From hot to stale -- what has happened to Batista?

In 2005, he was probably one of the hottest properties in the entire company. He had one of the best feuds of the year with Triple H and while their initial match at WrestleMania 21 was nothing special, as time went by, from Backlash to Vengeance, things improved.

Now, 2 years later, for the most part, for whatever reason, Batista no longer has that same "magic" about him. Some may say that is due to him constantly being in the main event, however, if that is the case, why is that John Cena, guy who began his run with the WWE title in the same time frame as Batista, is still able stir emotion in people, still able bring some kind of excitement, where as Batista does not?

...or am imagining things? Could it be that I am blowing things out of portion?

So, I ask you, the people of WWEv, what do you think? Do you think Batista is still hot property? If so, explain. If not, why?

I think it was because of the injury and losing to taker and stuff.

When he came to Smackdown he had an awsomeness to him. A sense that nothing could stop him.

Theface turn back in 2005 was done horribly. While the angle itself was terrific, it did nothing to elevate Batista in the long term as a unique character. He went from being an independent, intelligent hoss to a generic babyfacewho still respected HHHdespiteHHH'sattempt to manipulate him into going after JBL for his WM title shot...... It didn't make sense.

Batista logicallyshould NEVER have respected HHH or kissed his ass in the promos he cut after the face turn. It made him look half assed. Why should the fans buy into a guy with no balls? On Smackdown, he was simply booked as a generic big man babyface, nothing more. And just when it looked as if he'd finally have someonefor his character toplay off of, Eddie Guerrero died. On top of all that, Batista clearly became complacent after winning the title. In 2004, he looked as if he had some potential to develop into a decent big man worker but that all went by the wayside.

Batista>CenaThe_Great_One2

No.

*Sorry for one word post :P*

Well first of all despite all the internet hate on Batista he still gets one of the loudest pops of the night almost every night.

I think what happened is that when he returned from his injury last year his matches weren't as good, his promos weren't as good. He wasn't the same cool character that people had liked back when he was on Raw.I think he is slowly improving. His matches are getting better, his promos and overall character is better now too but he is still not on the same level he was back in 2005. At his age who knows if he ever will be that good again.

It likely isn't entirely because he's always in the main event, it's that he's put into the main event with no real reason. There doesn't tend to be much conflict, other than him wanting a title shot. If he were put into, oh I dunno, actual fueds where there was real motivation maybe it wouldn't be so annoying for him to constantly be thrust into the spotlight. Any time someone with the belt comes out these days, Teddy Long shows up and announces that they will face Batista, and gives no actual reason as to why. I realize there are a lot of injuries, and that SmackDown's roster was raided in the draft, but they could at least TRY and build up someone else to be a big-name face.SlapBoxYaMom

This is spot on. I think if Batista started fresh on Raw and maybe as a heel it would do wonders for his career. His character just feels so lame and generic at this point. Nothing fresh, nothing to really care about. It feels like Batista doesn't really serve a purpose anymore except to be "that guy" who challenges the guy with the title dozens of times until he gets it with no real motive. Fans like a character that they can grow attatched to. And as much as everyone hates John Cena, he's done what Batista hasn't done and that's build a relationship with the fans. The people who like John Cena, in a way, care about him. He's always put into these "against all odds" situations and his fans are hoping for him to come out on top. However Batista's fans are just like, he's cool, but there is any emotional attatchment to his character. I don't have a huuuuuge problem with him in the main event scene so much, but they really need to rebuild Batista as a character and make him someone worth cheering for. In my oppinion I think they should make MVP lose the title to Matt Hardy and have MVP and Batista fued for a while; maybe even make Batista turn heel and MVP turn face. Re-develope Batista's character and maybe even have him put MVP over. Then with that much needed time away from the main event scene people won't hate on him so much.

This is spot on. I think if Batista started fresh on Raw and maybe as a heel it would do wonders for his career.

Batista doesn't have HHH to carry him around anymore, nor Taker for that matter.

plus he blows up in the ring after 3 minutes and does the same three moves, clothesline, spine buster, Batista bomb.

at least Cena doesn't bore you to death on the mic (no matter how bad his promo is) nor has a match you can't find yourself enjoying no matter how much you don't want to. example: Cena vs. Benoit, Cena vs. Lashley, Cena vs. Umaga

I think he needs to build his character again. Maybe do some fueding with Mark Henry & Kane.BadMrSnake

I think he needs to build his character again. Maybe do some fueding with Mark Henry & Kane.BadMrSnake

He's already been there, done that with both of them. His feud with Edge had potential, and the whole "last chance" thing had something going with it, but unfortunately Edge got injured shorly after Batista lost that "last chance" match.