8 WWE World Title Changes That Were Going To Happen (But Didn't)

3. Batista Defeating Randy Orton - WrestleMania XXX

Batista 2014
WWE.com

Following his return to WWE at the turn of 2014, Batista was almost immediately on the Road to WrestleMania.

As planned, Big Dave emerged victorious from the '14 Royal Rumble match, with that win punching the Animal's ticket for a shot at Randy Orton's World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania XXX. But for Batista - and for WWE as a whole - the Road to WrestleMania was certainly a bumpy one.

And the reason for that bumpy journey was a fella named Daniel Bryan.

Instead of the planned closing shot of 'Mania being Batista standing tall as the new World Heavyweight Champion, we famously got one of the all-time great WrestleMania Moments, as it was D-Bry celebrating in a sea of "Yes!" chants when that year's Showcase of the Immortals concluded.

Of course, that was a unique time in WWE history. Despite WWE's plans for Batista vs. Orton at WrestleMania, the company did the rarest of rare things - they listened to their audience!

Daniel Bryan was in the midst of an organic rise in popularity that has rarely been matched in WWE history, and the sheer impassioned audience responses to Bryan meant that WWE had to insert him into the WrestleMania main event. And while Batista still got to be a part of that main event, instead of his planned World Heavyweight Championship win Big Dave found himself tapping out to Bryan's patented Yes! Lock.

In this post: 
Batista
 
First Posted On: 
Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer and Presenter, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund and Eli Roth to Kevin Smith and the Russo Brothers, to Kevin Conroy and Frank Miller, to Bret Hart and Sting, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, and Brian Flynn, to many, many more. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is a long-standing season ticket holder and an FSA Award-winner for his time co-hosting the Fearless in Devotion podcast.