Is Batista the ‘real’ next big thing?
By DAVID ROSENBERG
THE WRESTLING ANGLE
You remember the phrase, the ‘Next Big Thing?’ That never fully panned out now, did it?
The guy got a huge push, nearly everyone jobbed to him and the next thing you knew (once he was asked to pay back for those jobs) he had a pair of shoulder pads on and was trying out for a team that plays in a state that some consider part of Canada.
You know the deal. He beat the Rock, Undertaker and just about everyone, then he either really got tired of the travel schedule in the business, did not want to stare at the ceiling too often or really wanted to play football.
Whichever story is true, Brock ruined what could have been a very long career that benefited him and the business.
Now, WWE is faced with another star similar to Brock. He’s also another Ohio Valley Wrestling graduate and is just as big, but there’s something different about this guy.
Of course, I am talking about Batista, and the difference is that this has been a gradual and progressive push where Brock was shot to the moon faster than you can say jump the shark. That’s exactly what he ended up doing. All that was missing was the water skis and the ‘HEEEEY!’
The fans have taken to Batista and traditional fans like myself appreciate the time WWE is taking to build him up. It reminds me of the days when at a certain Wrestlemania, you’d be able to figure out where they were going for next year and it kept you watching because you knew the ride was going to be fun.
The fans also have a big part in Batista’s push because they started cheering him on even before WWE decided to draw a line in the sand between he and Triple H.
Unless something seriously changes, it’s gonna be Batista battling Triple H for the World title at Wrestlemania. The JBL interference is just WWE swerving us… I think. Amazing if you think of it because it seemed certain around the time of Summerslam that the route they were going was Randy Orton. But it seems Triple H took care of that.
Where Randy Orton finally went over Triple H’s head to gain the gold, Batista has gone a different route. He seemed like he had accepted his role as an understudy to Triple H. But then things started to happen.
Fans started to cheer him. They liked his look and style.
The fans really like Batista and he reminds me of past power wrestlers like The Ultimate Warrior, Davey Boy Smith and Lex Luger. I actually think he resembles the guy who played Methos in the Highlander TV series.
So how did Batista get to where he is right now?
He trained at OVW under the name Leviathon, and many first compared him to Goldberg. The two even battled some time back before Goldberg’s contract expired with WWE. I do remember writing a column about how they should not kill Batista’s push by feeding him to Goldberg.
I then remember him growing hair while in OVW and then he eventually became D-Von Dudley’s lackey known as Deacon Batista. That one is pretty much forgotten, but if you remember, the Ultimate Warrior started out as Rock as part of the Bladerunners, then moved on as The Dingo Warrior before finally settling in as The Ultimate Warrior.
So this shows you can start out as a dud and then progress. Hulk Hogan was even called Sterling Golden early in his career and many a future star first donned masks to break into the business.
Batista then moved to RAW and over time became a full member of Evolution. Then Evolution took off where no one thought it would. There was a theory that it was a Four Horsemen rip-off, like other stables since original stable was formed, but Evolution survived and one reason was the great song by Motorhead.
But it really succeeded because of the quality of the four stars. You cannot go wrong with Ric Flair; Triple H is who he is; there was the young-cocky stud in Orton; and Batista sort of assumed the role of enforcer in the same tone as Arn Anderson.
The group then took every major title. But where stables are formed, a plan is nearly worked out in advance where they will break up. But Evolution was different. Only Orton strayed from the group and the rest remained solid.
But now it’s time for Batista to split from the group. Or will he? Maybe it will be a case where he wins the title from Triple H and then Triple H will learn to live with it while also devising a plan to take the title back from his own blood. To me that would be more interesting than turning Batista a full baby face and having some of his heat killed.
It’s tough to turn baby face and keep all your coolness, which is what heat really is when you turn baby face.
Rowdy Roddy Piper was able to keep all his coolness when he turned baby face. He pulled it off because he was so good on the mic and the fans just loved him.
The Ultimate Warrior lost a lot of his edge when he beat Hulk Hogan at Wrestlemania 6. Though he was not a heel to begin with, he still lost a lot of his raw energy by now having to live up to being WWF champion. In his case it was the chase that made the Warrior. When he finally became the chased, he lost his edge as a character with the general audience. But it was really the then-WWF that ruined his character. But I’m a Warrior mark and was never tired of him.
Other heel to baby face success stories includes Shawn Michaels, Hulk Hogan, Bret Hart and Taz in ECW and the aforementioned, Lesnar.
Time will tell if the patience WWE is taking with the Batista to the top story line will succeed, but I think it has already succeeded because the company has showed us it can still pull off a extended push when it really wants to. What matters most for Batista and WWE business is what happens after Wrestlemania.
2005 Source: news-journalonline.com
