Story: Batista made his return to WWE in January 2014 after word of his return leaked on the internet in late December 2013. It was a story that made headlines at the time because it had been over three years since he had been in a WWE ring. The reason it leaked is because he was advertised for a February 16 live event in Las Vegas. Once that was noticed, word spread like wildfire for the internet wrestling community and then it was reported by some reliable websites that his return was going to happen prior to the Royal Rumble. A few weeks after that leaked report, WWE advertised Batista's Raw return one week before the Royal Rumble and then heavily promoted his appearance in the match. He went on to win the Rumble match. It should also be noted that a lot of people made jokes during his 2014 return. That's because he was wearing "skinny jeans" and on his first night back on Raw he couldn't hit the Batista Bomb right because they were likely too tight for him. Why People Believe It: WWE has a history of having people return as surprises to win the match like John Cena and Edge have done. Batista's a big enough name that it would have worked. Should We Believe It: Yes we should. The initial reports suggested that WWE wanted his return to be a surprise because if it was then the support for him would have been stronger. The crowd ended up booing him by the end of the night because they wanted Daniel Bryan to win. A surprise would have been better for him and for the match.
John wrote at WhatCulture from December 2013 to December 2015. It was fun, but it's over for now. Follow him on Twitter @johnreport. You can also send an email to mrjohncanton@gmail.com with any questions or comments as well.
