A Look Back: The Triple H/Batista Rivalry (Part I: WrestleMania 21)

Hard to believe that today is the 20th anniversary of WrestleMania 21. The very first WrestleMania that I watched. The event that gave us the first ever Money in the Bank Ladder Match, so yes, MITB also turns 20. The event that placed a 25-year-old Legend Killer against the Phenom, and it turned into a wild battle that spanned the rest of the calendar year. The event that pitted the Showstopper against a legend who won a Gold Medal with a broken freakin' neck. The event where the man who defined the words, "Hustle, Loyalty, and Respect," reached the top for the very first time.

WrestleMania 21 also gave us one hell of a main event, and here's how we got there:

Batista

Batista was part of that core group who debuted in 2002 and helped WWE truly transition into the then-new Ruthless Aggression Era. After serving as Deacon Batista alongside Reverend D-Von, we would see Batista managed by Ric Flair in the end of that year, and of course, that led to the Evolution formation in early 2003. Batista served as the group's heavy, but he would be sidelined for months, leaving Triple H, Flair, and Randy Orton to act on their own. Batista returned in late 2003, and the quartet continued to be a huge force for several more months.

Of course, as we all remember, Evolution was down to being a trio again after Orton won the World Heavyweight Championship, as Orton was violently ex-communicated from the group. By late 2004, Batista's popularity began to increase, to the point where he was only a heel by association with the group. He stole the show at Survivor Series 2004, and he was even part of the Elimination Chamber at the inaugural New Year's Revolution in January 2005.

Three weeks later...

Royal Rumble

I enjoyed watching the 2005 Royal Rumble on PPV; it was a wild event that had an amazing Final Four, and it's fitting that I say that, because we're so close to the Final Four in college hoops. The Final Four in that match: Batista, Edge, John Cena, Rey Mysterio. Two of them inducted in the HoF, the other two--definite shoo-ins. It ended up down to Batista and Cena, and a misstep led to the two of them starting over again, but when they did, Batista won the Rumble.

So now, Batista had a choice to make. Which World Champion would Batista face? One would think he would have to go pursue the WWE Championship, held by John "Bradshaw" Layfield, because after the Rumble, the holder of the World Heavyweight Championship was still Batista's Evolution leader, Triple H. We would see seeds planted and teases for weeks. First off, a video of JBL trashing Batista after the Rumble, and then a limo resembling JBL's nearly running Batista down. The Animal crashed SmackDown as a result, and we would see him invade SmackDown's No Way Out Event and take out JBL after he successfully beat Big Show in a Barbed Wire Steel Cage Match.

But it was after No Way Out that things got really interesting.

Thumbs Down

February 21, 2005. It was decision time for Batista. Triple H and Ric Flair were pacing, waiting for Batista. That's when it came out. Triple H dropped a bombshell on Flair. The video of JBL bashing Batista, the limo that nearly ran down Dave? That was all Triple H. The Game did all of that to make sure that Batista would head over to the blue brand and target JBL (though he would also have John Cena in the way, too). But unbeknownst to The Game, Batista heard everything.

When it was decision time, both GMs were present--Eric Bischoff representing Raw, and Theodore Long representing SmackDown. After the GMs spoke, Triple H took over and told Batista to do what was best for Evolution. He then gives a whole thing about faction domination, and how others had came close. Example 1: The Horsemen; Flair being NWA Champion in his heyday, but Arn Anderson being WWE Champion not happening. Example 2: DX; Shawn Michaels being WWE Champion in his heyday, but Triple H being WCW Champion not happening. The Game gives that whole speech about Evolution having a chance to dominate as World Champions, and Batista had that SmackDown contract in his hand, and gave a thumbs up.

And then, it became a thumbs down.

Batista went after Triple H, beat down Flair, and then famously powerbombed The Game through the table. He signed the Raw contract, and then said:

"Hunter, I'm staying right here on Raw. And at WrestleMania, I'm taking the World Championship...from you!"

Taking a Stand

One week later, Batista made his reasons clear in an interview with Jim Ross:

"Ever since I joined Evolution, Raw has only been about one man: Triple H. I didn't mind it. It didn't bother me, but things changed. When Randy Orton won the World Heavyweight Championship at SummerSlam, it was all about Triple H. When I won the 2005 Royal Rumble, it was still all about Triple H. So right then, I had a decision to make. I could go to SmackDown, and leave Raw all to Triple H, or I could stay here on Raw and do something about it."

In that interview, Batista also added, "Like the song says. It's all about the game and how you play it. Well, The Game got played." What followed was weeks of tit for tat, which included Triple H stating weeks later how it he was underappreciated due to his effort in making stars. He mentioned that Evolution was deemed to be unstoppable, but that wasn't true, saying that Evolution was stopped by evolution. Triple H brought up how actions had consequences, and he started with Orton, adding that Orton made a choice to not be "a failure like his grandfather and his father before him." The consequence was becoming a big star and going on to become the youngest World Champion in history, but Triple H claimed that Orton decided to turn on him, and eight months later, Orton is groveling for what The Game called "the scraps" of WrestleMania, adding that Orton's putting his head on the chopping block for The Undertaker to lop it off, just to make a name for himself.

The Game stated that Orton (among other things) had a name when he was with Evolution, just like Batista did. Regarding the Animal, Triple H stated that Batista could have made a good decision and went to SmackDown, adding that Batista was good enough to beat both JBL and Cena at the same time, but Batista decided to face The Game, who said that Batista would lose.

WrestleMania 21

WrestleMania 21 arrived on April 3, 2005, taking place in Los Angeles. I wasn't surprised that LA hosted WM, because a year prior, WrestleMania was at Madison Square Garden in New York City. It was an amazing event overall, and it was main evented by Triple H vs Batista; yes, once upon a time, Royal Rumble winners actually main evented WrestleMania--a concept that's become quite lost in recent years. Triple H came out to a live performance of Motorhead performing "The Game," and after Batista made his entrance, the battle commenced. It was violent, crazy, and bloody, and even now, I still remember that moment where Batista muscles his way into breaking Triple H's Pedigree attempt. We would see the thumbs go down, which would become a thing for the rest of Batista's career following that moment on Raw, and one Batista Bomb later, the beast was unleashed!

This image has run through my mind a lot for the last 20 years. The reason why I watched WrestleMania 21 was because I knew that John Cena and Batista would become champions at the event; there was no way that would not happen. The Animal took his place in WrestleMania immortality; defeating The Game, his former Evolution mentor, to take the title. But it would not end there. What would follow was a very interesting road to a rematch that, in my mind, outshined WM21. But that's a story for another time.

For my story about John Cena's 1st WWE Championship run, check out the link below: