wrestling / TV Reports

411’s WWE Rivals Report: Triple H vs. Batista

March 13, 2023 | Posted by Robert Leighty Jr.
Batista Triple H Evolution WWE Smackdown 101618 Image Credit: WWE

-Busy day between NCAA Tournament Selection Show, Food Network’s Tournament of Champions, The Oscars, and The Food That Built America. Because of that plus building a Mario Lego Set with my son that took two hours, I got to this show later than normal. Let’s get to it!

-Freddie Prinze is joined by Kevin Nash, Natalya, Bayley, and JBL. Prinze says the way this rivalry began makes it one of the coolest rivalries.

-Kane puts over HHH for his in-ring talent and his mind for the business. Seth Rollins has the same thoughts and says HHH is always looking for new talent to push.

-We get footage of Kane working with Batista in OVW and Kane says he still needed some polish. DEACON BATISTA! Batista notes he wasn’t a fan of the gimmick, and he was trying to find his way. HHH says Batista was a sponge and wasn’t given a chance.

-They flashback to an episode of Byte This in 2002 where HHH puts over Batista. That leads to HHH pitching the idea of a group with Flair and then some future stars. In 2003 they are dubbed Evolution and it was HHH’s version of The Four Horsemen basically.

-Flair puts over both Randy and Dave and the idea that the group was the past, present, and future of the business. Batista notes he didn’t have the cool factor until he was part of Evolution. JBL says the group was set up for one reason and that was to get over Randy and Batista. That was one of the reasons, but obviously it was to keep HHH as a top star and give life back to Ric Flair’s career.

-Evolution runs wild on RAW and hold all the titles as HHH is Word Champ, Orton IC, and Flair/Batista as Tag Champions. HHH brings up a good point that because more focus was on Orton and he got to do more, Batista got to sit and learn from HHH and Flair more. Batista says he would have never made it to the level he did without HHH and Flair’s brains to pick.

-Kevin Owens says he would have killed to have a chance like that to learn and work with HHH and Ric. Batista was seen as the muscle, but was developing rapidly. It was fascinating as Orton was pegged as the future and it seemed everything was building towards Orton/HHH at Mania, but Batista organically got over as a face. HHH points out they would include small teases where HHH would say something in jest questioning the intelligence of Batista. Just small jabs to get the fans behind Batista.

-Royal Rumble 2005: By this point the crowd was way into Batista and they was only one way to go. Sadly, they don’t include the messed-up finish that led to Vince tearing both quads. Batista eliminates Cena to win and he is heading to WrestleMania.

-Batista has his choice of HHH and the World Title or JBL and the WWE Title. They got everything right with the build as HHH was pushing Batista towards SmackDown while trying to butter him up because he was scared. HHH and Flair spilling the beans about their plan while Dave listens with a smile outside the door.

-RAW Feb 21, 2005: Batista makes his decision and it’s one the best moments in RAW history. Batista says he has known what he has wanted to do for a long time. Flair and HHH giving Batista the double thumbs up is great, but Batista gives the thumbs down. Flair’s reaction is priceless and then Batista wrecks shop including a powerbomb of HHH through a table. Just great stuff! Also a great call back to HHH giving Orton a thumbs up and then down to signify Evolution turfing him from the group. Batista wasn’t going out like that and took matters into his own hands.

-Commercials!

-The story was simple now: Student vs. Teacher! A story that has been around in wrestling forever and it always works. HHH takes credit for everything Dave has and how he was nothing until he found him. Dave calls HHH an asshole and they brawl on the go home RAW before Mania.

-Batista says that HHH told him he wanted the match to have a big time feel. They say down and Batista remembers they watched Hogan/Warrior at Mania VI. Sorry, their Mania match couldn’t touch Hogan/Warrior.

-WrestleMania 21: The show that launched Batista and Cena into the Main Event scene forever and unfortunately, both men got crowned champion after lackluster matches. That show was stolen by the debuting Money in the Bank and the all time classic between Shawn Michaels and Kurt Angle. Batista gets the win over HHH clean as a sheet to win his first World Title. Great moment for Big Dave! He mentions he broke down when the match was over and laughs that he cried for three days. KO tells us he was in the crowd for Mania that year.

-The talking heads put over HHH for elevating Batista and doing business the right way. Batista says it was surreal and he was in shock that he was World Champion. He would forget and then wonder why his bag was so heavy and then realize he was carrying The World Title.

-Commercials!

-The feud continues as HHH points out Batista was great one night. Kane notes that WrestleMania is sometimes the end of a story and other times just starts a story. Batista and HHH face off at Backlash and Batista goes over clean as a sheet again. No 50/50 booking here!

-Vengeance 2005: They meet for a 3rd PPV and this time inside Hell in A Cell. The feud was perfect and built towards that Cell Match. Batista had won two straight against HHH and now was facing him, in his match. Now this was the big match, classic that they had been chasing. Just a brutally, violent Cell Match and Batista wins again. Yes, Batista went over HHH three straight times and that clearly made him a made man for life. Nattie notes Batista came out stronger. No kidding!

