10 Things You Learn Binge Watching WWE's Ruthless Aggression Era
4. It’s Easy To Forget How Great Batista Was
Ditto for big Dave.
OK, so Batista's intro as 'Deacon' was crap, and it took him a while to get going, but the 'Animal' was on fire by 2005. Triple H did everything in his power to make Batista look like the man, and he skyrocketed as a star after leaving Evolution behind. Few delivered better or more consistent performances working WWE’s big man main event style during the “Ruthless Aggression” days.
As the subheading says, it's very easy to forget how excellent Batista was as both a character and in-ring. Fans went ballistic anytime his killer entrance track played, and Dave looked every bit the star whether he was cutting a promo or working a match. WWE must've been glad of this, not least because pet project Brock Lesnar had departed in 2004.
It's even cooler to watch Batista's peak run knowing that he was secretly suffering from social anxiety and crippling self-doubts. Seeing someone overcome those mental hurdles is inspiring - the content Dave produced was some of WWE's best.