10 Worst First Days For WWE Champions

by Michael Hamflett

1. Batista

Batista Injury
WWE

After such a long time removed from the very top of the card, it had been a long hard road back to the WWE Championship for Dave Batista when he finally defeated Randy Orton for it at Extreme Rules 2009, but 'The Animal's dream was yet again cut short by injury.

Big Dave had torn his bicep in the Steel Cage clash with Randy Orton one night prior, and thus barely appeared on screen with the belt before he was beaten down and hospitalised by 'The Viper's Legacy stablemates Cody Rhodes and Ted Dibiase. Orton attempted to declare himself Champion, but an attack by a returning Triple H resulted in both being added to a fatal Four Way match with John Cena and The Big Show weeks later for the now-vacant prize.

Stripped of the gold as he was being strapped to a gurney, Batista returned later that year full of significant sick-of-this-sh*t energy. Getting revenge on Randy Orton before moving to SmackDown, the former Champion violently turned on former friend Rey Mysterio after yet another attempt to recapture gold went awry.

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Batista Leviathan OVW
WWE.com

1. What Was His Ring Name In OVW?

Deacon Batista

Batista

Bautista

Leviathan

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Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation for 10 years. Alongside the production of daily written, audio and video content covering WWE and AEW, he also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot on the UK's wrestling podcast charts with over 10,000 episodes and 70,000,000 total downloads. He also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House!, Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast, and has guested on long-running Sunderland AFC podcast Wise Men Say. With WhatCulture, he has provided in-person coverage of some of the biggest pay-per-views and Premium Live Events in wrestling history, including WrestleMania, Survivor Series, All In & Double Or Nothing in destinations such as New York, New Jersey, Chicago, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. He has also been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana, 411Mania and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in music and culture magazines The Crack, Pilot as well as Sunderland AFC's premiere fanzine A Love Supreme. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it every other Saturday at the Stadium Of Light, and at Cribs gigs nationwide.