WWE Monday Night RAW 25th anniversary: Ranking the 25 biggest stars

19. Batista

As I’m sure he’d like to do himself, let’s try and forget about how Batista actually debuted in WWE. You remember, right? He was Deacon Batista, the enforcer for Reverend D’Von, whose singles career wasn’t the greatest in the world, on SmackDown for months and months, right around the time some guy named John Cena was making his way into WWE as well. He split with D’Von in late 2002 and headed to RAW as just Batista, and things only got better from there.

Upon his arrival to Monday nights, Batista aligned himself with Ric Flair and would later join The Nature Boy, Triple H and Randy Orton in Evolution, the stable that would help Batista become a household name. Unfortunately, a triceps injury kept Batista out of action for many months in 2003, but he returned late in the year and didn’t really miss a beat. Seeing the potential, creative pushed him hard in a nice feud on RAW with Shawn Michaels, and he and Flair later won the tag titles, something they would do on two separate occasions.

Evolution ran strong in 2004, even after losing Randy Orton after everyone turned on him after he won the World Heavyweight Championship. Tension began to grow between Batista and Triple H, and after “The Animal” won the Royal Rumble in 2005, he stayed one step ahead of “The Game” and put him through a table in a great segment on RAW when he had to make a choice on which champion to face at WrestleMania 21. He went on to defeat Triple H to become champion for the first time and had a lengthy run, including numerous defeats over The Cerebral Assassin, before having to relinquish the title due to injury. He was drafted to SmackDown that June as he and Cena essentially switched places as the respective face for each brand.

However, Batista returned to Monday nights and had some great programs and matches with the likes of Cena and Chris Jericho, winning another world title in the process, and eventually teamed back up with Triple H to battle Randy Orton and Legacy. A great storyline with Cena in 2010 resulted in Batista leaving WWE for years, which included his fantastic “I Quit” promo while sitting in a wheelchair.

He made his return to RAW in 2014 and was in line to once again become the WWE World Heavyweight Champion. With absolutely zero fan support, he won the 2014 Royal Rumble and was set to face Randy Orton at WrestleMania XXX, but the “YES” movement and Daniel Bryan became the biggest thing in wrestling and Batista wound up jobbing out in the main event. He rejoined Evolution in a great storyline that included a series of matches with The Shield but left WWE due to creative differences that summer.

While some may not put Batista this high on the list, it’s undeniable that he was a huge part of Monday nights for many years. He’s often spoken about a return to WWE, but nothing has materialized thus far. Given the way his last tenure ended, it wouldn’t shock me if he gave it one last run.