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Former WWE champion Batista recently revealed that he has spoken to Vince McMahon about a return to the company.
However, unlike many former Superstars, the wrestler-turned-actor would prefer to come back on a full-time basis, working live events as well as television, rather than make one-off appearances.
“The Animal” has often mentioned how he would like to finish his career by having a storyline with Triple H, his former Evolution teammate, leading to a match between the two at WrestleMania.
In this article, assuming the 2014 Royal Rumble winner faces more opponents than just HHH, we take a look at five people who he could go toe-to-toe with when he inevitably returns to WWE.
#5 Shinsuke Nakamura
As we found out during his last run with WWE in 2014, Batista is not a good guy. No matter how much WWE tried to tell us that he was a fan favourite, it just didn’t work and it resulted in him being booed out of the building after winning the Royal Rumble.
With that in mind, all five of these possible opponents would be facing “The Animal” as a babyface – and there are not many better babyfaces who he could take on than The Artist, Shinsuke Nakamura.
The former NXT champion hasn’t had the best of times on the main roster since he was called up in April 2017, but WWE clearly still thinks highly of him and he’s bound to get bigger and better opportunities in the months and years to come.
Nakamura has already beaten two members of the famous OVW class of 2002, Randy Orton and John Cena, and a match against another graduate of that system, who also happens to be a fellow former mixed martial artist, would be great to see.
#4 Cesaro
As is the case when most veteran performers return to WWE, they’re most likely going to be used to lose against newer talents, and the same would almost certainly be expected of Batista if and when he comes back.
In 2014, the former World Heavyweight champion was victorious in the Royal Rumble and at the following pay-per-view against Alberto Del Rio, but he then lost to newer stars Daniel Bryan, Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose.
If WWE goes down a similar path during Batista’s next run, they could do far worse than have him lose to Cesaro, who has had a career resurgence as Sheamus’ tag-team partner but is yet to forge a successful singles run for himself.
To do that, he’d need to pick up a few statement victories against established members of the roster, and a rivalry – and subsequent win – against Batista would go a long way to solidifying him as a top singles star.
#3 Braun Strowman
Whenever someone predicts future opponents for a WWE Superstar, you can bet your house on seeing Braun Strowman in that list. Nothing if not predictable, “The Monster Among Men” features in this selection too.
That’s because the former Wyatt Family member has faced so many contrasting styles of Superstars during his two years on the main roster, from Kalisto and Sami Zayn to Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar, and it makes for captivating viewing every time.
WWE has done a brilliant job at slowly moving Strowman up the ranks of the Raw roster since the 2016 brand split, with his most recent milestone moment coming when he was one of two remaining survivors in the 5-on-5 men’s elimination match at Survivor Series.
The fact remains, however, is that he has still only beaten one person – Roman Reigns, on two occasions – in a singles match on pay-per-view. He needs to defeat a few more big-name opponents to truly live up to his “Monster” moniker, and we think “The Monster vs. The Animal” has 'big-money match-up' written all over it.
#2 Randy Orton & Triple H
We wanted to provide five alternative matches that Batista could have instead of a singles match against Triple H. But, such is life, “The Game” has still managed to sneak his way back into this list.
While a one-on-one feud between HHH and the Guardians of the Galaxy star would be interesting to see, it’d be even better if Randy Orton was added to the mix to make it a Triple Threat match.
The story of the three men, plus 16-time champion Ric Flair, began when the villainous Evolution faction was formed in January 2003. The four-man stable went on to dominate main-event storylines for the next two years, holding every title possible on the Raw roster between them.
We’ve seen all three of these guys go one-on-one with each other on multiple occasions over the years, but even in modern-day WWE, this is a Triple Threat match that would be worthy of main-eventing any pay-per-view.
#1 AJ Styles
You can’t predict future opponents for a legendary Superstar like Batista without wondering what would happen if he stepped through the ropes with the best in-ring performer in modern-day WWE, AJ Styles.
“The Phenomenal One” recently topped our list of the 50 best Superstars on SmackDown Live in 2017 after an incredible year which saw him feature in two Match of the Year contenders – against John Cena at the Royal Rumble and against Brock Lesnar at Survivor Series.
As much as we hate to admit it, Styles doesn’t have that long left as a WWE performer. He’s 40 years of age and, like Cena in recent months, he’s bound to slow down his schedule at some point in the next couple of years.
Before he hangs up the kick pads, boots and gloves, who wouldn’t love to see “The Champ That Runs The Camp” go one-on-one with “The Animal”?
