25 Best Moments Of WWE Monday Night RAW (Year-By-Year)
13. 2005: Thumbs Down (Part II)
Don't you just love when WWE remembers that continuity is a thing that exists? Not only that, but they actually utilize it to tell a great story?
It was 2005. Batista, the muscle of Evolution, had won the Royal Rumble. Now, the decision had to be made as to which World Title he would challenge for at WrestleMania 21: JBL's WWE Championship, or Triple H's World Heavyweight Championship.
In a segment that featured Evolution, Eric Bischoff, and Teddy Long, Batista weighed his options on whether to defect to SmackDown or take on his leader Triple H. Big Dave had steadily turned into a fan favorite over the years, and people had grown mightily sick of Triple H's reign of terror. The time was right to pull the trigger on a face turn.
And boy, did they pull. Batista, not a year removed from Triple H's gesture, gave Evolution a thumbs down, powerbombed Triple H, and finally became the man to topple the reign of terror. It's one of the best face turns in company history, and a great piece of television.