10 Emotional WWE Moments That Fell Flat
8. Batista Returns To Win The 2014 Royal Rumble
Mis-reading their own audience spectacularly, WWE believed Batista's return and 2014 Royal Rumble win would turn him into WrestleMania 30's top babyface. How wrong they were; fans had another hero in mind, and much favoured Daniel Bryan over 'The Animal'.
WWE should have paid more attention here. The last time Batista had been on TV in 2010, he was a crybaby heel who hated the fans for treating him badly. Now, people were supposed to cheer him wildly like all had been forgiven. Meanwhile, younger fans new to the product had no idea who the ageing star was.
Sympathy for Batista's comeback story was hard to come by, but again the announcers played up his win like he had overcome all the odds. That didn't hit home when Batista had come in as the Rumble's 28th entrant. When even Roman Reigns was more popular than the winner, you know there's a problem, and Batista's victory failed to capture fan imagination.