5 WWE Babyfaces Who Couldn't Handle Getting Booed
4. Batista
Batista, or Boo-tista/Blue-tista as he was known at the time, became WWE's top heel upon his not-so-triumphant return.
He wasn't merely not Bryan; as has been written before, he was essentially the opposite of the man fans were defiant in their support of. Where Bryan accelerated through the lengthy, incandescent matches that made him a megastar, Batista was gassed in the 2014 Royal Rumble match despite entering late. Where Bryan was not a Vince McMahon guy, Batista was. Where Bryan wasn't in the Rumble match, Batista was.
In a candid interview with WWE.com, Batista remarked that "It was weird. It was almost like a personal attack."
In truth, it was and it wasn't. Really, it wouldn't have mattered had Batista returned as the battle-ready wrecking machine of old: fans were prepared to reject him, especially since his mooted WrestleMania XXX main event with Randy Orton was about as uninspired as a distraction finish. Not that fans were prepared to get to that; they threatened a boycott, and WWE listened.
Batista was all too eager to respond in kind in Pittsburgh, which only exacerbated the situation. The dreaded gritty reboot to "I hate you Batista! I hate you too!", Big Dave, who later leaned into the heel role wonderfully, telegraphed it by throwing up the double digits, unable to hide his contempt for what he perceived as an ungrateful fandom.
Happily, as an all-round good dude who can bloody act, Batista is now an IRL babyface.