50 Things You Learn Binge-Watching Every WWE Royal Rumble

See above for one of the only times Brock Lesnar and Batista tangled inside a WWE ring when the cameras were rolling. They worked some short exchanges during the 2003 Royal Rumble, but that was as close as fans would ever get to seeing the musclebound pair lock horns. That, and surely everyone will agree here, is a brute vs. brute showdown the company missed out on.

Batista, working as Leviathan, did beat Brock on an Ohio Valley Wrestling card in July 2001. They had another bout on the house show loops heading into WrestleMania XIX too, and...that was it. Lesnar got his win back on the live event, then WWE never came back to 'Animal vs. Beast'. Oh man, that branding alone would've been perfect for a poster or video package, especially once big Dave came into his own as a singles force by 2004-2005.

Of course, Brock was gone from the promotion by that point. He'd long since tired of the gruelling schedule, and fancied retreating to his farm for some downtime rather than jetting from city to city with brain blur from the night before. Not knowing which town he was in most days didn't suit Lesnar's lifestyle at all, so he left and everyone kissed goodbye to dreams of repeating this '03 Rumble escapade.

That didn't hit home until Batista was on top of his game post-Triple H feud in 2005, admittedly. By then, he was ripe and ready for workers like Brock. Nope, the '03 Rumble was very much it for these guys, and everyone just had to like it.