WWE from slotting it in the middle of the card, which likely only made Batista and ‘Taker that much more motivated to go out there and steal the show.
And steal the show they did. It was a wonderful clash of titans who had better chemistry than anyone could have expected. Batista came up short that night yet still gained the respect of the audience and The Deadman himself in defeat.
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From 2005 to 2008, Batista was almost always featured in the top title picture on SmackDown. That’s why it was so refreshing when he was drafted back to Raw for the first time in three years in June 2008.
That gave him a chance to finally go one-on-one with John Cena, a man whose career closely mirrored his throughout the mid-200s. Both men walked out of WrestleMania 21 with their first world titles and became megastars, but it was obvious Cena was positioned more as the poster child of the company.
At SummerSlam 2008, no gold was up for grabs between these two. Rather, it was a straightforward singles affair to determine who the superior athlete truly was, and the crowd in Indianapolis ate up every second of it.
Similar to some of Batista’s other high-profile matches, this was no technical masterpiece, but it did tell a stellar story. They brought out the best in each other and pulled out everything in their arsenals in an attempt to reign supreme.
A single Batista Bomb was enough to put away Cena in clean fashion, leaving the door open for an anticipated rematch nearly two years later. Little did the WWE Universe know at the time the box office draws both men would become after winding down their in-ring careers.
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Although he was always a natural heel and played one exceptionally well, Batista spent a majority of his stint in WWE as a babyface. The fan backlash he was getting by the time 2009 rolled around was too much to ignore, though.
Batista and Rey Mysterio had both been involved in the World Heavyweight Championship mix in the fall of 2009. When Mysterio prevented Batista from winning the title in a Fatal 4-Way match, Batista went ballistic afterward and completed his character shift in shocking fashion.
As abrupt of a turn as it was, its execution was perfect, largely thanks to The Animal’s aggression and the way Mysterio sold the betrayal. That kicked off what would turn into one of the most entertaining runs in Batista’s entire WWE career.
It was very similar to The Rock’s Hollywood persona from 2003 in that it was brief but brilliant. Batista showed more personality than ever before, came into his own on the mic and turned the audience against him at every turn.
He closed out that chapter of his WWE tenure with three great matches with John Cena in the spring of 2010. It would have been very easy for him to rest on his laurels before calling it quits, but this period proved he was passionate about reinventing himself and staying creatively stimulated.
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Credit: WWE.com
Batista’s hiatus from WWE lasted almost four full years. In his time away from wrestling, he journeyed into acting and even mixed martial arts. It was always more a matter of when and not if he’d be back in WWE, but he was adamant about expanding his horizons and finding success elsewhere before doing so.
Fans were ready to welcome back Batista with open arms in 2014, but nearly everything about the return was botched creatively. It made sense for him to be babyface for a brief time, but assuming he’d stick in that role was short-sighted on the company’s part, and booking him to win the Royal Rumble over Daniel Bryan was even worse.
Unfortunately, Batista felt the brunt of the backlash from the fans due to the poor planning and had to turn heel in the most confusing fashion possible. To his credit, he made it work and wound up killing it in the end, including a terrific Triple Threat at WrestleMania 30.
It was him, Daniel Bryan and Randy Orton duking it out for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in the main event, and the three of them made magic. Batista was well aware the audience was extremely behind Bryan and made every effort to put him over like the big-time player he was.
In one of his most memorable matches ever, Batista did the honors for Bryan by tapping out to his patented Yes Lock and giving him his moment as the new world champ. He was one of WWE’s biggest stars throughout the 2000s, but part of Batista’s lasting legacy will be that he helped elevate others when it mattered most.
Graham Mirmina, aka Graham “GSM” Matthews, has specialized in sports and entertainment writing since 2010. Visit his website, WrestleRant, and subscribe to his YouTube channel for more wrestling-related content.
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