5 Failed Return Runs by Popular WWE Superstars

#2 Batista (2014)

Well, it did give up the main event of WrestleMania XXX.

If there was one superstar who could have given John Cena a run for his money as the most popular wrestler in the world during the late 2000s, then it was undoubtedly 'The Animal' Batista. While John Cena was the poster boy of the Red Brand and was always in the World Title picture, Batista was doing the same thing on the Blue Brand.

After initially appearing as the Muscle Man of Evolution, a period during which he held the World Tag Team Titles with his mentor Ric Flair, Batista made a jump to the main event scene in early 2005. He first won the 2005 Royal Rumble and then the World Heavyweight Title in the main event of WrestleMania 21, and continued to hold the title for a record reign.

By the time he departed from the company in 2010, Batista had accumulated five more reigns as World Champion. After leaving WWE, Batista had a small career as an MMA fighter, where he fought and won his only MMA fight with relative ease. However, after gaining a starring role in Marvel's Guardian of the Galaxy, Batista became a Hollywood star and agreed to return to the WWE in 2014.

A lovable hero during his first run, Batista's second run was marred by the fans deliberately turning on him after he won the Royal Rumble in 2014. After getting booed during his feud with Alberto Del Rio, Batista was turned heel and wrestled in the main event of Mania XXX and lost that match. This was followed by an Evolution reunion and a loss to the Shield on two consecutive pay per views as Batista again left the company merely six months after his return.