10 Dumbest Reasons Wrestlers HATE Each Other For Real

9. AJ Styles & Batista

Cody Rhodes pizza
WWE.com

There's nothing dumb about having pride over your profession and/or feeling as though someone is patronising you when you care deeply about what you do for a living. There's a lot dumb about how myopic the otherwise-affable Batista was about those outside of his personal pro wrestling bubble in 2005.

Time has highlighted just how superb an all-rounder Big Dave was, and indeed his life after wrestling has proven just how much charisma he brought to the role even if climbing to the top rope wasn't part of his impressive offering. But wrestling's a buffet, and Batista perhaps didn't always realise that from his spot within WWE's barriers back then. Asked about TNA as a viable opposition at the time, he was critical of the work, isolating 'The Phenomenal One's matches as an example of something he thought was 'not wrestling'.

Understandably miffed, Styles fired back, quipping that "I think it's funny that a guy who takes a bump and tears his back tells me that I don't know how to wrestle."

Nothing ever came of the aggro obviously, but the tribalism around specific genres of action almost feel quaint in an age forever polluted by social media's division-led algorithms.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett