10 Wrestling Facts We Didn't Know Last Week

2. Batista Was Supposed To Be Cast As Ric Flair's Foster Child

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Ex-WWE writer Brian Gewirtz is responsible for many of the best storylines fans have watched on TV over the years. He was also the one who tried in vain to make some of Vince McMahon's more wacky ideas work. One of them involved convincing fans that Batista was abandoned as a kid, spent some time bouncing around bad crowds then was saved by Ric Flair.

Gewirtz told the E&C Pod Of Awesomeness that McMahon passed down an edict one day: suddenly, all top WWE stars had to have some kind of elaborate backstory. His plan for Batista? Flair fostered him when he had nowhere else to go, and that's why 'The Animal' was so loyal to the 'Nature Boy' even after Evolution splintered.

Hilariously, Vince shot down the storyboard and promos Gewirtz came up with as "boring" when he presented them in a creative meeting. The writer could scarcely believe what he was hearing. This entire debacle had been McMahon's idea from the get-go, but he now thought it was trash and the idea was scrapped.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood.