Opinion: Could Batista May Be Part Of Crown Jewel Pay-Per-View?
Batista can become part of Crown Jewel, which is set to take place on November 2 in Saudi Arabia. Batista has not stepped in a WWE ring to wrestle since the Payback 2014 pay-per-view. His last comeback did not go as planned and was a nightmare due to the effects 'Yes Movement' and some bad booking decisions.
He did win the Royal Rumble 2014 and headlined Wrestlemania30 in his run, but no one was interested in watching him as everyone was rooting for Daniel Bryan to achieve the ultimate glory. He started getting booed out of the building throughout that stint. People looked at him as the reason why Bryan was not getting the big push. He received many embarrassing nicknames like 'Boo-tista'
He has another chance as WWE has advertised him to appear on Smackdown's 1000th episode as part of the team Evolution. But, it may not be just a one-evening affair. Before discussing about Batista, let's just look at the quantum of the Saudi Arabia's glorified shows. When WWE went there for the first time earlier this year, the biggest royal rumble in the history took place, Undertaker who only appears once or twice in WWE in a year had a casket match, every championship part of the men's roster was defended, Brock Lesnar who competes only in major pay-per-views defended his title there, and Triple H and John Cena who are part-timer wrestlers had a match. So, this proves that WWE goes all out when they promote their company in the middle-east.
The Sports Organisation of Saudi-Arabia too demands big names in their shows. Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observers Newsletter said that Shawn Micheals may come out of the retirement to have a match there at Crown Jewels pay-per-views. He is the only major star who stayed retired after losing a match with that stipulation but, now even he is coming back for another match.
Whatculture recently reported that Rock may also appear in another such show in Saudi-Arabia in 2019 as the champion. He is another part-timer who has not appeared on any of the WWE shows in the last couple of years and even he may perform in the middle-east as the sports authority there has offered him a huge amount of money to do so. Saudi Arabia government knows how to pull the right strings to promote shows in their country.
This all directs us to Batista's appearance at Smackdown's 1000th episode. He has shown his interest every now and then to have a final run with WWE. He is already 49, so this seems the right time to have that dream period. It all fits perfectly as he can have a run with WWE and Saudi Arabia can have another big star in their show.
His opponent will depend on whether he will be playing a babyface or a heel. The most likely opponent seems to be Daniel Bryan as he can come and look to take revenge for his loss at Wrestlemania 30. He even wanted to play a heel role in his last run. I, personally would want to see him back in the ring as he is a great wrestler but this time he needs to be booked properly.
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