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Profile: Batista
After being told by the WCW Power Plant that he'd never make it in the wrestling business, Dave Bautista was sent by the World Wrestling Federation to train with Afa Anoa'i, for whom he would wrestle in WXW as Kahn. In 2000, he relocated to official WWF developmental territory Ohio Valley Wrestling where he wrestled as Leviathan and won the OVW Heavyweight Championship. After losing the gold to The Prototype (John Cena) in 2002, Leviathan was "sold" by his stable leader Synn to Reverend D-Von, who took him to the WWF's SmackDown brand as Deacon Batista.
His stint as D-Von's sidekick began to crumble after his first WWF loss to Rikishi, and he eventually turned on the reverend and moved to the Raw brand as simply Batista. Aligned with a heel Ric Flair, he won his first pay-per-view match against Kane, the man who had previously ended his undefeated streak in OVW. Batista's partnership with Flair continued into the formation of the faction Evolution in January 2003, alongside leader Triple H and a man he had feuded with on SmackDown, Randy Orton. A triceps injury kept Batista out of action for much of the year however, following a tag team match against Bubba Ray and former ally D-Von Dudley, and he retore the same muscle during recovery from surgery.
Batista's return to television came on October 20, when he collected Triple H's $100,000 bounty on Goldberg by attacking him with a steel chair. At Armageddon that December, after losing to Shawn Michaels, Batista teamed with stablemate Flair to win his first WWE World Tag Team Championship in a Tag Team Turmoil match, last eliminating The Dudleyz.
Continuing to play the role of muscleman for Evolution throughout 2004, Batista outlasted Randy Orton in the group but began to show subtle signs of independence towards the end of the year, his apparent interest in Triple H's World Heavyweight Title growing keener as the weeks wore on until, after winning the 2005 Royal Rumble, he declared his intentions to challenge his mentor for the gold at WrestleMania 21. The bitter feud with Triple H and Flair saw Batista win the title in the pay-per-view main event, and defeat the former champion two further times, including a Hell in a Cell battle at Vengeance.
On June 30, Batista returned to the SmackDown brand as part of the Draft Lottery, taking the World Heavyweight Title with him (John Cena had previously been drafted from SmackDown to Raw, taking the WWE Title to Monday nights). He immediately picked up a feud with John Bradshaw Layfield, which had been teased after the Rumble when Batista was deciding which brand's champion to challenge at WrestleMania. Following Cena's departure for Raw, JBL had proclaimed himself the new SmackDown Champion, but was not able to support the claim in matches with the newly arriving Batista.
After a short feud with good friend Eddie Guerrero that seemingly ended with Guerrero turning babyface, Batista was again sidelined with a muscle tear, this time in his back due to a double chokeslam from Kane and The Big Show. As a result, he was scheduled to drop the World Heavyweight Title in a triple threat match on the November 18 episode of SmackDown against Guerrero and Randy Orton. However, due to the death of Guerrero five days prior, Batista kept hold of the title and went on to team with Rey Mysterio, defeating Johnny Nitro and Joey Mercury for the WWE Tag Team Titles and dedicating their victory to their late friend.
After losing the tag belts two weeks later due to interference by Mark Henry, Batista announced his injury, citing a house show match with Henry on January 8. On the January 13 episode of SmackDown, he vacated the World Heavyweight Title and left television to undergo surgery. His return to the ring came in July when he began feuding with Henry over his triceps injury. This time however, Henry got injured, disrupting the feud once more.
In a long feud with King Booker, with whom he had a behind-the-scenes brawl during a commercial shoot earlier in the year, Batista finally regained the championship at Survivor Series 2006, in the same venue that he'd vacated the belt in January. He held onto the gold until WrestleMania 23, where he lost to 2007 Royal Rumble winner The Undertaker in what was refered to by many as one of the best matches in Batista's career.
As the focal point of the SmackDown brand since returning there in 2005, Batista has fallen under close scrutiny from critics who question his ability and work ethic for such a high profile role. But with multiple acclaimed performances against The Undertaker to his name, along with his career-making feud with Triple H, the former Leviathan has proven that when he wants to turn it up a gear, the beast can indeed be unleashed.
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