WWE: 10 Matches To Celebrate Batista's Return

3. Vs. John Cena (WrestleMania XXVI)

Batista made his long-awaited heel turn at Bragging Rights 2009, clobbering his former tag team partner, Rey Mysterio, and embarking on one of the most critically respected periods of his career. His in-ring work was not necessarily what earned him the praise, but the believability of his antagonistic character. Evident was the passion that he had for what he was doing. One could argue that it solidified Batista's place at the roundtable amongst the top stars of the last 30 years. Playing the heel equally (if not better) than he played the babyface added a well-rounded attribute once missing from his resume. Batista, himself, might argue that he deserves to be recognized as the greatest of his generation based on his body of work from 2005-2010 €“ ahead of even the usually unquestioned top star of the post-Attitude Era, John Cena. Part of what made the Batista-Cena rematch at WrestleMania XXVI fascinating was that they were the top two stars of their generation. Brock Lesnar left before he could completely realize his potential and Randy Orton, while undeniably a major player for years, was not a bigger star than his Evolution stablemate. Batista was outspoken in his belief that he was bigger and better than Cena and did not understand why Cena had been labeled as "The Man." In the critical community, it is well-known that Batista did one thing that Cena never did/has €“ play the role of the top heel. That fact added one of many subplots to the very well told story.