10 Times WWE Fans Saw It Coming But Still Lost Their Minds

Batista often had his finger on the pulse of the WWE Universe, knowing exactly what the fans wanted and when to give it to them.

That point was successfully demonstrated during Batista's homecoming appearance on SmackDown's 1000th episode in 2018, when Big Dave took to the ring with his Evolution brothers in order to celebrate their history as a group... despite the fact that as a group they had hardly anything to do with SmackDown, but I digress.

After taking turns to put each other over, Batista finally seized his moment and praised 13-time world champion Randy Orton, lauded 16-time world champion Ric Flair before landing on the leader of the group and his personal mentor, 14-time world champion Triple H.

Fans had been made well aware of Batista's desire to go out with one more match against 'The Cerebral Assassin' at WrestleMania via multiple interviews and podcast appearances. But, when 'The Animal' claimed that there was 'nothing this man hasn't done in this business... except beat (him)' the arena erupted anyway.

Though nothing was signed there and then, the seeds had been planted for their impending 'Mania 35 clash and fans were audibly excited about the concept of a blow-off between the two for Batista's final match - which 'The Animal' himself knew would be the case - despite being well aware that a moment of this nature was probably on the way from the second big Dave was announced as a guest on the SmackDown celebratory show.