Only one week left! That’s right boys and girls, next Sunday we’ll finally be able to feast our eyes on the 30th anniversary of WrestleMania, and that means a lot of things.
It means that those of you who have the privilege of attending the special event only have to wait a few more days until you become a part of history. Whether it’s your first time or not, going to WrestleMania is a feeling unlike any other and I intend on heading back to ‘Mania at some stage in the future.
It also means that the majority of you, like myself, will be watching from the comfort of your sofa, or a friend’s house, or a bar, soaking up in the atmosphere that this annual supershow gives off all over the world. As wrestling fans, we tend to hold WrestleMania very close to our hearts and it’s very easy to get lost in the excitement that the show creates every year.
Another thing that it means, and quite possibly the most important, is that WWE only have one week left to sell this PPV to the people who are still on the fence about buying it. Considering the event in question, they’re probably not as worried about this final week because so many are sold on the fact that it’s WrestleMania alone, but in my opinion, the final week’s build-up is just important as the last three months have been.
The next seven days will dictate whether we head into this show on the edge of our seats, or with a sour taste in our mouths. We want to be frothing at the mouth in anticipation, rather than hoping it turns out better than the build-up has led us to expect.
And speaking of build-up, this week will be the last chapter in a tale of twists, turns, ‘Yes!’ chants and Boo-tistas. A tale of two men, having evolved in the wrestling industry together, facing off on the Grandest Stage of Them All, with an unknown third opponent thrown into the mix for good measure.
Of course, I’m talking about the triple-threat match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, featuring Randy Orton, Batista and either Triple H or Daniel Bryan.
In case you missed it, I discussed the evolution of this long-running story between Batista and Randy Orton last week, which dates back over 12 years ago to their time in OVW. If you want to read that first, you can do so here. Other than that, I think our analysis of this match’s build-up can really only start in one place.
It was the final Raw before the Royal Rumble, where everyone believed that Daniel Bryan would somehow outlast 29 other competitors and earn himself a Championship match at WrestleMania 30.
But as Randy Orton engaged in yet another show-opening rant to Triple H and Stephanie McMahon, complaining about this and that, and how he should be under close protection on a weekly basis due to his status on the card, blah, blah, the man that (almost) single-handedly shattered all our hopes and dreams six days later would make his return to the WWE.
The Beast had been unleashed, but he was wearing skinny jeans, sunglasses indoors and the dumbest-looking jacket known to man. Still, an unfashionable Batista is better than no Batista, right? Probably not…
This was when we learned of Batista’s intentions upon returning to the WWE, which were to win the Royal Rumble, main-event WrestleMania and leave with the WWE World Heavyweight Championship over his shoulder. Well, he’s bagged two of those accomplishments thus far, so perhaps Dave will be the one to, um, “earn” the gold next week in New Orleans. Whatever happens, I guess we’ll just have to deal with it…
So Batista walks into the Royal Rumble, the fans flip out over Daniel Bryan’s absence from the match after losing to Bray Wyatt in the opening contest, and the era of Boo-tista begins with Dave tossing Roman Reigns over the top rope to win his second Rumble – thus provoking the honourable victor to flip off members of the audience and perform Daniel Bryan’s signature “Yes!” chant with his middle fingers after the show went off the air. What a role model!
The next month or so was a bit foggy in terms of building towards WrestleMania, because everyone was gearing up for Elimination Chamber instead. Batista, having laid waste to Alberto Del Rio on a number of occasions during their ongoing rivalry, went toe-to-toe with the man and pinned him after a Batista Bomb to put the feud to rest, their rematch the following night notwithstanding.
Randy Orton, however, faced much more taxing problems. Along with Christian, Cesaro, Sheamus, John Cena and everyone’s favourite beard enthusiast, Daniel Bryan, he battled it out for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship inside the Elimination Chamber. With the aid of Kane (attacking Bryan) and the Wyatt Family (attacking John Cena), Randy Orton managed to slither his way to a successful defence.
