Too many times, the
WWE has been
handed sure things and turned them into huge failures. But for some reason, this thing with Batista has been the most interesting and successful program in recent memory. It got better on Monday after WWE champion John "Bradshaw" Layfield said the loud, funny words and challenged Batista to jump over to "Smackdown." As much as I’d like to see Batista-Triple H, I think I’d almost rather see JBL finally lose his title. And Batista would be a nice fit on "Smackdown." There would be less pressure to cut cool promos since any mistakes could be edited out by the time the show airs on Thursdays. And there’s a huge pile of jobbers for him to squash, none of whom weigh as much as Viscera.
Batista, as an in-ring performer, has some limitations. He’s still a little green and would have a hard time looking good in a long match. That’s not to say he’s bad, I just think he needs to be protected in order to stay on top.
The Randy Orton project hasn’t been a total failure, but I think the company was hoping for a Batista-like reaction from the fans. The problem with Orton is that no one was ready for him to play the good-guy role.
In one year’s time, Orton spit on Harley Race, tossed Mick Foley down a flight of stairs, punched the Fabulous Moolah in the mouth and stole Johnny B. Badd’s confetti shooter. He was the epitome of evil in pro wrestling. In the span of three weeks was pushed down fan’s collective throats like he was the new Stone Cold.
In my opinion, this slow boil with Batista would have worked with Orton and would have helped a lot of "hot shot" angles that never went anywhere. Remember a few weeks ago when the Hurricane developed a bad attitude and Steven Richards started dressing like a woman? Maybe we should forget that last one. Two of my most recent favorite flops seemed like sure-fire money makers. But Bill Goldberg’s run was halfhearted and never fully supported by the guys behind the scenes. The WCW/ECW Invasion angle from 2001, a dream scenario for most wrestling fans across the country, turned into the McMahon family fun hour and actually made me long for the days of "Screamin" Norman Smiley and "Dancin ’" Tank Abbott.
credit:
http://nwanews.com/story.php?paper=nwat§ion=Sports&storyid=25102
