Dark Pegasus Video Review: Batista: I Walk Alone (Disc Three)

Posted by J.D. Dunn on 10.14.2009

Batista solidifies himself as a main-eventer.

Batista: I Walk Alone (Disc Three)

by J.D. Dunn
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World Heavyweight Title: King Booker (w/Queen Sharmell) vs. Batista (11/26/06).
Before the match, General Manager Teddy Long declares that if Booker is counted out or disqualified, he loses the title. Batista attacks in the aisle and pummels his highness before Booker can even disrobe. Batista goes for the Demonbomb early, but Booker rolls to the floor for a nine count. Batista blocks a neck snap on the ropes and delivers his own. Finally, Booker hits a hotshot and stomps the ribs. What's with all the rib psychology tonight? Batista powers back with a Jackhammer for two. A Bossman slam gets two more. They brawl on the apron, and Sharmell distracts Batista just long enough for Booker to hit a thrust kick. Back in, Booker goes for a pin with his foot on the ropes. You know you're a real heel when you put your foot on the ropes even though it has no possible way to give you any leverage. Booker locks in a loose Cobra Clutch (MOVESET~!) to slow things down. Batista boots Booker to the floor and hits a flying shoulderblock (!) for two. Booker surprises him with a Bookend, but it only gets two. Batista blocks the Scissors Kick and hits the Demonbomb! ONE, TWO, THRE-NO! Booker gets his hand on the ropes. Sharmell slips the title belt to Booker and distracts the ref. However, Book misses his swing, and Batista waffles him with the belt for the win at 13:57. These two just never seemed to click throughout their feud, and it exposed both guys as needing to be carried (or, if not carried, at least in there with an opponent that can compliment their style). This is one place where heavy booking helped give the match a storyline that the wrestlers were either unable or unwilling to provide. **

World Heavyweight Title: Batista vs. King Booker (w/Queen Sharmell) vs. Fit Finlay (12/01/06).
Who would have thought that the opening feud of Bash at the Beach '98 would be Smackdown's main event today? Probably no one, since Smackdown didn't exist then, but you get the idea. Batista opens by handing out slams to everyone and then tossing Finlay into Booker. Booker goes to the eyes to take over, and he and Finlay form a tentative partnership. Big Dave clears house, though, before anything can come of it. When we come back, Booker is firmly in control of Batista while Finlay walks off a hip pointer on the outside. Finlay yanks Batista to the apron and boots him right in the head. Finlay methodically dismantles the champ, using the ring as an assist with virtually every move. Finlay is like the Brad Johnson of the WWE. He doesn't do anything particularly flashy, he just manages the match and makes those around him look better by not doing anything stupid. Batista sets him on top and delivers a Muscle Buster. Well, if you're going to steal…Finlay and Booker take turns getting two counts on Batista, but then they get pissed off at each other. Booker sends Finlay into the steps, and they seem to get back on the same page for a while. Finlay starts laying in forearms, but Nick Patrick won't let him use the shillelagh. Batista and Booker slug it out as the Little Bastard runs through the ring to distract Nick Patrick. Finlay uses the distraction to sneak in and smash Batista's knee with the shillelagh like some demented Irish Jeff Gillooly. WHY?! **SOB** WHYYYYY?!!! It only gets two, and Batista shrugs it off. Booker charges right into a Spinebuster, eliminating him from the match. Finlay punches Batista's injured leg to counter a Demonbomb (good psychology), but Batista goes right back to it for the win at 20:38 (bad psychology). See, the whole point of Finlay countering in the first place is to show that the babyface's big move is out of the equation, so he'll have to come up with something else that you didn't think he was capable of. And don't give me the "he's fighting through pain and adversity" excuse. No one gives a shit about fighting through pain anymore. If the hero is invincible, then the villain is useless. ***

World Heavyweight Title: Batista vs. The Undertaker (04/01/07).
This is one that everyone praised but me at the time. We'll see how kind time has been. Apparently, both guys were pissed about not going on last and decided to show the WWE they made the wrong choice. The crowd is heavily on Taker's side here, which makes Batista's early flurry awkward. Taker soupbones his way back and hits his WrestleMania over-the-top suicida. Batista reverses a whip, traps Taker under the mats, and pummels him. Cool. That sets up a running powerslam through the announce table. To the ring, Batista sets up for the Demonbomb, but Taker rams him into the corner for a big pop. Batista hits a belly-to-belly and mounts him in the corner for the pummel. Oh, that's the siren song. Btw, large bald guy in the crowd – pink? Really? Taker counters to the Last Ride. ONE, TWO, THRE-NO! Another, but Batista slips out and spears him. DEMONBOMB! ONE, TWO, THRE-NO! He sets up for another, but Taker shoves him into the corner and catches him on the rebound with the Tombstone Piledriver at 15:49. Hey, whaddaya know! This was pretty good. Not nearly as slow and dependent on routine as I remembered. Batista seemed to take the crowd's antipathy toward him and run with it. I still like their One Night Stand match better, though. ***1/4

World Heavyweight Title, Steel Cage: Edge vs. Batista (06/03/07).
Edge tries to scurry out early. Batista drags him back in, and we get a lot of sluggery. Edge hits the Edge-o-Matic. Batista delivers a superplex but decides to go up for a dive off the top rope. That's not his game, Michael Cole! Edge dropkicks him on the way down. Batista gets fired up and catapults Edge into the mesh. Batista loads up for the Demonbomb, but Edge grabs the mesh and climbs up. Edge goes low and goes over the top. Batista crawls the other way and gets his hands on the floor, but that doesn't count. Edge drops to the floor for the win at 15:38. When you go with this formula of "the big powerful babyface that should win every time in a fair fight" you can only do so much because Edge can't look too good. I liked him a lot better when he was ruthless instead of cowardly. **1/2

