Batista's 5 most memorable WWE moments

#4 Winning his first title with a legend

While The Animal had the presence and skill to go right to the main event, his first taste of WWE gold actually came as part of the tag team division. Or, at the very least, what passed for the tag team division in Vince McMahon's early 2000s company. Which, I know sounds cynical and I'm not trying to take away from Batista's achievement in 2003 but... well... yeah...

Armageddon 2003 saw every member of Evolution leave with WWE gold. Randy Orton was the Intercontinental Champion after defeating Rob Van Dam. Triple H became the World Heavyweight Champion once again after winning a Triple Threat match against Kane and then-champion Goldberg (thanks, in part, to interference from our boy Dave).

And, finally, despite coming out on the losing end of a singles match against Shawn Michaels, Batista teamed with his mentor and Evolution teammate, Ric Flair, to win the WWE Tag Team Championships. The two defeated D-Von and Bubba Ray - the Dudley Boyz - in a Tag Team Turmoil match to get the gold - and considering Batista had already been through one match, it made this victory even more impessive.

It was his very first title as a member of the WWE roster and was a sign of things to come.