I really like Dave Batista

[Full Moon]

It has to be said. After the Evolution breakup and his feud with HHH ended at WM 21, I think a lot of people had him written off as a "hoss" who's appeal would burn out during his title reign, before being relegated to midcard hell for the remainder of his career.

As we can see, that has been far from the case. I think he's really stepped up his game. And I'd actually much rather watch a Batista match than anything involving HHH, Orton or Cena on Raw.

His promos have improved - from the calm and collected guy in the Armani suits, to the raging animal that we saw putting HBK in his place back in April. He has worked his ass off to improve on the mic, and it shows.

He has the look that WWE covets without being an immobile hoss - his inring work is much better these days than perhaps ever before.

From his amazing entrance (watch the look of passion and energy on his face everytime he comes through the curtain) to the shaking the ropes, the Batista bomb and his finish, there is just something electric and pumping about him that I don't get from Cena. Now granted, a lot of this is to do with characters - Cena portrays more of the cool, laid back hero while Batista is more of the aggressive "Animal Unleashed". But still, there is something much more interesting and exciting to me when I hear "I've walked for miles inside this pit of danger", compared to the groans I give out when I hear those depressing horns and "Yaba-daaaaa!"

Furthermore, look at Undertaker's last two Wrestlemania matches, vs Batista at 23, and vs Edge at 24. I don't think the two even come close...Big Dave helped pull a CLASSIC out of Undertaker. The crowd were on their feet for every two count, every high spot. Many fans came out of the PPV feeling that this match should've rightfully been the main event, while many came out of 24 feeling that Taker-Edge probably belonged lower down the card.

Just thought I'd throw out a little love for Big D.

[Hart Foundation]

I really don't like Dave Batista

But to each his own

[MGH]

That's cool. I mean I still don't like him, but it's good that you do. Means you're enjoying a little more of the product than I am.

[DASH 243✅]

I don't mind big dave he's meh to me. I agree with moon though he has had som good wrestlemania matches.

[Dave at the Movies]

I don't think Batista is bad. In fact when I first saw him in WWE as Batista and Ric Flair became his manager I really did kind of like him because I had no clue he was in such good shape when he had the deacon suit on.

I think it is more his backstage stuff that people don't like about him rather than his actual wrestling. He is a friend of HHH which is a minus and he got in a fight with Booker T and considering Booker T is liked by just about everyone on the Net at the time I think that is when most of the poeple turned on Batista.

[Gillberg: 0-175]

I liked him before they switched him to Smackdown. And I liked Cena before they switched him to RAW.

Go figure.

[KAMALARAMBO: BOOMSHAKALAKA!!!]

No mom, you don't understand I really like Dave Batista.

[Evil Jan Otto]

Jun 19, 2008 13:34:04 GMT -5 KAMALARAMBO: BOOMSHAKALAKA!!! said:

No mom, you don't understand I really like Dave Batista.

Yes, son, you have a homosexual attraction to Dave Batista. We hear you.

[Vince's Torn Quads]

I don't hate on Big Dave as much as some do. In fact, I agree that his promos have improved recently - but that "Basketballs!" line will always haunt him. As will "...weapons aren't just encouraged... they're allowed...". It just annoys me that a guy who is so limited in-ring can get such loud pops - he doesn't have the star quality to deserve it. But all the kids and women going "omg Baptista look at his muscles he is sooo hawt" don't seem to care.


I don't like Cena either, except all his women and children fans love him for his association with hip-hop and mistakenly believe he is cool. He can be good on the mic, but recently he seems to keep making me want to stick my fingers down my throat with his "I love this business, and you the fans, I have great respect for Triple H" etc etc promos.

[Clash, Never a Meter Maid]

I don't mind Batista himself, allegations and rumors aside.

I have a little trouble taking his character seriously at times and he really needs to leave the Smackdown main event scene for a while, but I can tolerate him. I still think he needs to be carried half the time, though.

[Lenny: Smooth like Keith Stone]

I like Batista too.

Sure I participate in the jokes against him, like I have made several jokes about weapons being encouraged, basketballs, etc. But I just do it in fun, since he seems to walk right into those traps sometimes. But at the end of the day, I think Batista has had far better matches than I think he gets credit for. Is this because he wrestles against guys like HBK and Undertaker who can help get better matches out of him? That's entirely possible. But even if that's the case, there's no denying that he was in fact having good matches. There have been loads of guys over the years who could not have a good match, even when they had HBK and Undertaker as opponents.

[Hart Foundation]

Jun 19, 2008 13:44:46 GMT -5 Vince's Torn Quads said:

I agree that his promos have improved recently - but that "Basketballs!" line will always haunt him.

I think I missed something, what is the Basketballs line?

[machinegun]

I always disliked him until his match with HBK

Really turned the tables for me. Actually enjoy his work

[Vince's Torn Quads]

Jun 19, 2008 14:02:05 GMT -5 Hart Foundation said:

Jun 19, 2008 13:44:46 GMT -5 Vince's Torn Quads said:

I agree that his promos have improved recently - but that "Basketballs!" line will always haunt him.

I think I missed something, what is the Basketballs line?

It followed a segment where Khali was using his vise grip (I like to call it the head squishy) to deflate a basketball. Then he did it to burst a melon.