The next night on Raw, as Batista closed in on another victory over Alberto Del Rio, Randy Orton interrupted the match to talk about how the WWE fans have been booing the hell out of Dave since he came back. This gave Berty the sneaky victory by rolling Batista up.
Then on SmackDown a couple of weeks later, Batista officially turned on the fans and asked where all the real men had gone, belittling hard-working talents like Daniel Bryan, and shrugging them off as “sawed-off, goat-faced trolls”. Dolph Ziggler was the guy to interrupt, but as we all knew it would, that led to Ziggles getting Batista Bombed and losing to the Animal.
This match has been based around Daniel Bryan for a long time, even though for he wasn’t even anywhere near it for several weeks. We’ve had “Yes!” chants from the crowd literally plaguing Batista as soon as he came back, and he’s had a little side-feud with Bryan instead of focusing on Randy Orton.
You’d have Batista and Kane against Daniel Bryan and Big Show on SmackDown, and the champion, who should probably be one of the major focuses, was nowhere to be found. Basically, all we’ve been seeing from Orton is rant after rant. Between him and Batista, I don’t know who complains more.
The ‘Occupy Raw’ segment was where this match officially got interesting at WrestleMania. Daniel Bryan fills the ring and ringside area with fans in his t-shirt, chanting “Yes! Yes! Yes!” and didn’t leave until the Authority made the match between Triple H and Daniel Bryan at ‘Mania.
Bryan had Triple H in the palm of his hand, officially receiving his match against the COO, so he also demanded that, should he beat the Game, he would be inserted into the WWE World Heavyweight Championship match at WrestleMania. Much to the chagrin of Triple H, Daniel Bryan had a deal.
The next week on Raw, Randy Orton and Batista were livid over Triple H’s decision to give Daniel Bryan a way into the main-event. Hunter didn’t take too kindly to their remarks, and said he was sick of Hollywood movie stars coming to the WWE and thinking they know better than he does. He was sick of talented guys not reaching their full potential, hiding behind power and the title. Then, Triple H gave himself the same opportunity as Daniel Bryan. If he wins at WrestleMania, he’s in the triple-threat.
As Triple H continued his rivalry with Daniel Bryan, this past week on Raw, Stephanie McMahon came to the ring overjoyed at the beating she and her husband dished out to Bryan the week before.
Randy Orton wanted to make peace with her, saying she’s a smart and savvy businesswoman, and that she should convince her husband to stay away from the main-event at WrestleMania. He can beat Daniel Bryan and leave a winner, or he can enter the triple-threat, and Randy Orton doesn’t want to be held responsible for what happens to Triple H if they step in the ring together.
Batista was sickened by Orton’s attempts to sway Stephanie’s decision, and went so far as to say that “Stephanie’s been drooled on before…a lot”. A swift slap to his face knocked his sunglasses into the middle of next week, and Randy Orton buckled with laughter. A Spear from Batista (who then blew out his Jeans) quickly wiped the smile off Orton’s face.
Then on SmackDown this week, Batista came out to talk about how the fans cheering for guys like Daniel Bryan was a slap in the face to him, and speaking of which, he played the video of Steph bitch-slapping him. Triple H came out, and said to leave his wife out of it. This confused Batista. He wanted to know why, considering she’s the only reason he has any power in the WWE.
They talked about their history, and how Batista’s beaten Triple H every time they’ve stepped in the ring together. Triple H agreed, but that was a long time ago and he doesn’t see The Animal anymore. The Animal he saw all those years ago is gone, but he sees the same fire in a guy like Sheamus, who, surprisingly, would then go one-on-one with Batista.
As Sheamus closed in on a victory, Batista avoided the Brogue Kick and nailed Sheamus with a chair before laying him out at ringside, hopping back on the mic and reiterating that he’ll be leaving WrestleMania with the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.
