10 Biggest Heat Moments From WWE’s Most Popular Wrestlers

Batista was supposed to receive to a hero's welcome when he emerged on Monday Night Raw the night after winning the Royal Rumble, but - not for the first time - it turned out WWE had horribly misread the situation. The Animal had a lot of goodwill backed up following a three-year absence from wrestling, but not enough to offset the fans' disapproval at the fact that Daniel Bryan was (ostensibly) about to be deprived of his chance to headline WrestleMania XXX.

Reflecting on his 2014 run, Dave himself has expressed regret at the fact that the company tried to position him as a triumphant baby-face, despite the emergence of younger stars in the time he had been away. The incessant "Daniel Bryan" chants that interrupted his confrontation with Randy Orton on the post-Rumble Raw were probably the first sign that things might not go according to plan.