10 Times Triple H Was Actually As Good As He Said He Was
5. Vs Batista - Vengeance 2005
Triple H had done a fine job of getting Batista over with two consecutive pay-per-view wins, but neither match had really serviced 'The Animal's strengths. Inside Hell In A Cell, he was finally unleashed.
A bloodthirsty and legitimately bruising encounter went long again, but at least this heavyweight classic didn't expose Big Dave as somebody easily blown up or beaten. That had undermined their battles at both WrestleMania and Backlash, but both were forgotten by the end of this war to settle the score.
There's this idea that 'The Game' simply had to go over everybody between 2002 and 2005 in order to make a loss matter, and while that's obviously complete bullsh*t, there was something extra satisfying about the true "reign of terror" coming to an end in such grisly fashion.
Batista effectively beat Hunter into a babyface turn - the pair shook hands over fights well fought in a breathy DVD exclusive before Batista got drafted to SmackDown and Triple H took the summer off. That was ultimately retconned but everything that came before it wasn't. The new Champion was all the way over and the former titleholder had done a really good job of making it so.