10 Worst First Days For WWE Champions
1. Batista
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.
WWE Quiz: Batista - How Well Do You Know 'The Animal'?
