The BEST Wrestling Moment Every Year (1989 - 2026)

22. 2005 | Thumbs Down

What separates the special talents from the hard-working craftsmen is their ability to do next to nothing and generate a massive reaction. 

The Rock could raise his eyebrow and get the people on their feet. Hulk Hogan could cup his ear. Steve Austin could generate deafening volume simply by walking. Scott Hall was fond of tormenting those dumb enough to work hard in WCW by bragging about how he could draw a bigger pop by grabbing a headlock. That’s the stuff stars are made of - and that’s why Batista’s thumbs-down moment was such a clever idea. 

It happened after the best slow-burn push in 21st century WWE. The promotion, hardly known for its intelligence in the mid-2000s, played this to perfection. Randy Orton was clearly the project, the all-rounder, the guy best positioned to advance. Batista was the cool albeit limited heavy - but he was so cool that fans started to really gravitate towards him when, displaying the subtlety with which he would later transform into a very good, improbable character actor, he set his sights on Triple H’s Big Gold Belt. 

Batista was convinced to go for JBL’s WWE title by Triple H, who in reality was sh*t-scared of Batista - who himself was aware that Evolution had conspired to fake a hit-and-run purportedly executed by JBL. When it came time to pick his champion, Batista first offered a thumbs up - before he turned it upside down as his face fell. 

The simplicity of the gesture wasn’t just great for its final emphasis. Batista wasn’t just a babyface; in generating that reaction with that tiny body movement, he was a star.