Batista reacts to 41-year-old veteran paying homage to him on WWE RAW

Batista was recently labeled as an 'underrated' WWE legend by a veteran on social media.

Natalya executing the Batista Bomb during her match with Tegan Nox on RAW was brought to attention by a fan on Instagram. She responded to it by name-dropping Batista, calling the move an 'homage' and the wrestler who made the move incredibly popular among the fans and WWE superstars. Batista re-shared the story on his profile with a heart emoji.

Check out the screengrabs of Natalya's and Batista's stories on Instagram below:

Natalya name-dropping Batista (left) and the latter's response (right)

Batista was also praised by a former WWE Superstar recently, who recounted a story from the year 2005 when The Animal was riding high on a wave of momentum as the World Heavyweight Champion. During this time, he asked for acting advice from Stacy Keibler's then-boyfriend. Read more here.

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When Batista slammed WWE Creative for not having a long-term vision

Batista's penultimate run with WWE happened in 2014 when he returned in January of that year. He went on to win the Royal Rumble and was plunged into the main event match contesting against Randy Orton and Bryan Danielson, formerly known as Daniel Bryan.

According to The Animal, the whole ordeal left a sour taste owing to a lack of creative vision. While speaking with Ryan Satin on Pro Wrestling Sheet, the former WWE Champion elaborated on the issue.

Check out Batista's statement below:

“The creative process I still don’t get. It was a nightmare to me the last time I was there, which was 2014, and it seems like it’s become worse. I feel like they don’t have a clear vision, a long term vision, everything is very week-to-week. It doesn’t seem like they stick to a plan very much.”

Moreover, Batista felt that it would be difficult for the company to create a new star on the same level as the Ruthless Aggression stars, with John Cena being the last one.

“[Chris] Jericho pointed out something to me that makes complete sense. He said that John Cena is the last guy who is gonna be over like he is and it’s because the performers now they’re limited. Their hands are tied. They can’t go to war like we used to. We used to go to war and beat the crap out of each other and it earned a level of respect from people. And it was just like a different level of respect, it was a different level of getting over. We had more freedom” Batista said. [H/T: Wrestlezone]

Furthermore, according to many viewers, things are quite different these days, with an increased focus on improving the storyline and cashing up the box office numbers. There are a plethora of members in the industry who have even regarded the current era as arguably the best of the wrestling business.

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Do you think Batista could rank among the top 5 WWE Superstars of all time? Sound off in the comments section below!