Ironically, the one person who could almost 99% guarantee a three- or four-star match is the person who Batista refused to face at the next PPV, the WWE World Heavyweight Champion, Daniel Bryan. Right now, there is no one hotter than Bryan in the ring. A match against Bryan could have shown that Batista is capable of delivering a quality in-ring performance, but instead well get Kane-Bryan again in a match that will hopefully bury that feud for good. The reasons given for the no-go for the title match vary Batista didnt want to lose to Bryan twice, he lost his last two PPV matches, Bryan is too small, etc. so the truth is a little difficult to determine. Regardless, the minute word leaked that Batista-Bryan was supposed to be on for Payback and now isnt, that caused some consternation, and it only got worse when it got out that Batista was going to leave but now will stick around to further the Evolution-Shield angle. In this case, the real-life reason isnt important. From a storyline perspective, Batista has every right to want his one-on-one title shot that he never got after winning the Rumble. The fact that the match was penciled in and now isnt happening just continues the snowballing thats been happening to Batista.
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.
