WWE: 10 Huge Errors On The Road To WrestleMania 30

4. Booking Dave Batista As The Rumble Winner

The booking of Batista as the Royal Rumble winner was a massive ERROR. While in the long run everything has worked out, the mistake still has ramifications in that Dave is now worth a whole lot less than he would have had been if he returned as a hot face in a mid-card role. Instead he was hot shot into a main event role which so clearly should have been Daniel Bryan's, basically killing all excitement of fans for wanting to see Batista back in the ring. A man who should have been a desired return became a resented return. That will in the long term prove costly for merchandise lines and promotional aspects which could have been achieved with Batista as a natural face. The other aspect of this error was how much it hurt the relationship between WWE and their fans. The negative sentiments for the company were as severe as they ever have been. Although the company did an about turn in the face of the criticism, the error has still arguably hurt Daniel Bryan's ascension to the top and the perception of WrestleMania itself.