Anyway, Big Dave went nuts the next week going "Basketballs! Don't! Hold! Grudges!" while foaming at the mouth. Cue much laughter.

[LuckyD 8402]

Jun 19, 2008 13:44:46 GMT -5 Vince's Torn Quads said:

I don't hate on Big Dave as much as some do. In fact, I agree that his promos have improved recently - but that "Basketballs!" line will always haunt him. As will "...weapons aren't just encouraged... they're allowed...". It just annoys me that a guy who is so limited in-ring can get such loud pops - he doesn't have the star quality to deserve it. But all the kids and women going "omg Baptista look at his muscles he is sooo hawt" don't seem to care.


I don't like Cena either, except all his women and children fans love him for his association with hip-hop and mistakenly believe he is cool. He can be good on the mic, but recently he seems to keep making me want to stick my fingers down my throat with his "I love this business, and you the fans, I have great respect for Triple H" etc etc promos.

So basically any wrestler that is insanely popular but disliked by you falls into the "only women and children like them" category? Gotcha.
How come I'm in my mid 20s with no titties then?

No long drawn out explanation, but Batista has been my favorite wrestler for over 3 years. I couldn't care less about the nasty diva he got fired or the fact that two grown men (possibly experiencing roid rage lulz) had a disagreement that led to some punches being exchanged. Well I'll be.. however can he live with himself?

I hate fans who act like they are a more "superior" kind of fan because they know more or have followed longer or something. I try not to critique anyones reasons for liking or disliking the things they enjoy because we're all fans for our own reasons, but... people who pretend to know someone they watch on TV on some sort of personal level, enough so that they feel justified in judging that person based on some rumors in a profession where the lines of reality and fiction are blurred so deeply, well.. I kinda feel sorry for them. First reaction says to respond and defend, but then I stop and realize that if it is so easy for them to hate someone whom they know very little about, they must have miserable relationships with people in the "real world." No one is perfect, not even the person sitting behind the computer screen on their soapbox that allows them to pick and choose which wrestlers are "good people" based on how much they enjoy watching them on TV.

Phew. Now allow me to step down off my soapbox.

[CENA THUG LIFE]

Me too, the guy has really started to step it up as of late with his on camera stuff. Always had a decent look and was good enough in the ring. He was a little zombie-ish at first but he's came alive and can be entertaining on the mic. He doesnt got into long promos but thats not what his characters about. He's Just straight to the point and going to kick your ass. He seems much cleaner in the ring than before too. The serpant man from the rivers of Ohio has became everything you would've expected and perhaps even surpassed it. I can't wait for the Cena fued.

[Vince's Torn Quads]

Jun 19, 2008 14:24:03 GMT -5 LuckyD 8402 said:

So basically any wrestler that is insanely popular but disliked by you falls into the "only women and children like them" category? Gotcha.
How come I'm in my mid 20s with no titties then?

First off, I don't dislike Batista. Or Cena. I'm just not a huge mark for either. And while all the guys on the roster (well, maybe not Charlie Haas) have their fans among the fairer sex and the kids, I'm sure everyone would agree that WWE see those two as the best at appealing to women and kids. That doesn't mean I dismiss them as not appealing to anyone - my original post was worded to illustrate where I see those two in relation to the rest of the main event guys.

The reality is, such guys shift a ton of merch - but rarely does persisting with such a simple formula equate with consistently good tv. See: WWE title run, Overcoming the odds, Cena, John.

[CENA THUG LIFE]

Jun 19, 2008 14:38:11 GMT -5 Vince's Torn Quads said:

Jun 19, 2008 14:24:03 GMT -5 LuckyD 8402 said:

So basically any wrestler that is insanely popular but disliked by you falls into the "only women and children like them" category? Gotcha.
How come I'm in my mid 20s with no titties then?

I'm sure everyone would agree that WWE see those two as the best at appealing to women and kids.

There's two ways you can like a wrestler. One is if you support them as something that you personally stand by because of their gimmick, and the second is looking at them from the point of view of do they do their job well? A lot of the time there's guys that may be marketed more toward a different audience, but their talent for that can be seen by everyone. It depends on if you want to really get into their character or if you are looking at it from a business point of view. As a casual smark i find it very hard to not look at a wrestler from the point of view of, "he pulled that off well" instead of "oh that's not something I'm into".

[Hart Foundation]

Jun 19, 2008 14:11:40 GMT -5 Vince's Torn Quads said:

Jun 19, 2008 14:02:05 GMT -5 Hart Foundation said:

I think I missed something, what is the Basketballs line?

It followed a segment where Khali was using his vise grip (I like to call it the head squishy) to deflate a basketball. Then he did it to burst a melon.

Anyway, Big Dave went nuts the next week going "Basketballs! Don't! Hold! Grudges!" while foaming at the mouth. Cue much laughter.

That's what I get for fast forwarding Smackdown every time I see Batista or Great Kahli

[kenzinfive]

I think I'd like Batista more if he wasn't in nearly every freaking WHC match for almost a year last year. And now he's back in the title match again.

He's not bad, but geez people, we can only watch Taker vs. Batista vs. Edge so many times.