-HHH talks about the pride he has in that series of matches and he wanted to help someone who he knew would take it and run with it. Batista gives all credit to HHH for making him a star and putting him over time and time again. They include the cool bonus feature from the DVD where they hug it out after the match with blood on both of them. “This is Evolution baby.”

-Batista is made for life and HHH is still at top of the card, but they don’t cross paths anymore. By 2010 Batista was seemingly done with wrestling.

-Commercials!

-Over The Limit: Batista loses an I Quit Match to John Cena and then the next night on RAW he tells us he quits while sitting in a wheelchair. Batista is off to Hollywood! He got some bit parts while in WWE and realized he was a bad actor and made it his goal to get better. That meant he had to leave the company to get those chance.

-Guardians of The Galaxy drops and Batista becomes a working actor because of his role as Drax. JBL puts over Dave for working his ass off to make it in Hollywood.

-Batista still had the itch to end his career in the WWE on his terms and his plan was to always end it with HHH to bring everything full circle. That leads to SmackDown 1000 in Oct of 2018. HHH says Dave was wondering if a match between the two could happen. They have Evolution reunite during the show and we get some cool backstage footage of them going over things. Batista wanted to tease a match between he and HHH. It was great as they were all out there having fun and Batista drops the line: “there is nothing this man (HHH) hasn’t done in this business….except beat me.” The audible “ohhh” from the crowd is fantastic. HHH’s smile turns into anger and Orton just is smiling like crazy while Flair is trying to make peace.

-Batista was floored with how well it went over and he wanted the match now. KO mentions that coming full circle is something wrestlers are obsessed with and for Dave that meant going out in a match with HHH. Dave says it was the perfect swan song and he could not write it any better.

-Crown Jewel: HHH and Shawn vs. Kane and The Undertaker! OH MAN! HHH gets injured only a few minutes into the match. It’s a torn pec and there is a question of if he will make it to Mania against Dave. For a second I thought they might go more into detail with the Tag Match and how much it sucked and anything that could go wrong in it, did go wrong. Instead it was more about the HHH injury.

-Commercials!

-Nov. 11, 2018: HHH heads to Birmingham to get surgery to repair his torn pet. We get a look and there is some nasty bruising, but nothing like Cody. It was probably much later. We get some gnarly surgery footage. Ew! The procedure takes about 40 minutes and HHH is given 4 months to recover fully.

-HHH told Dave to keep getting ready like the match would happen as he would do everything in his rehab to get there. Dave told HHH he understood, but if it didn’t happen this year then he was done. HHH notes he is 49 now and not 30, so rehab is a little tougher.

-RAW March 2019: MARIO LEMIEUX STATUE! I forgot this took place in Pittsburgh! HHH tells Dave they are all set. Dave: “Give me what I want.” Freddie Prinze yells the line and says it is one of the greatest lines Batista has ever said in WWE or in a movie. Rollins says he still uses that meme when he is texting someone. The match is set and Batista laughs as HHH told him to “get in shape.”

-We see Dave working out at The Performance Center and doing cardio and weight training at home.

-WrestleMania 35: The last WrestleMania before everything changed in the World. The talking heads discuss how movies are great, but as a wrestler there is always an allure to the wrestling ring. Dave talks about his respect for Hunter and how much he owes him. HHH backstage: “Hey, it’s just me and you. Have fun.”

-Commercials! Next week they are running back to back episodes of Biography. One about Jerry Lawler and one on Paige. Huh! Rivals next week will be Trish vs. Lita!

-Back to WrestleMania 35 and they have a very long match! HHH’s idea was to create moments that would stick with the fans. They discuss the nose ring spot where HHH uses pliers to remove Dave’s ring. HHH uses the sledgehammer to finally get the elusive win over Batista. I am sure Dave was all about losing to HHH to repay him for the summer of 2005. They both talk about how great it was to get out there together and all they did and went through. Good stuff as they hug each other backstage. Batista says it was the best way to retire!

-The talking heads sum up what we watched. Cody notes the rivalry made Batista and that is a feather in HHH’s cap as he made this Superstar. Batista again states that HHH made his career.

-I enjoyed this one quite a bit as this rivalry hasn’t been discussed all that much. HHH gets a ton of hate for his reign of terror, but you can’t deny that he made Batista into a top tier Superstar. There was no 50/50 booking or making Batista chase. He got his first shot at the biggest show of the year and won the World Title and kept winning against HHH. Also credit to Dave for wanting to come back and repay HHH when he didn’t have to. Dave is a Hollywood star and at his age he didn’t need to get back in the ring, but he wanted to wrap up his career with the man that made him. I liked all the cool backstage footage we got here. This show continues to provide excellent content. Thanks for reading!

article topics :

WWE Rivals, Robert Leighty Jr.