11 MORE WWE Returns That IMMEDIATELY Backfired
6. Batista (2014)
He walks alone, don't you know? Admittedly, Batista's return on the 20 January 2014 episode of Raw did get plenty of cheers, but the goodwill didn't go the distance through WrestleMania season as planned. By 26 January and the Royal Rumble show, WWE fans had soured on 'Big Dave' big time. He was booed heavily for winning the 30-man match.
Most of the scorching heat stemmed from the fact that Batista wasn't Daniel Bryan. How dare he. People had made it clear who they desperately wanted WWE to push from the 2014 Rumble to 'Mania XXX, and it wasn't the 'Animal'. Batista spotted the hatred coming his way early, and he got fairly salty about the way fans had treated him after the fact.
In fairness, it cannot have felt good.
He was making his first WWE appearances in years, and they were being utterly rejected by an audience he figured would be delighted to see him. Again, they were, at least until it became obvious during his first promo that he'd be the top priority heading into the Rumble pay-per-view. That ticked the fanbase off, 'cause it was a sure sign that bosses just weren't listening to their demands.
Some may call it childish (Batista surely would've back in ye olde 2K14), but the people had spoken. They soured on their comeback king as soon as it became clear that he'd be winning the Rumble and headlining the biggest show of the entire year. That was Bryan's spot, gosh darn it.
That peer pressure forced WWE to alter their booking. Any plans for Batista vs. Randy Orton to go one on one were shelved, and Daniel closed WrestleMania covered in gold and confetti instead.