Do I have a lot to talk about or what? Did you feel that on Raw? I’m positive you felt it. The entire night had the most unusual feel to it. The whole night felt like Batista’s night and only Batista’s night. I think WWE planned it that way. I paid little to no attention to the one hour, forty minutes of filler, I wanted to get to the biggest part of the night, and hoped that WWE didn’t decide to tease more and more over Batista’s turn, because they’ve been doing it for almost three months now. Monday night was a history-making night for WWE, for Wrestlemania, and for Batista, most of all.
But, what about what it took to get Batista here? It has taken a LOT to find someone to replace Benoit on that pedestal as the top babyface champion on Raw, who could go head to head with Triple H for the title. Let me give you a timeline:
March, 2004 – Only days after Benoit’s epic title win at Wrestlemania 20, Shelton Benjamin got the chance of a lifetime, and took on Triple H in a match on Raw. The date was March 29th, 2004. The time was approximately 11pm EST. The finish? Shelton propells himself onto The Game, and rolls him up… 1… 2….. 3!!! He did it, he BY GOD did it!! Shelton was The Man, baby. Afterall, Ric Flair’s words hold true all these years. To be The Man, you got to beat The Man. Shelton beat The Man, and became The Man. But, Shelton’s main-eventing just wasn’t meant to be.
After a month of feuding with Triple H and Evolution, Shelton just didn’t have that same spark that he had on March 29th, nor has he got that spark since. He was demoted to mid-card status, and then was put out of action with an injury, with really hurt his chances of becoming the top guy on Raw. When he came back, he fought hard, and in October, Shelton claimed his second piece of gold, with the Intercontinental Title. It was a great victory that Shelton still celebrates today. He has held the title for over four months now, and someday, I’m sure The Guy Briefly Known As The Man (sorry, I couldn’t resist) will be The Man again.
May 2004 – As crazy as it may sound to someone who only started watching wrestling in October or November, Eugene was definitely a top contender on Raw, and definitely a shoe-in to be the next top babyface. How did this angle go so well so quickly, and then crash and burn just as quickly? Let’s take a look at the short-lived main-eventing that Eugene did a few months ago.
It all started with The Rock. I am positive some will argue that Eugene was always popular, The Rock was just a big stepping stone for Nick “Eugene” Dinsmore, but it’s the truth: The Rock created Eugene The Man. Before that, Eugene was just a nice guy with some great talent in the ring, but not much of a chance to show it off in big matches for even bigger titles. But, on that night, in that ring, The Rock and Eugene showed off amazing chemistry. It was just so unreal, that I don’t even remember anything that exciting in the past three years since I started watching wrestling again. You can also say this helped out The Coach’s character a bit, but who are we kidding? The Coach didn’t need any help getting put over!
Then, someone in the back said “Hmm… Eugene said his favorite wrestler was Triple H. Let’s use this special nugget of information to our advantage, and create a truly brilliant angle that a few will truly enjoy, and the rest will loathe greatly. It’s our best way to kill off Eugene, without actually killing him off.” Laugh all you want, if you are laughing, and I truly doubt you are, but that must have been the thought process of the people who came up with this story.
Eugene was brought in by Evolution, only for leverage for Hunter to get his precious World Title back. It was a truly genius plotline, but alas, it went over like a big, ol’ lead balloon in the WWE. Eugene went out there representing Evolution, and I don’t know whether they booed him because he was in Evolution or because they hated seeing Eugene get top attention on the show. When Eugene finally turned on Evolution, it could have become the big stepping stone for Eugene. Instead, his match at Summerslam against Hunter was a bust, as Hunter beat Eugene and shot him down to mid-card status.
August 2004 – As one candidate for the top face spot on Raw was killed off, another one was born. Chris Benoit and Triple H held a feud that last six months, and never could Triple H defeat Benoit. Randy Orton got the chance to face Benoit at Summerslam, and he became the World Heavyweight Champion. The very next night, it all went south for Orton, as he prepared to celebrate with Evolution, but was met with a big thumbs down, followed by a brutal beatdown to the youngest champion ever (looks like that moniker does spell death).
