Batista Vs Orton was the main event of Wresltemania 30

[modestgenius]

I think we need to talk about this.

We all heard the rumour at the time, the main event was Batista Vs Orton. HHH was facing CM Punk, Daniel was probably facing Sheamus.

If you believe Punk's word, the first two are definitely true. He went as far as saying to Vince that "it boggles my mind that Daniel Bryan does not fit in your plans."

Punk knew Batista would come out to a horrible reaction. Batista knew. Stone Cold talks about it on his podcast and he knew. Everyone with a brain on this forum knew. How in the hell could the powers that be not spot this?

J.R on his podcast talked about this main event, I can't remember if it was pre or post Wrestlemania. He basically said Vince is not stupid, he will realise Daniel Bryan is over and the promoter in him with capitalise.

Yeah maybe that happened. According to Punk though, Vince was describing Batista Vs Orton to be the greatest main event ever, in late January. The main event was rebooked within an 8 week window because no one with creative influence saw this coming? According to Punk, that match would have gone ahead if he'd have stayed and the deck would not have shuffled.

How are we supposed to invest in anything when the people running the show are this stupid? When we hear straight from a tip-top main eventer that nothing is planned in advance.

[Beets by Schrute]

It should of been: Orton vs Batista vs Bryan vs Punk

[EoE: Well There's Your Problem]

I think they would have still changed it, Punk leaving or not, because the hideously bad reactions for Batista would still be there. The only difference would be Bryan only having the one match on the card (with Orton and Batista) while Punk fights Triple H.

[modestgenius]

Nov 27, 2014 19:28:23 GMT -5 EoE: Well There's Your Problem said:

I think they would have still changed it, Punk leaving or not, because the hideously bad reactions for Batista would still be there. The only difference would be Bryan only having the one match on the card (with Orton and Batista) while Punk fights Triple H.

Probably. I don't think it's giving WWE too much credit to say that yeah, having their WM main event build segments boo'd week after week wouldn't have sent them a clear message.

But then again, I'm still stuck at a point where anyone would have been stupid enough in late January to not have Bryan already in the main event. Its a no brainer.

I always knew, but in the back of my mind I could say its BS, of course Vince and HHH had Bryan's slow build planned from the start. If only to convince myself I'm not an idiot for watching this crap.

[Jeff Mangum PI]

Well we know it's true now, but I still can't wrap my mind around it. I know Vince is the senile old man, but I literally cannot imagine in any way, shape, or form that he seriously thought that the main event of the 30th Annual WrestleMania should be f***ing Batista vs Randy Orton.

[Perd]

It doesn't matter that they probably would've changed it anyway. The problem is that they ever thought it was a good idea in the first place.

[PsychoGoatee]

It is pretty kooky, but it is the company that booked Cena vs Orton over 9000 times. That said, hopefully in some way WWE is learning from it's mistakes. (I make it sound like a self-aware entity there, like Skynet, maybe it is! )

Who they put against Brock at WrestleMania 31 will be a big indicator of how WWE is doing. We all seem pretty optimistic that it'll be somebody deserving and on the rise, or at least somebody new. At this point they're going to have to push new guys who deserve it more even if it's just out of necessity.

And hey, as much as that podcast does bring to light a lot of issues that need addressing, especially the health issues, I do love how they booked Ziggler last Sunday.

[gr1990]

'The Greatest Main Event in History'

THE GREATEST MAIN EVENT IN HISTORY!

BATISTA AND RANDY ORTON!

IN 2014!

God I hope Vince didn't really say that. But considering how apparently shocked they were at the audience rejecting it, he probably did.

[saintpat]

Here's what I think WWE's line of thinking was, and it had nothing to do with Orton (other than he had the straps_:

1) Batista has been away. Returning guys like Rock and Brock had been good box office.

2) Batista has a role in a big movie that they feel is only going to further raise his profile with casuals who may be intrigued and thus buy WM.

So I can see why they thought this would work. I can also see that it completely ignores that Bryan was as over as he was at the time. They thought because Batista was playing a good-guy superhero (or space hero, whatever) badass in the movie that it made more sense to bring him back as a babyface than as a heel, which is for sure his most natural alignment.

Personally I can't stand Batista, can't name two matches he's ever been in that I found entertaining or cared about in any way. Obviously it was a severe miscalculation, but I can see what made them think it would work.

[Rican]

At a certain point I kinda wanted them to really go through with it just for the amazing crowd reactions. But I'm glad Bryan got his moment.

[Joe Neglia]

The thing is, and I honestly feel this way, is that Vince and HHH have never really gotten the idea that as much as they love Orton, he's never going to be "the guy" for them. He's always - always - going to be the Brutus/Bossman to someone else's Hogan - the guy who has a following and usually gets the 2nd level feuds without ever ascending to the top.

[gr1990]

Nov 27, 2014 19:54:29 GMT -5 saintpat said:

Here's what I think WWE's line of thinking was, and it had nothing to do with Orton (other than he had the straps_:

1) Batista has been away. Returning guys like Rock and Brock had been good box office.

2) Batista has a role in a big movie that they feel is only going to further raise his profile with casuals who may be intrigued and thus buy WM.

