5 Superstars who have defined SmackDown

#4 Batista

Upon moving to Smackdown, The Animal would instantly be positioned as the brand's top star

Having spent a year building him up to be champion, you can only speculate how big a blow it would have been to those that run Smackdown when they were told that John Cena was moving to RAW.

Luckily for them, they had a ready-made replacement on Monday nights who would play a pivotal role for them for the next four or so years.

Batista had won gold of his own at the same event as Cena in 2005, winning the World Heavyweight Title at WrestleMania 21.

Upon moving to Smackdown, The Animal would instantly be positioned as the brand's top star. A familiar and fond memory of my childhood would be the constant reassurance of Batista's signature pyro filled entrance every Friday night.

One of the reasons that I've gone for Batista on this list ahead of some of the names I mentioned earlier was simply his ability to come back from whatever knocked him down - mostly injuries - to feel like the main man on Smackdown.

Be it a torn right bicep or a disappointing WrestleMania defeat to The Undertaker, you could always rely on Batista to defend and work hard to ensure Smackdown wasn't seen as the B-show.