World Heavyweight Title: Batista vs. The Undertaker (10/28/07).
Batista charges, but Taker sidesteps him. Good psychology there because the whole storyline has been about Batista's inability to beat the Undertaker, so why wouldn't he be aggressive? Plus, it plays off Smackdown. Taker sticks and moves and waits for Batista to make another mistake. When he does, Taker grounds him with chokes and works the rips. He hits a flying clothesline for two. Finally, Batista breaks up the Old School Ropewalk Forearm. Taker shoves him down but misses a charge to the corner and crotches himself. Taker resumes control on the outside, though, and hits the guillotine legdrop. Back in, Taker tries the Old School Ropewalk Forearm again, but Batista spinebusters him in mid-air. Cool. Taker is tough, though, so when he lands, he just holds on and turns it into a Triangle Choke. Batista powers up and blocks a chokeslam. He misses a swing and takes the chokeslam anyway. ONE, TWO, THRE-NO! Batista hulks up and hits the SPEAR! ONE, TWO, THRE-NO! Batista mounts him for punches, but Undertaker counters to the LAST RIDE! ONE, TWO, THRE-NO! Batista hulks up again and hits the SPINEBUSTER! ONE, TWO, THRE-NO! Batista can't believe it. DEMONBOMB! ONE, TWO, THRE-NO! No one can believe it. Batista is beside himself. Undertaker staggers into a SECOND DEMONBOMB! ONE, TWO, THREE! Batista finally picks up a win over the Undertaker at 17:26. For those who loved the WrestleMania match, *this* is what they are capable of, and more like what I expected from that match. Great story, great work. This felt much more like a war. ***3/4

Triple H, Batista & Ric Flair vs. Randy Orton, Edge & Umaga (12/10/07).
They do a little retconning before the match to ensure Randy doesn't have any sympathy for Evolution turning on him that time. We JIP to Flair playing face-in-peril, and Lawler has to rewrite Vince McMahon's declaration that Flair would be fired if he lost, saying it doesn't apply to tag matches. Well, why wouldn't it? Why would Vince go to all the trouble of decreeing that Flair would get fired if he lost only to have mercy in tag matches? Batista gets the hot tag and cleans house, but Umaga stops him dead and shoves the ref down for the DQ at 3:58. Rated RKO runs away, so Evolution destroys Umaga for fun and profit. Pointless naval-gazing. *1/2

John Cena vs. Batista (08/17/08).
Cole-isms early – "No hype needed! This is the biggest blockbuster of the summer! The ultimate showdown!" I sure am glad there was no hype needed. In a funny twist, these are apparently the WWE's two marquee names, but all of the heat in this match is negative. People are either booing Cena or booing Batista. It's pretty standard power stuff, with both guys failing to get their finishers. Batista gets a figure-four leglock out of nowhere to perk the crowd up. Cena makes the ropes and dumps Batista to the floor. Batista elbows out of the FU, but Cena snaps his knee down and locks in the STFU. Batista gets turned around and makes the ropes. Cena goes for the FU again, but Batista slips out and grabs the rear naked choke. He lets that go and hits the spear. ONE, TWO, THR-NO! Cena reverses a powerslam and hits the FU but can't cover immediately. It only gets two. Up to the top, they slug it out so the fans can do the "Yay/Boo!" thing. Cena wins and comes off for the Cena Slice, but Batista catches him with a powerbomb. ONE, TWO, THRE-NO! Batista is pissed, hauls Cena up, and finishes with the Demonbomb at 13:45. Damned fine babyface match. Mostly, it was trading power moves, and that's really all I expected from them. Batista really needs a serious regular submission finisher like Cena's FU to play off. Batista would get seriously injured in the match and need time off, a recurring problem for him lately. ***1/4

Batista vs. Randy Orton (w/Manu & Cody Rhodes — 12/14/08).
Orton actually does a good job outwrestling Batista, but he decides to cheat anyway and sends Batista to the floor for Cody and Manu to get their cheapshots in. The ref catches them and throws them out, making it mano-a-mano. A decent but sluggish match follows. Randy controls through most of it, even after taking a tumble to the floor. It was just a suckerjob, though, because he jumps Batista and gives him the rope-assisted DDT. Batista counters the RKO to a Killswitch for two. Batista mounts him in the corner for punches, and when Randy tries to counter, he inadvertently winds up in position for the Demonbomb at 16:40. Nothing wrong with the wrestling necessarily, but it just felt so slow with a long stretch of Randy working over Batista without it going anywhere. **1/2

Hey, remember Manu's dalliance with Legacy? Well, here's proof it happened.

The 411: The matches on this set paint a portrait of a guy who is good on a good day, bad on a bad day and never what you'd call spectacular. The documentary reveals why Batista rose to the top, above many of the bland 'stiffs' the WWE has foisted on the public over the years – he's an emotional guy, and that emotion comes through in interviews and in matches. In the WWE, personality is what carries you through the day, and Dave Batista certainly has an excess of that.

Thumbs up.

Final Score:  7.5   [ Good ]