Weeks passed, while Orton overcame all odds to always get the better of Evolution, and I don’t know why I thought anything else would occur at Vengeance. But, in any event, Triple H defeated Orton in September, and regained that precious gold. Orton’s reign ended, and it looks like his last piece of gold for a while. Triple H got himself assurance that he wouldn’t need to worry about RKO for a while, and Randy was forced not to face Triple H for the title as long as this title reign occurred. At Taboo Tuesday, Randy Orton headlined the night against Ric Flair in an amazing Steel Cage match. It looked to be going Orton’s way.
In November, Eric Bischoff lost all patience with Evolution, and announced that at Survivor Series, it would be Team Evolution vs. Team Orton for a chance to helm Raw for four weeks (each team participant having one week as GM). Hunter, Batista, Gene Snitsky and Edge were the participants for Team Evolution, and on Team Orton, we saw Randy Orton, Chris Benoit, Y2J and Maven. It came down to Hunter and Orton, the confrontation we ALL wanted to see. It ended with a truly brilliant finish, where Hunter had the pedigree locked in, and on the very last split second, Orton reversed it and RKO! 1… 2… 3!!! Unbelievable.
Maven and Chris Benoit had their shots at Hunter, and to be honest, I never expected Maven to win, although I had hopes for Benoit. But, Benoit ended up facing Edge instead, after Batista supposedly turned on Hunter then, but it was “The Big Con”. Then, Randy Orton set up a Battle Royale against Triple H, and the winner would become the World Champion. Well, that’s what everyone thought. But Vince came out, and announced it would instead be just a Battle Royale, and the winner would face off against Hunter later that night. Benoit and Edge set up this big double elimination, and it was a triple threat match, where Benoit AND Edge seemed to win the title. Time passed, and when Bischoff returned, he announced the Elimination Chamber would decide the champion. And Randy Orton got his chance back, as Hunter’s title reign had ended, so he could fight for the title in the chamber. But, the first of many teased Batista turns ended up being just nothing, and Orton got screwed out of the title yet again. But, Batista was oddly enough getting pops from the fans.
At the Royal Rumble, a lot was riding on Batista and less on Randy Orton. Orton got that title shot, but it came two months too soon from when everyone believed it would be, and it also ended differently than everyone believed. Orton lost the match (expectedly, once Batista started getting popular), and currently becomes the third casuality of the past year of people that WWE wanted, so they could succeed Benoit as the top babyface champion on Raw.
This all leads to the current situation of WWE Raw: Batista’s title shot at Wrestlemania 21 against Triple H. I want to put all my faith into Dave Batista, and believe this is the real deal, but who really had no faith in Orton back in September? Not quite the same for Eugene, because the idea of Eugene being a main-eventer was and still is ludicrous. But Orton had it. Love him or hate him, the majority believed it was dead-set that Orton would be taking on Triple H at Wrestlemania 21. Okay, with one month till Wrestlemania, it’s doubtful Batista won’t be facing Triple H. But, say the crowds die down once the title is on Batista. What then? WWE hasn’t had a consistently solid babyface in a long time. The Rock, Steve Austin, The Undertaker (not the new-old persona), Hulk Hogan… they need a new top face that can rally the fans each and every week in a HUGE way. Batista has it now, but will he keep it?
What exactly is going in Batista’s favor? He’s dominant. He turned on his top authority (something that payed off for Austin a few years ago). He can work with a wide variety of superstars (don’t forget his interaction with JBL, Big Show, John Cena, The Cabinet). The crowds adore him already. He’s this close to being the next World Champion. And what tries tipping the scale against Batista? Minimal mic skills. No guarantee of Batista’s ability to carry the show as the top face. No clear sign that Batista will lose a match, and still be just as popular. The mic skills concern me, because The Rock was phenomenal on the mic. Austin’s mic work, while not perfect, was made possible by his excellent efforts in annoying the heel that he was talking against. So, will Batista someday be compared with the legendary faces of WWE? Or, is Batista just another passing fancy for the WWE fans? Well heck, let me know! Tell me if you think Batista has staying power, or if Batista’s bubble will burst in a few months. E-mail me at carl_macqueen@ns.sympatico.ca!
