Right off the bat, this one seems to suggest itself. Early this year, Batista returned after an absence of four years to a ...... lets be kind and say "lukewarm" reception. However, that quickly turned frosty following the events of the Royal Rumble, and fans everywhere now hate the guy. This has effectively forced WWE to switch gears and turn him heel in the run-up to Wrestlemania 30, since he's going to be booed regardless of how he's portrayed. Since then, he's become bitter and critical towards the fans, angry at the reactions he's been getting. Contrast this with RVD, then, who also returned after being gone for years. People just love him. So assuming Batista doesn't win the title at Wrestlemania (please, God, don't let him win...) the angle writes itself: Rob Van Dam comes out on Raw and gives a speech about how good it is to be back, when Batista, bitter and furious over his loss the previous night, attacks him. Over the next few weeks he rants at the audience, calling them hypocrites for cheering Van Dam when he returned and hating him, proclaims that he's twice the wrestler Van Dam ever was, blah blah blah. Then Rob comes out and challenges Batista to a match at the next PPV, which just so happens to be Extreme Rules, a Van Dam specialty. This idea has a number of good points, it gets Rob into the limelight straight away, it gives him a marquee performance with a decent storyline at his best kind of match, but perhaps most importantly, it keeps Batista far, far away from the title picture. And right now, that can only be a good thing.
Stephen Maher has been a rock star, a bouncer, a banker and a busker on various streets in various countries. He's hung out with Robert Plant, he was at Nelson Mandela's birthday and he's swapped stories with prostitutes and crack addicts. He once performed at a Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras by accident. These days, he passes the time by writing about music, wrestling, games and other forms of nerdery. And he rarely drinks the blood of the innocent.