And here we are now. I know I’ve left a lot out, but I struggle to remember every little thing about this feud. The bulk of it was basically filler for Daniel Bryan and Triple H’s rivalry to take over, which I think is just sloppy on WWE’s behalf.
There are only so many times that you can watch Randy Orton and Batista come out and say exactly the same thing. Personally, I think it’s put a dampener on the match at WrestleMania. Nobody’s invested in Orton or Batista because they haven’t done anything to warrant it.
They’ve lost to Daniel Bryan again and again, and while there’s absolutely no shame in losing to him, they’re heading into WrestleMania with no momentum and there’s no indication why they belong in the main-event of the biggest show of the year. We know Batista never belonged there in the first place, but Orton’s the WWE World Heavyweight Champion!
It seems like the only reason why Orton’s the champion is so he can drop it at WrestleMania. He’s done nothing over the last three months to give us even the slightest hint that he can pull it out of the hat and retain his title, and that’s a total waste!
The only reason we think Batista could win is because it might be in his contract. He’s done nothing since winning the Rumble in January, and his inclusion in the WrestleMania main-event actually make me sick to my stomach. He’s done nothing to earn it, and the spot should’ve been reserved for somebody who busts their ass every week – and has done so for the last few years.
His promos are one-dimensional and unimaginative, and the manner in which he addresses the fans is embarrassing. He’s whining all week, every week, and he says he couldn’t care less about what we think when, in actual fact, all he seems to care about is how Daniel Bryan is the fan favourite. It’s an acceptable road to go down in terms of the story of this rivalry, but it slightly gives the result away.
Considering the amount of time that Randy Orton and Batista have focused on Daniel Bryan instead of each other, they’d be completely out of their depth if Triple H was the one to join them in the match at WrestleMania instead. Sure, we’ve seen more involvement from Triple H in recent weeks, but it’s too little, too late. This rivalry has been centred around Daniel Bryan, and I think that was a poor move.
I think the decision to add Bryan to the match was excellent, and even Triple H’s involvement would make Batista vs Randy Orton a little less boring, but they could have done it in a better way.
The Occupy Raw segment was awesome, I’ll give them that, and I have no doubt that Daniel Bryan will bring the house down at WrestleMania, but his involvement in this rivalry could’ve been a little more subtle than it was.
If we had to have Batista vs Randy Orton either way, I would’ve delved deeper into their history, but they’ve barely mentioned it. Like I said last week, they’ve been on the same journey for over a decade now and I personally think it would’ve been a better way to go.
You see all these WrestleMania promos for Randy Orton, where it shows how he’s aged over the last ten years. That would’ve been a perfect underlying story for Batista and Orton, where after a lengthy career, they both want to prove that they’re the best. It would even make Triple H’s involvement worth seeing, considering they were all part of Evolution together.
But now, after dropping the ball with the Orton/Batista rivalry, I feel like the WWE need Daniel Bryan to beat Triple H and stop this match from stinking up the place in New Orleans next week. I’m really excited for WrestleMania, but if Daniel Bryan isn’t in this match, it’s going to be another spot on the card wasted.
Right, I’d better finish up here. Thanks for sticking with me on during our WrestleMania In-Depth series where we look at the WWE World Heavyweight Championship Match at WrestleMania. The final chapter will come on Friday, when, along with some of the other fine folks here at SLTD Wrestling, I’ll try to predict what will happen when three men step in the ring to fight for the gold.
If you’d like to speak to me, you can follow me on Twitter @AdamOB_SLTD, and if you enjoyed this article, like/share it on Facebook, tweet the link and leave your comments below! I’d also encourage you to check out Sam and Gary’s instalments of the ‘WrestleMania In-Depth’ series too!
Thanks for reading!
Self-Professed Conversational Wizard.
Admin, Editor and Writer for SLTD Wrestling.
Creator of 'Under the Spotlight'.
Studying Computing in Games Development.
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