When Batista left in 2010, he was arguably one of the top performers in the company. Throughout 2011 and into 2012, fans clamored for his return because they missed his intensity and solid performances. He was a thoroughly entertaining superstar who was an integral part of the product. Fast-forward to 2014, and look at all the top-level talent that has either debuted or come of age during Batistas absence: Daniel Bryan, the Shield, the Wyatt Family, Dolph Ziggler, Cesaro, Sheamus, Bad News Barrett, Alberto Del Rio and even CM Punk (post-pipebomb). There is no shortfall of talented performers in WWE right now, and more are on the way from NXT (Sami Zayn, Adrian Neville and the Ascension, for example. Quite simply put, the WWE roster has turned over and refocused on young, up-and-coming superstars who can go in the ring. A 45-year-old guy who has probably slowed down a step or two since he was last in a ring isnt at the top of the list that fans want to see. Look at The Rocks most recent run as popular as he is, some fans resented his title run last year because it was a part-timer coming back and taking a top spot away from more deserving talent. There still is plenty of room for Batista to have an impact in WWE, but if he is going to be pushed as a top guy ahead of the wrestlers listed above, then that resentment is going to persist.
Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fondly remembers watching WrestleMania III, IV, V and VI and Saturday Night's Main Event, came back to wrestling during the Attitude Era, and has been a consumer of sports entertainment since then. He's written for WhatCulture for more than a decade, establishing the Ups and Downs articles for WWE Raw and WWE PPVs/PLEs and composing pieces on a variety of topics.
