Look who's back in the news again. It's none other than Dave Batista, the former WWE champion who hasn't seen the inside of a ring for a year now but manages to pop up every now and again with comments that seem to piss everyone off.
He did so last night when after the TLC pay-per-view (PPV) event that took place in Baltimore. Upon learning that Daniel Bryan had cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase and won the world heavyweight championship, Batista tweeted the following:
"Excuse me! Did i hear that right? Daniel Bryan World Heavyweight Champ. ummmmmmm.....ok."
This brought forth an explosive reaction from his nearly 100,000 followers and he responded the way you would think:
"Man did that comment bring the tough guy haters out. Well I'm at Gracie Fighter Tampa daily. 6333 s. dale mabry hwy Tampa FL. Stop on by."
You mad?
It's difficult to bag on Batista for simply having an opinion on who the world heavyweight champion is. There were plenty of folks jumping for joy that another wrestler who built his name through the Indies has risen to the pinnacle of the sport, but there are just as many who think it's a mistake.
Thankfully, old Dave cleared it all up with a much longer message, which was filled with rage, bad spelling and even worse grammar. Let's hear him out.
"So to clear up any misunderstanding about me hating on Daniel Bryan...actually i've been a supporter of his for years,unlike most of you Johnny come lately smart mark supporters. we actually had a hell of a match together that was originally supposed to be a squash match until this old broken down ex bodybuilder who never deserved to be champion and only had it handed to me because HHH was my boy...refused to job the kid out because i knew how good he was and wanted to have a fucking match with him before i left the company. and a hell of a match we had considering where our respective places in the company were at the time. so yes im aware of all of his accomplishments and hard work through out the years and i'm thrilled to death for him....but still...World Heavyweight champ???ummmmmmm...ok. opinions are like assholes. my Twitter account,my opinion. and to all the bitch ass haters who just dogged me out and bitched about how horrible i was.....i've worked with HHH, the Undertaker,Rey Mysterio,Randy Orton Stone Cold,Edge,John Cena,Chris Benoit,Ric Fucking Flair!!etc.etc.. and they all respected me and my work. Eddie Guerrero respected my work. so don't expect your little bullshit remarks to actually carry any weight. in your bitch ass faces!!"
Seriously, though ... you mad?
Essentially what Batista seems to be saying is that Bryan, who accomplished quite a bit on the Indie scene, hasn't done nearly enough within WWE to warrant putting the world heavyweight title on him. And in a lot of ways, that makes complete sense.
You can blame the booking, sure, and it has a lot to do with it. But it's impossible to ignore the fact that Bryan has yet to really work his way up the proverbial ladder (not including that one that had a briefcase at the end of it).
Batista also seems to be stuck with the old school pro wrestling mentality that even though it's not real and it's all entertainment, the performers still need to be legitimate tough guys to get over. Which is why he went after Miz not long ago and likely at least part of the reason he's going after Bryan now, even though he's doing so while claiming to be buddies with him.
It's also possible he sees the world title as worth something more than what it is now, which is to say, there was a time when the title was only given to you if you were the biggest star on the show and it no longer made sense for you not to hold it. Now, the title is being used as a way to get a guy over instead of his already being over and the belt being the cherry on top to crown him.
To that end, he's got a great point. And you know what? I'm not entirely sure I I don't disagree.
Cagesiders, what are your thoughts on this?