10 Things That Dave Bautista Never Accomplished in Wrestling
The induction of Dave Bautista into the WWE Hall of Fame is a matter of when, not if. The Hall of Fame ring would be a fitting capstone to a successful career that includes two WrestleMania main events, epic matches with the likes of Triple H and The Undertaker, and six world championship reigns.
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Though Batista had a spectacular run, there were several things that he didn't accomplish in his eight years as a full-timer. While he came close to adding some of these accolades to his resume, some of these feats eluded him completely (even when he staged a brief comeback in 2014). And there happens to be more than one accomplishment that will perhaps make fans go, "Wait, Batista never did that?"
10 Win The Intercontinental Title
From May 2003 to June 2005, both Batista and the Intercontinental Championship inhabited the Raw brand. During this two-year span, however, Batista never won the prestigious workhorse title that elevated the likes of Christian, Booker T, and Randy Orton at that time.
One factor that kept Batista away from the IC title scene was his triceps injury, which sidelined him for a good chunk of 2003. As for the rest of that two-year period, Evolution leader Triple H wanted Batista to focus on his enforcing duties, rather than pursuing individual accolades. It sure backfired in Hunter's face, didn't it!?
9 Win The United States Title
In June 2005, then-World Heavyweight Champion Batista was drafted to SmackDown. He would spend three years on the blue brand, but not once did he lay claim to the rich prize known as the United States Championship.
The Animal, of course, was preoccupied with the World Heavyweight Title throughout his SmackDown run. Interestingly, he won tag team gold and challenged for the ECW Championship during this time frame, but showed virtually no interest in the US Title. He only challenged for the title against MVP in early 2008, but was unable to win after Umaga interfered. This means that Batista - having no US and IC title runs in his career - can never be called a Grand Slam Champion, either.
8 Hold The WWE Championship For Two Months
In his career, Batista won the WWE Championship on two separate occasions. While being a two-time WWE Champion is certainly something to flex, the longevity of these reigns certainly isn't.
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Batista's first WWE Title reign lasted all of 24 hours, as a bicep injury forced him to vacate the championship the day after Extreme Rules in 2009. His second WWE Title win came at the 2010 Elimination Chamber event, where he defeated a worn down John Cena who had just competed inside the Chamber. Batista's second reign, though, came crashing down at WrestleMania 26 when Cena regained the title. This second reign lasted just 35 days - not even a full two months.
7 Main Event SummerSlam
It's quite baffling that Batista, a bona fide main event attraction, never competed in the final match of a SummerSlam card. While Big Dave has main evented Survivor Series, Royal Rumble, and WrestleMania, he has never gone on last at the Biggest Party of the Summer.
That's not to say that Batista has zero prominent matches in this event. From 2005 to 2007, he competed in World Title matches against JBL, King Booker, and The Great Khali, respectively. And in 2008, Batista memorably caught John Cena in mid-air, delivered a hellacious Batista Bomb, and scored the pinfall victory.
6 Become A Sole Survivor At Survivor Series
To be clear, Batista has been part of a winning Survivor Series team once in his career - that being Team SmackDown in 2005. The thing is, he was the third man to be eliminated from the match, which meant that he was not a sole survivor. In the two other instances when Batista competed in a traditional Survivor Series match (2004 and 2008, to be exact), his team was on the losing end.
As for the three other years in which Batista competed at Survivor Series, he was not involved in a traditional elimination match. Rather, he competed in singles matches. The Animal won his second World Heavyweight Title from King Booker in 2006, retained it against The Undertaker inside Hell in a Cell in 2007, and defeated Rey Mysterio via TKO in 2009.
5 Compete In A Money In The Bank Ladder Match
The first ever Money in the Bank Ladder Match took place at WrestleMania 21. The match stipulation grew wildly popular, and in the ensuing years, WWE went on to devote an entire event to the Money in the Bank concept. Despite all this, no Money in the Bank Ladder Match ever featured a certain Animal.
Out of the six WrestleMania MITB matches that took place during Batista's full-time career, none included him in the lineup. The inaugural Money in the Bank event in July 2010 actually featured two MITB matches, but it was impossible for Batista to compete in either one, as he had left WWE two months prior.
4 Compete In NXT
A few months before Batista made his infamous declaration of "I QUIT!" on a 2010 episode of Raw, WWE launched a new episodic show called NXT. Though originally conceptualized as a competition for rookies, NXT would be rebooted by Triple H in 2012 as a full-fledged brand with an exclusive roster. NXT has existed for more than a decade now, but throughout the brand's history, there's not a single match that Batista has competed in.
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In Batista's career, the closest he has come to in-ring NXT action was a quick visit in June 2014. A round of NXT tapings had just wrapped up when the Guardians of the Galaxy actor hit the squared circle to interact with the fans in attendance. Bo Dallas made the unwise decision of inserting himself into this situation, and he ended up eating a Batista Bomb for his troubles.
3 Win King Of The Ring
From the time Batista debuted on the main roster to the day he ended his full-time career, there were three King of the Ring tournaments that he could have entered. Batista, however, was not in the field of competition as the 2002, 2006, and 2008 King of the Ring matches unfolded.
As a matter of fact, Batista has not won any tournament held in the WWE. Notably, the 2005 Gold Rush Tournament - the same tourney in which Shawn Michaels superkicked Shelton Benjamin in the air - was held to determine a number one contender for The Animal himself.
2 Defeat The Undertaker At WrestleMania
For two decades, WWE wrestlers pursued the Holy Grail of ending The Undertaker's WrestleMania record. One by one, the biggest names in the business - including Batista's mentors Triple H and Ric Flair - fell victim to The Streak. Then, in 2007, Big Dave got his chance.
If Batista could've defeated The Undertaker at WrestleMania 23, he would've retained his World Heavyweight Championship and accomplished a historic feat. Alas, it was not to be. The Deadman withstood The Animal's blows, and when the dust settled, The Undertaker won the World Title and extended his WrestleMania record.
1 Face Brock Lesnar On The Main Roster
The Animal vs. The Beast Incarnate appears to be dream match that writes itself. Sadly, fans never got to witness Batista and Brock Lesnar compete in an official match on Raw, SmackDown, or PPV.
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They did lock horns once upon a time in OVW, when they were both wide-eyed rookies coming up in the developmental system. WWE's YouTube channel actually posted a clip of this match, which saw Batista emerging as the victor after outside interference. A win is a win, of course, but if Batista had pinned Lesnar at SummerSlam or WrestleMania, that would have been an accomplishment on an entirely different tier.