So I can see why they thought this would work. I can also see that it completely ignores that Bryan was as over as he was at the time. They thought because Batista was playing a good-guy superhero (or space hero, whatever) badass in the movie that it made more sense to bring him back as a babyface than as a heel, which is for sure his most natural alignment.

Personally I can't stand Batista, can't name two matches he's ever been in that I found entertaining or cared about in any way. Obviously it was a severe miscalculation, but I can see what made them think it would work.

I think that was pretty much it. They thought Batista was a movie star on the level of The Rock. When he was just about to appear in his first blockbuster and the movie was still several months away from coming out. Which still makes them f***ing stupid.

[Lancers]

Guardians hadn't come out yet. I mean, yeah there was some good buzz, but the movie ended up exceeding everyone's expectations. It is consistent with Punk's claim of how the company bends over backwards for part-time superstars. A completely asinine way of building your current crop of stars unless those guys are the ones who go over. I'm guessing Batista was gonna win that initial match.

[Mid-Carder]

Nov 27, 2014 20:05:40 GMT -5 Joe Neglia said:

The thing is, and I honestly feel this way, is that Vince and HHH have never really gotten the idea that as much as they love Orton, he's never going to be "the guy" for them. He's always - always - going to be the Brutus/Bossman to someone else's Hogan - the guy who has a following and usually gets the 2nd level feuds without ever ascending to the top.

For me, I equate Orton with Bret. Incredible, reliable respected worker who puts the young guys over and is a top guy. Just never THE top guy. An important guy to have on your roster.

[xCompackx]

Batista didn't exactly do himself any favors when he told the crowd to "deal with it". He's said before that he didn't want to come back as a face, but it felt like he was trying to force them to turn him and ended up backfiring on everyone.

[The Beast Disincarnate]

It should have been Batista vs Bryan with Batista squashing Orton on his first Raw, stealing the "Authority's chosen one" spot to Orton (and beating him clean at the Rumble rematch to retain); and Bryan winning the rumble match.

David vs Goliath, wrestler vs entertainer, hardworking humble guy vs lazy douche etc. Just a picture perfect feud.
Douchetista would have been excellent in this feud i'm sure.

The problem is that they wanted Batista to work as a face, the major mistake they made is that they thought he would be cheered like crazy because of his long absence. But the fan's heart had already been given to Bryan at this time and passionate love is exclusive. It took them 1 month to understand that, and it was too late to change all the plans.

Batista was not the problem, the problem was Orton. He should have disappeared from this feud.

[Cranjis McBasketball]

The biggest problem is, they heard the Rumble crowd turning on them and they still went ahead with a horrible idea, even if they had time to change it. Then they just ham-fisted everything to fit what the crowd so clearly wanted. They listened to the crowd because they were terrified of 75,00 people turning on Mania, which would have happened.

["Gizzark" Mike Wronglevenay]

Nov 27, 2014 20:05:55 GMT -5 gr1990 said:

Nov 27, 2014 19:54:29 GMT -5 saintpat said:

Here's what I think WWE's line of thinking was, and it had nothing to do with Orton (other than he had the straps_:

1) Batista has been away. Returning guys like Rock and Brock had been good box office.

2) Batista has a role in a big movie that they feel is only going to further raise his profile with casuals who may be intrigued and thus buy WM.

So I can see why they thought this would work. I can also see that it completely ignores that Bryan was as over as he was at the time. They thought because Batista was playing a good-guy superhero (or space hero, whatever) badass in the movie that it made more sense to bring him back as a babyface than as a heel, which is for sure his most natural alignment.

Personally I can't stand Batista, can't name two matches he's ever been in that I found entertaining or cared about in any way. Obviously it was a severe miscalculation, but I can see what made them think it would work.

I think that was pretty much it. They thought Batista was a movie star on the level of The Rock. When he was just about to appear in his first blockbuster and the movie was still several months away from coming out. Which still makes them f***ing stupid.

The rating bounced a full point that week. They weren't completely wide of the mark. He only started getting booed when it became clear he was back as a babyface to steal Bryan's thunder.

[Tiger Millionaire]

I think even if Punk had stayed, Bryan gets in the Main Event anyway, he was too hot, too over.

[gr1990]

Nov 28, 2014 6:48:55 GMT -5 "Gizzark" Mike Wronglevenay said:

Nov 27, 2014 20:05:55 GMT -5 gr1990 said:

I think that was pretty much it. They thought Batista was a movie star on the level of The Rock. When he was just about to appear in his first blockbuster and the movie was still several months away from coming out. Which still makes them f***ing stupid.

The rating bounced a full point that week. They weren't completely wide of the mark. He only started getting booed when it became clear he was back as a babyface to steal Bryan's thunder.

I'm not sure how much that big rating had to do with his movie career, I think it was more that he was a former main eventer returning after several years away and people being intrigued to see what role he would play, how he'd look etc. If I remember correctly, the numbers went back to normal pretty quickly after that one-week jump. Definitely not enough evidence to suggest he'd be a good choice for main eventing Mania as a babyface, though in Vince's mind that rating probably confirmed he was right all along and led to them pressing ahead with the plan.