3 times Batista turned on his best friends

Tonight's WWE Raw ended on a shocking note, with "The Animal" Batista making his return to the WWE, and attacking the legendary Ric Flair in the process.

Flair was on Raw to celebrate his 70th birthday. The celebration had just begun and the entire Raw roster was waiting for him to come out, when the camera panned to the back and we saw the disturbing footage of an enraged Batista dragging a helpless Ric Flair out of his room.

This is a clear indication that we are going to get a grudge match between Triple H and Batista at the grandest stage of them all. Batista and Triple H engaged in a war of words some time back on SmackDown 1000 when Batista reminded him that he has never beaten The Animal. Ric Flair prevented a confrontation at the time, but the match is finally going to happen at WrestleMania 35.

This isn't the first time we've seen Batista turn on his colleagues. Let's take a look at three occasions when Batista snapped and attacked his best friends.

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#3 Rey Mysterio

Batista snapped on Rey 10 years ago

At the Bragging Rights PPV in 2009, the SmackDown World title was defended in a Fatal 4-way match, pitting Batista, The Undertaker, C.M. Punk and Rey Mysterio.

The match came to an end when The Undertaker delivered his patented Tombstone Piledriver on The Animal and pinned him. After the match, Josh Matthews came in to interview a visibly frustrated Batista and Rey Mysterio.

Suddenly, Batista snapped and began a ruthless attack on Rey Mysterio. After taking his time brutalising the masked superstar, Batista spent the next several weeks attacking Mysterio on multiple occasions.

The rivalry came to an end at Survivor Series 2009, when Batista defeated Rey Mysterio via knockout, as Rey was unable to compete further after getting powerbombed by Batista three times in a row. A spinebuster was delivered to make matters worse.

The beatdown on Mysterio resulted in a full-blown heel turn for The Animal, as he ascended onto the main event scene and began a program with the WWE champion John Cena, heading into WrestleMania 26.

#2 Reverend D-Von

Batista debuted as D-Von's ally

Batista spent some time in OVW alongside the likes of Brock Lesnar and John Cena. He debuted in the WWE as the sidekick to a newly transformed D-Von Dudley, who was now known as Reverend D-Von. The duo wreaked havoc on both brands for a while, but it all came to an end on an episode of SmackDown.

D-Von faced the new addition to SmackDown, John Cena, and defeated him in quick succession. As the Reverend was busy celebrating his victory, he didn't notice that Batista had entered the ring. Before D-Von could make a move, Batista attacked him and finished him off with a thunderous Batista Bomb.

This was the beginning of The Animal character, who went on to become a Raw-exclusive superstar. A few months down the line, Batista became one of the 4 members of the dominant faction, Evolution, along with Triple H, Randy Orton and Ric Flair.

#1 Triple H

These two have faced off before on multiple occasions

As WrestleMania 21 was on the horizon, tensions were growing between the World Heavyweight champion, Triple H and his Evolution teammate, Batista.

Batista had just won the Royal Rumble match and was presented with a choice: He could either go to SmackDown and battle JBL for the WWE title, or he could stay on Raw and go toe to toe with his longtime friend, Triple H.

During the contract signing, Batista faced a tough choice, as both Teddy Long and Eric Bischoff tried to convince him that he should sign with them. Batista smiled at The Game and Ric Flair, threw the SmackDown title match contract on the mat and greeted them with a thumbs up.

Suddenly, the thumb went down, as an enraged Triple H charged towards Batista, only to be taken down.

Batista quickly disposed of The Game and The Nature Boy, followed by a devastating Batista Bomb on the table to Triple H. Batista picked up the Raw title match contract, and signed on the papers, signifying that the era of The Animal had begun.

Which one of Batista's betrayals did you hate the most? Sound off!