Lets start off with the most famous story concerning Batista not getting along with one of his peers. The incident took place back in 2006 when both men were featured heavily on the SmackDown brand. The wrestlers had assembled to shoot a commercial promoting the upcoming SummerSlam event when things came to a head. Booker T and many others had been taking exception to what they perceived to be an attitude of entitlement from Batista and the more experienced wrestler decided to call him on it. Words were exchanged and Booker challenged Dave to meet him in an empty room where they could go for it. There are conflicting reports over which man was the victor. Booker T and several other sources say he got the best of his much bigger foe, while Finlay has gone on record saying that Batista came out on top. The evidence of the brawl could be seen on both mens afterward, and Booker had this to say regarding the tussle:
The thing is, when you're in a fight, it's different from an MMA fight. That's the thing with me. I've fought my whole life. You don't just call a person out to a fight if you don't know their background, what they've been through, and how to test them. That was his mistake, and I think it was definitely a case of him underestimating me, and thinking he was the bigger guy. For me fighting is in the blood, and it's something I grew up doing.
Dave has obviously gone on to win a professional MMA fight, so he obviously knows what he's doing. Still, the fact that things got so bad and The Animal's ego was so huge that the normally chilled-out Booker felt the need to teach him a little respect in a physical way shows the place that Batista was in back then.
Brad Hamilton is a writer, musician and marketer/social media manager from Atlanta, Georgia. He's an undefeated freestyle rap battle champion, spends too little time being productive and defines himself as the literary version of Brock Lesnar.
