10 Things WWE Wants You To Forget About The World Heavyweight Championship
6. Batista's 282 Day Reign Ended With The Belt Being Vacated
WWE created a star when they strapped a rocket to Batista just before WrestleMania 21.
He beat his former Evolution ally Triple H at three pay-per-views in a row, then moved to SmackDown to be the face of the blue brand.
It was a golden age for the brand split. WWE had John Cena and The Animal leading both shows, with lengthy title reigns cementing their places at the top of the industry... right up until Batista tore his right triceps at a house show in January 2006. He handed the World Heavyweight Championship back and went off to have surgery.
At 282 days, this reign was the longest of any World Heavyweight Champion. It was also the first after the Triple H reign of terror era, so for some, this is when the title started to mean something. What a shame that it ended with a white-suited Batista simply handing the belt to SmackDown General Manager Theodore Long and walking away for six months.
In his book, Batista said that Mark Henry was careless in their house show match, blaming him for the injury. His autobiography was published by WWE so it might've been a work, but it wasn't a good look to see the face of SmackDown badmouthing one of his colleagues. What a mess.
WWE loves to show the moment Batista won the belt, they just skip over how it ended.