Triple H and Vince McMahon 'had lots of disagreements' over booking of WrestleMania feud
Speaking on the latest episode of WWE Network series Ruthless Aggression, Batista said Triple H and Vince McMahon “had lots of disagreements” over the break-up of Evolution in early 2005.
The storyline saw Batista win the Royal Rumble to set up a title match against World Heavyweight Champion Triple H or WWE Champion JBL at WrestleMania 21.
Triple H, who had already forced Randy Orton out of Evolution after the up-and-comer won the World Heavyweight Championship, did everything he could to stop Batista from challenging him at ‘Mania, which turned “The Animal” – still associated with Evolution at the time – into a babyface with fans.
Batista revealed that McMahon was keen to take advantage of the audience’s reactions by turning him against Triple H earlier than originally planned, while “The Game” wanted to let the storyline play out until WrestleMania.
“Our programme itself had a very slow build. I remember Hunter having a lot of disagreements with Vince because Vince wanted to capitalise on this. When you saw and you heard the audience… dollar signs! But Hunter was very adamant about stretching this out and making it a slow build so that when we got to WrestleMania it would just erupt.”
Batista went on to defeat Triple H (w/Ric Flair) in the main event of WrestleMania 21, while Orton lost against The Undertaker at the same event.