Like Raw, I saved the best part of the show till last. I’ve been hyping it up like Raw did, and now it is time to give my two cents on the final segment of the night, The Batista Contract Signing. I didn’t comment at all on the rest of the show, because, let’s be honest: it was Batista’s show, without even showing up until the last 20 minutes. It didn’t feel like a regular Raw, it felt like a very special Raw, focusing on Batista. Didn’t you just love the segment where Batista overheard Hunter’s confession about orchestrating the attack on Batista with JBL’s limo? It pretty much all but secured the Big Animal’s big turn on Evolution.
So, we hear the cases of Eric Bischoff and Teddy Long (he’s been showing up a lot, but I was hoping for more than just Linda allowing him to keep his job on Smackdown!), and they make some convincing cases. What I still don’t understand is the heat on Bischoff, when he is clearly trying his best to be more of a babyface GM than a heel, but maybe the fans are just deadset against cheering the former WCW guy.
Then, it seemed to be going in Smackdown’s favor, as Hunter pleaded his case for Dave to head over and take on the WWE Champion and the other hot commodity in wrestling, John Cena. Like Hunter always does, he gave an awesome, heartfelt speech that would convince many guys to jump ship and take on two major WWE players, and then to sweep across a completely different roster of competitors, like Eddie Guerrero, Kurt Angle, Big Show, Orlando Jordan, Luther Reigns, and Rey Mysterio, just to name a few hot Smackdown competitors.
And, it was time. Dave took the microphone, and told Hunter quite bluntly that he has known what he wanted to do for a long time. He examined those contracts, and throws the Raw contract to the ground. Bischoff is noticeably and understandably upset, and Evolution celebrates with the trademark thumbs up. But, this time, it was the thumbs down from Batista. Hunter and Flair are shocked, and Batista’s stern, serious expression says it all: he is there for no one but himself, and he’ll fight whoever the hell he wants. And he wants to fight Triple H at Wrestlemania 21. Hunter tries to attack, but Batista is quicker and takes both Flair and Hunter down, before giving Hunter a HUGE Batista Bomb through the tables. Batista is staying on Raw, and he wants the World Title.
If you told me five months ago that Batista would be the biggest guy in WWE, vying for the World Title, going on to face Hunter at Wrestlemania 21 INSTEAD of Randy Orton, I would have laughed in your face, and told you to go on your way. But here we are, months of build-up, and we are in the midst of a huge push on Evolution’s former Animal. I remember seeing the singles competitor Batista, after his Deacon run on Smackdown, and before his Evolution days, and I saw a big guy with a big future. But as time went on, I saw more of a failed opportunity, and I lost hope that Batista would be anything more than a second fiddle or a body guard. But, Batista has improved so much, and given us so much heart and soul that I can’t help but think he will be the real deal. He will be the true next big thing. He won’t be another Brock Lesnar. He could be the next Stone Cold or the next Rock. Am I crazy? Perhaps. But, I’ll be more than thrilled to see a babyface that is HUGE. Benoit, Jericho, Guerrero… all big faces. But a HUGE babyface? Batista could be it.
Well, that is my look back, and even my look ahead in WWE. Batista’s turn was the biggest news story so far this year in wrestling, and will undoubtedly be on my Top 10 List at the end of the year. I hope we get another amazing Raw, but hopefully it won’t just be Batista’s Show, like last week. I had a lot of fun writing this column, and hopefully you’ll have just as much fun reading it. Be sure to e-mail me about my question on whether Batista will be the real deal, or will Batista fizzle out in a few months. I’ll be off watching The Academy Awards (go Million Dollar Baby!), and until next time (most likely Wednesday), I’m Mr. X saying it’s good to be home again on NoDQ.com, and it’s good to be home as well at Wrestlepain and The Wrestling Voice! Buh-bye, everyone!
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