Disc Two
1st December, 2006
Our man is World Champion once again as he defends his title against King Booker and Finlay in a triple threat match on Smackdown.
Now this was one I really enjoyed. It began with Batista taking both men down with an impressive display of power, but during the commercial break Finlay took control. The Northern Irishman went on to dominate both men for the next few moments, showing what a tough old so and so he was, even at that stage in his career.
Batista took the lion’s share of punishment in this one when the King took up where Finlay had left off, and even though Booker and Finlay decided to form an alliance it was a somewhat brief joining of forces as they began to argue over pin attempts.
Finlay’s came closest to winning the title after his Lil’ Bastard ran interference so he could clobber the other two with his shillelagh while the referee was otherwise distracted. It gave him the chance to work over Batista’s leg, but Booker’s intervention put an end to any advantage he’d gained.
The King’s return didn’t last long though when Batista took him down with a spinebuster, and when he took Finlay down with his powerbomb a few moments later it was all over as the champion took the title-retaining pin.
25th May, 2007
Having lost the World title our man aims to get straight back into contention by facing Kane, Finlay and Mark Henry in a fatal four way number one contenders match on Smackdown.
This one may only have been about half as long as the triple threat match but it was still jam packed with action. As World Champion Edge watched on from the commentary table these four men tore shreds off each other, and even though he was the smallest man in the match Finlay was more than a match for anyone he went against, especially when he was clobbering them with his shillelagh.
Sadly for Finlay he fell short once again, because with Kane and Henry taken out of action Batista took him down with a powerbomb to take the pin and earn a title shot.
29th June, 2007
It’s a non-title match for our man as he takes on World Champion Edge on Smackdown.
A stipulation in their previous match meant that Batista couldn’t challenge for the title while Edge was the champion, but that didn’t stop the Animal from trying to take his man apart, which was his main intention throughout the match.
Edge managed to work his way back though, and after both men enjoyed brief moments of advantage the champ looked to Batista away with the spear. Batista managed to block the move though, taking him down with his powerbomb for the winning pin.
14th December, 2007
Our man has the gold once again as he faces a non-title last man standing match against Kane on Smackdown.
I think you probably know what kind of match this was. Yep, it was basically two big guys beating on each other for about ten minutes or so as they attempted to put the other down for the ten count.
It was entertaining in it’s own way, and Kane looked great as he dominated the majority of the action. However, when the Big Red Machine tried to put his man through the commentary table with a chokeslam Batista countered with a series of elbows before slamming him on the wood with a spinebuster.
But as the referee was about to make his count Batista’s old rival Edge made an appearance and took him down with a spear, and as there were no disqualifications in this match it meant that the referee had to count both protagonists.
Batista managed to drag himself back to his feet though, just in time to backdrop Edge as the referee counted Kane out to give the champion the win.
But in the end it was Edge who had the last laugh when he smashed Batista in the back with a steel chair.
1st June, 2008
It’s a night of extremes for our man as he takes on Shawn Michaels in a stretcher match at One Night Stand.
This situation came about after Michaels sent Batista’s mentor Ric Flair into retirement at Wrestlemania, and after the Heartbreak Kid feigned injury on his way to beating him at Backlash the Animal had a few reasons to take out his frustrations.
The match itself is one of the best I’ve ever seen from Batista. The storytelling was perfect throughout as each man went all out to put the other away. Even Chris Jericho’s cameo appearances, when he came out to encourage Michaels to get back into the fight when he was down made perfect sense.
But despite this encouragement and a top notch performance from HBK it wasn’t enough to get the job done, and having delivered a ton of punishment the Animal put the exclamation point on things when he took the ring steps, put them right in the middle of the aisle, and dumped Michaels on them with a spinebuster. He then put him on the stretcher and pushed him over the line to claim the win.
20th July, 2008
Our man goes for the gold once more as he challenges C.M. Punk for the World title at The Great American Bash.
Oh Mr. Brooks, how we miss you! This was a very good match, and despite their two distinct styles they gelled incredibly well. Punk looked at his absolute best as he used speed a guile to take the big man down, while Batista did what he did best, and that’s basically take his man down with his impressive array of power moves.
At one point it looked as if either man could take the win, but when the Animal took Punk down with a spinebuster on the floor it looked all over bar the shouting. That was until Kane spoiled the party and attacked Batista before taking Punk out with chokeslam. He then began talking to himself before kicking a cameraman in the face before he left the arena.
It was then announced that the referee had ruled this a double disqualification, which didn’t sit too well with the Animal when he took Punk down with a Batista bomb to end his night’s work.
26th October, 2008
With the WWE fans choosing Steve Austin as the special referee our man gets another shot at the gold as he challenges Chris Jericho for the World title at Cyber Sunday.
Now this one had a lot going on, and it almost ended before it got started when Jericho, who looked extremely low on confidence, tried to leave. But when Austin told him that he could lose his title via count out or disqualification he quickly returned to the ring.
What followed was highly entertaining. Jericho caught a break when Batista’s leg got tied up in the ropes, and although the Animal made momentary comebacks Y2J always seemed one step ahead of him as he worked over the big man’s bad wheel.
But when Jericho ducked out of the way of an oncoming Batista and the Animal barged into Austin it signalled the start of the all hell breaking loose segment as the referees Austin beat in the vote made an appearance. First came Shawn Michaels, who apparently couldn’t complete a count on Jericho’s pin because of an arm injury before he was sent packing.
Then came Randy Orton, who gave Jericho a lot of lee-way when he clobbered Batista with the title belt. But a shot on Austin cost him dearly when the Viper fell to a stone cold stunner.
Jericho himself almost fell to a stunner, but after he pushed Austin away it left him wide open as Batista took him down with a spinebuster and followed up with a powerbomb for the title-winning pin.
