Triple H versus Batista, Paul Levesque versus Dave Bautista, The Game versus The Animal. Which ever way you look at it, the WWE Universe is in for a treat.
On tonight’s edition of Monday Night Raw, from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, WWE Chief Operating Officer, Triple H, will stand face to face with one of his closest friends, and enemies, in the wrestling business. Six-time WWE Champion and Guardians of the Galaxy star, Dave Bautista. It will mark Batista’s first Monday Night Raw in-ring appearance since 2014, where he “quit” after losing to The Shield the night before on pay-per-view.
We saw “The Animal” last October on Smackdown Live’s 1000th episode, where the WWE Universe saw the return of one of the most devastating factions in wrestling history, Evolution (Ric Flair, Triple H, Batista, Randy Orton). During their segment, Batista made sure to compliment everybody in the ring. He said that Randy Orton’s left pinky had more talent than half the roster, and that Ric Flair is arguably the greatest champion in all of professional wrestling. When complimenting Triple H, Dave mentioned how Hunter was a 14-Time World Champion, COO of the company and that there was nothing that the game hadn’t accomplished in the WWE…..except beat Dave Bautista.
It appeared as if we were finally going to see a match that has been on many fans’ wish lists over the years. It was going to come to fruition at this year’s WrestleMania in New Jersey. But then, Triple H got hurt.
At Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia, Triple H teamed with Shawn Michaels one final time as members of Degeneration-X, to take on The Brothers of Destruction, The Undertaker and Kane. By the end of the night, DX would come away victorious, but not without a cost. It was later revealed that Triple H had suffered a torn pectoral muscle and that he’d have to undergo immediate surgery.
With the injury, it almost seemed as if The Game was going to miss out on this year’s WrestleMania, meaning that Dave Bautista’s clamored rematch with the “king of kings” was never going to happen. The Hollywood movie star stated that if he and WWE couldn’t work something out for WrestleMania XXXV in New Jersey, than he was going to hang up the boots for good, calling it a wrestling career.
After back and forth negotiations with both WWE and AEW, it appeared as though Batista had reached an agreement with the McMahon’s. He stated that the only wrestling promotion that he’d ever want to work for is WWE. Though Batista was rumored for this year’s WrestleMania, Triple H’s status still seemed to be unclear heading into WrestleMania season. This year’s show of shows would not necessarily need the 14-Time World Champion on the card, as WrestleMania is set to display Brock Lesnar/Seth Rollins, Ronda Rousey/Charlotte Flair/Becky Lynch. Also, both Roman Reigns and John Cena seem to be ready to go, with other matches as well.
However, The Game’s WrestleMania plans became very clear during Ric Flair’s 70th birthday celebration on Raw two weeks ago. Hall of Famers, including Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat, Sting, Kurt Angle and Shawn Michaels all returned to celebrate the occasion. After much adulation from everyone in the ring, Triple H would introduce the 16-Time World Champion, though he never appeared. Moments later, fans realized why.
Batista, dragging a camera man to Flair’s locker room, made his shocking return to WWE. He laid out the 70-year old Flair backstage, sending shockwaves throughout the arena in Atlanta, Georgia. Triple H would soon run to the back, looking for Flair. He would help aid Flair and get medical attention, as The Animal had already disappeared.
Last week on Raw, Dave decided that he didn’t enjoy the confines of Philadelphia, and that the game was going to be played his way. Triple H responded to Batista’s attack of Flair with a bone-chilling promo, telling Dave to have the balls to show up. He said he will go wherever he needs to go to find Dave Bautista.
Tonight, on Monday Night Raw, we get to witness these two men stand face to face on live television. With Batista’s intentions and aspiration clear, it looks like Triple H versus Batista will be booked for WrestleMania XXXV. However, if WWE really wants to make this a marquee bout, and deliver an epic storyline, there going to have to add a special stipulation in order to spice up a feud the has been coming for over 5 years. With Batista set to walk away after the bout, and with Triple H’s in-ring career reaching the very end, WWE should book this contest as a “Career versus Career” match.
WWE has become very lackluster, to say the least, when it comes to adding stipulations to big headlining matches over the past few years. Adding this stipulation to this matchup makes perfect sense, given the history and the ages of the two superstars.
The last time we saw a career match of this magnitude was when Triple H put his career on the line against Brock Lesnar at MetLife Stadium 6 years ago, with The Game coming out on top. Shawn Michaels was forced to call it quits after dropping his bout against The Undertaker at WrestleMania XXVI in Glendale, Arizona. Before that, it was Shawn Michaels ending the career of the Nature Boy, Ric Flair at WrestleMania XXIV in Orlando, Florida, two years prior.
With their epic face to face showdown scheduled for tonights show, and Triple H looking for Batista to tell him what exactly he wants, The Animal should not only request a match for the show of shows, but request that the game put his entire career on the line for the second time in his career at WrestleMania inside MetLife Stadium.
