What if Batista faces Triple H at WrestleMania 35?

On the 1,000th episode of SmackDown, WWE staged a reunion between the members of Evolution. It felt like a special moment. Randy Orton is the only alum of the group who still works full time as a wrestler for WWE, while Triple H is an execute and part-time special attraction.

Ric Flair has only appeared sporadically—mostly in support of his daughter in recent years. And then there’s Batista, who has an uneven relationship with fans and hadn’t appeared for the company in four years—in a largely unpopular run for which he got his biggest pop by blowing up at and walking out on Triple H and the company.

So it was an anomaly to see these four greats back in the same ring, and particularly while Triple H and Orton are involved in such different corners of WWE programing now—The Viper as an upper mid-card heel on SmackDown, Helmsley working a separate nostalgic reunion angle with Shawn Michaels on Raw.

All the more so, WWE generated intrigue when Batista poked fun at Triple H for never having beaten him. The short hint of a confrontation got the rumour mill up and running about WWE’s intentions for the two stars. Might they meet at WrestleMania and, if so, what will that mean?

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#5. The Game gets his win back

Triple H is known to win big matches at WrestleMania.

The main source of tension between Triple H and Batista during their confrontation on SmackDown was the fact that Triple H hasn’t beaten Batista. The two had one major feud with one another back in 2005, in which Batista won the World Heavyweight Championship from his former mentor at WrestleMania 21, and went on to largely dominate the rematches to follow.

Triple H has been known to care about his image, so booking Batista on a comeback tour just so The Game can get his win back wouldn’t be outside the realm of possibility. Moreover, Triple H has been known to win matches at WrestleMania for which the more obvious, feel-good story would have seen him lose, including the WrestleMania 2000 Fatal Fourway, his match with Booker T at WrestleMania 19, and his bout opposite Sting at WrestleMania 31. It wouldn’t be a complete shocker if The Cerebral Assassin finally hit a Pedigree on his protégé for the pin.

#4. Tie a bow on Batista’s WWE career

Batista facing Triple H at WrestleMania again would bring him full circle.

Win or lose, having one last WrestleMania match with Triple H would lend a sense of symmetry to Batista’s WWE career. After all, it was his WrestleMania 21 program with The Game that elevated him in the first place, going from one of a number of big men on the WWE landscape to one of the top players of his generation, and a surefire eventual Hall of Famer.

Besides going back to Batista’s roots as a main eventer, a match with Triple H would pay off a great deal meta-interest in Batista and his relationship with WWE. Batista suggested in interviews that he has wanted to come back and WWE was responsible for a lapse in communication.

Between that issue and his more kayfabe dissension with Triple H upon leaving the company in 2014 and during the Evolution reunion, fans would be all too eager to buy into a beef between these two stars, and it would be a fitting final match for The Animal.

#3. Ric Flair in the mix

Ric Flair may get involved in the proceedings.

Ric Flair is inextricably connected to both Triple H and Batista. The Nature Boy is real life friends with both men and served as the elder statesmen of Evolution while they were more featured as in-ring performers. In both real and kayfabe contexts, he’s one of the first names fans think of in conjunction with the two stars. On top of that? Flair has expressed an interest in being more involved with WWE programming and isn’t getting used much at all these days.

So, incorporating Flair into a Batista vs. Triple H program would make a great deal of sense. Maybe he’d play it neutral and be cast as the guest referee for the match. Maybe, to put extra heat on the Cerebral Assassin, The Nature Boy would take a beat down from him as Helmsley plays mind games with The Animal. At minimum, we can expect Flair to pop up and lend his insights on the match in promos.

#2. The angle moves to Raw

Monday Night Raw may be the venue for this storyline to play out.

Batista vs. Triple H unofficially launched during the 1,000th episode of SmackDown during the Evolution reunion segment. It was sensible to hold the reunion on such an auspicious episode of WWE television and made all the more sense for Batista in particular spending much of his prime as the face of the blue brand.

However, as the commentary team noted, Evolution had never actually appeared as a unit on SmackDown—they were always based on Raw.

In addition to the group’s history, and the background of Batista feuding with Triple H, Raw has also become the de facto home for legends’ feuds. The Monday night show is both still seen as the flagship and is the show with the responsibility of three hours of original programming each week.

So, if Batista vs. Triple H does boil over heading into WrestleMania season, we can expect the meat of the action to happen on Raw.

#1. Randy Orton steers clear

Randy Orton has his own business to tend to.

Unlike Ric Flair is purportedly all too eager to get back into the WWE mix, Randy Orton is still in the thick of his full-time career with the company. Although he would have a natural role to play in a storyline between Batista and Triple H, as Evolution’s first golden boy and the first one to be betrayed by the group, he didn’t actually have much to do with the original Batista vs. Helmsley program. Moreover, he’s got his own fish to fry on the blue brand.

While most fans seem to be enjoying Orton best staying away from the WWE Championship picture, and instead antagonizing mid-card faces, there’s every possibility he will transition back into the main event scene before long. Regardless of where he’s booked, his heel character has heat, and he would likely as not squander it as a background player to a Batista vs. Triple H part-timer feud.

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