From the WWE Rumor Mill: Batista was lined up to be Ronda Rousey's partner at WrestleMania
What's the story?
The match between Ronda Rousey and Kurt Angle vs Triple H and Stephanie McMahon has the potential to steal the show at WrestleMania, particularly if Rousey can prove she can go in the ring.
However, the match was almost every different according to Dave Meltzer in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
In case you didn't know...
Ronda Rousey made her WWE debut in the closing moments of the Royal Rumble PPV event, interacting with Stephanie McMahon, Asuka, Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss to close the show.
A storyline then began involving the Authority, Stephanie McMahon and Triple H attempting to sign Ronda Rousey to get revenge on her for her actions when she attacked Stephanie a few 'Mania's ago, with Kurt Angle revealing the Authority's plan to Ronda, leading to the tag-team match.
What's the story?
However, it seems these plans weren't completely set in stone with reports of people like The Rock and Braun Strowman being considered to be Rousey's partner at one point or another. Now it seems that another name may have been considered. Dave Meltzer said this in the WON,
Dave Bautista was saying that he had been talked with about being Rousey's partner, which does make sense given the spot was originally earmarked for Dwayne Johnson.
Meltzer doesn't go into any more detail as to how serious the discussions got and why Batista didn't end up being Rousey's partner. However, I'm quite glad this fell through, not because I don't want to see Batista coming back, but because I think Kurt Angle being involved in the storyline makes more sense from a narrative perspective, especially given the events of Survivor Series.
What's next?
The expectation is that given this is Rousey's debut match for WWE on 'The Grandest Stage of Them All' that she will get the win for her team to launch her WWE career. However, I have a sneaky suspicion that Kurt Angle will take the pin handing Ronda a faux-loss.
Author's take
I hope that we do see Batista come back to the WWE eventually and that he gets a run that was better than his last, that isn't hampered by the WWE's poor decision to sideline Daniel Bryan.