Former Ric Flair tag partner and professional waver Batista didn't have the best time of it during his most recent WWE run. It won't matter much to him now that he's suddenly one of the biggest movie stars in the world thanks to James Gunn's awesome 'Guardians of the Galaxy' but at the time it looked like it stung plenty. At the Royal Rumble Batista returned late in the match at number 28, while Rey Mysterio was the last to enter, coming in at the coveted number 30 spot. The fans - every single one of them - had wanted that spot to go to Daniel Bryan. Sure, he was never booked or announced for the match but with the amount of second guessing wrestling adherents busy themselves with recently it seemed like a done deal. Bryan would take the spot, win and headline 'Mania. DIdn't happen. Former fan favourite Batista was booed out of the building as he won the Rumble match and hastily repackaged as a heartless heel. Fans responded badly, lacking faith in what the longterm goals of this booking would be and retching at the prospect of a Batista vs. Orton 'Mania main event. Of course it wouldn't quite go down like that but in that moment the wrestling world was as deflated as last year's birthday party balloons.
Originally from Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales, now residing in East London with my wife and cat. I'm a member of Ghost Carriage Phantoms, co-owner of Marketstall Records, Editor of #flatoutfucked fanzine, a regular contributor to various music/culture websites and the co-author of a couple of scripts, mired in the endless hell of pre-production.
