Can Shawn Michaels and Batista Be the Best WWE Feud in Years?

Coming off the HUGE Wrestlemania 24 week, and probably the single best moment on RAW ever with Ric Flair's retirement ceremony, WWE has a much needed shot in the arm, that will maybe at least temporarily bring back some interest in WWE, which has failed miserably in the past year at least in my eyes, besides a few bright points. The Ric Flair Hall of Fame induction was great, his match at Wrestlemania with Shawn Michaels was great, and the RAW ceremony was top notch....but that leaves 1 big problem, Ric Flair is now gone, and him being gone takes away a top level wrestler, and maybe the most interesting storyline WWE had going, which was Flairs "Career threatening match" angle. One thing that caught my interest, for NO real reason, but it just caught my attention, was on RAW when Michaels was walking backstage, and looked over his shoulder, to see Batista staring him down. Now HBK has been pretty bland for quite awhile now, and Batista has been very boring as well in my eyes, up to his meaningless match with Umaga at Mania. But something ignited in the few seconds where Batista gave a cold stare to Michaels. Maybe it was the fact that it was a real STORY, and a GOOD story. Batista considers Flair a mentor, much like Michaels, and is in SHOCK that Michaels could be the guy to end Flair's career...makes perfect sense. Then during the ceremony, Michaels comes out, and we get just a SMALL little hint as the camera pans to Batista, who's in the ring, once again staring down Michaels JUST for a brief second before the camera pans away, but it's all just subtle hints, rather than the HORRIBLY TIRED method of "Wrestle A goes to ring, Wrestler B comes out, a challenge is made, and a match is set for "X" event."

Then tonight on Smackdown, the feud was set in motion, as HBK came out to do another sad interview about Flair.....until Batista's music hit, and he hit the ring with a purpose. Now in the Evolution days, I think Batista was a bad son of a bitch, and tonight, that was the Batista I saw once again. When he turned into the guy that was more about shooting guns during his entrance, and pumping up the crowd, he lost his purpose in my eyes. But tonight, we saw the Evolution Batista, who looked like he wanted to kill someone, and was sporting a sleeveless black shirt, which suited his gimmick and personality a LOT better than his suit look, went face to face with Batista, who was sporting some sort of sport coat over a tank top look....hmm, these 2 looked about as opposite as it gets. Anyway, Batista cut the most believable and realistic interview he's ever done....pointing out that all Michaels had to do was lay down, this ONE time, and Flair would still be here, but Michaels ego got in the way. And in a WELCOME return of REALITY to WWE, Michaels claimed that "he had a job to do, I did it".....then Batista shot back with "You had a job to do, and you DIDN'T do it......because you don't do "jobs." Wow, a shoot reference on WWE TV, its been years. Just kind of one of those things, if you're in the know, then cool, you get it, and gives the angle a LOT of heat when they walk the line of reality by throwing a term like that in. Batista really made HBK come off as an asshole who could have kept Flair in wrestling. It's a great story that fans can take in, then choose their own path as to who's side their on. No need to have a forced "good guy" and "bad guy" here. Just simply, do you agree with Batista? That Michaels could have laid down ONE time to save Flair, or do you agree with Michaels, that he did what Flair wanted, plain and simple. The other factor here is that I don't recall a Michaels-Batista program ever....which is a rarity, in today's wrestling where every guy has feuded with every other guy at LEAST once, and they've had at least 4-5 PPV matches.

I'm going to enjoy following this feud, as it takes me back to the good 'ol days of STORIES driving wrestling. Guys feuding over a specific incident or reason, not just a guy hating another because he has a belt. I think belts are great, they really drive the competition aspect of wrestling, but the stories have a huge place as well, and I think this feud will catapult both guys out of their stagnant phase, and will hopefully deliver a story that will give us tons of entertainment, and I believe Shawn Michaels can pull some great matches out Batista, and improve his skills greatly. Two thumbs up to WWE for the entire past weeks events, I'm enjoying the product for the time being, and look forward to having a renewed interest in both Shawn Michaels and Batista!

DarkDefender85's Top 25

1. Randy Orton: The WWE Champion in Still on Top after wrestling 3 matches on RAW.
   
2. Umaga: Umaga Destroyed a Jobber in three seperated matches to prove a point to HHH
3. Batista: Spearing JBL isnt going to help him in his upcoming match against the Deadman
4. CM Punk: The ECW Champion picked up a win with Kane's help.
   
5. HHH: Not wrestling on RAW moves The Game down 2 spots.
   
6. Matt Hardy: The man that will not die picked up and impressive win with MVPs help.
   
7. The Undertaker: Jamie Noble felt the cold hand of the Deadman on Smackdown.
   
8. Kane: Helped CM Punk pick up a win on ECW.
   
9. MVP: Helped his tag team partner pick up a win.
   
10. Rey Mysterio: Showed Finlay he likes to fight as well.
    
11. HBK: Was a superkick away from defeating Randy Orton, but Mr Kennedy had other plans.
    
12. Jeff Hardy: He may be the Intercontinental Champion, but he is no match for Randy Orton.
13. Mr. Kennedy: Did his best in a match with Orton on RAW.
    
14. Finlay: The Fighting Irishman tired his best against Matt Hardy but came up short.
    
15. Big Daddy V: Showed his not afraid on Kane on Smackdown.
    
16. The Great Khali: The big man is having hard times since losing the World Title.
    
17. Jesse and Festus: Defeated Elijah Burke and Nunzio on ECW.
    
18. Chris Masters: Defeated Chuck Palumbo on Smackdown.
    
19. John Morrison: Couldnt get in done in a Handicap Match on ECW.
20. The Highlanders: Robbie picked up a win against Brian Kendrick.
    
21. Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch: Not being on RAW hurts the Tag Team Champions.
    
22. The Miz: Was Chokeslamed to Hell on ECW by Kane.
    
23. Chuck Palumbo: A Loss to Masters wont keep this biker down.
    
24. London and Kendrick: The high flying duo need to get their heads back in the game.
    
25. Drew McEntyre: Dave Taylor newest ally got a Major win.
    

HBK & Vince Have Major Altercation

Source: PWTorch.com

Vince McMahon has a history of singling people out backstage and embarrassing them in front of other wrestlers. Last Monday when Shawn Michaels was the target of Vince's juvenile behavior, it blew up in Vince's face and left even Stephanie McMahon speechless.

Despite the fact that Shawn Michaels returned to WWE a month ahead of schedule, he still has heat with Vince. Shawn made it clear before he returned that he wants more control over his schedule. He won't be doing any overseas tours and will work a somewhat reduced schedule so he can spend more time with his family.

When Shawn showed up to RAW last Monday for the first time since his injury, Vince started "chewing him out" in front of the lockerroom. He made fun of Shawn's attitude and his clothing, among other things. To the surprise of everybody, HBK fired back at Vince and put him in his place. Shawn made it very clear to Vince in front of everybody that he won't be disrespected by anybody or treated like a rookie.

The wrestlers were shocked that somebody finally stood up to one of Vince's tirades. According to our source, nobody was more shocked than Stephanie McMahon. Witnesses were reportedly amused that Shawn humbled Vince in front of everybody. The McMahon's are not necessarily disliked by the roster but this definitely brought Vince down off his high horse.

Shawn and Vince have had a volatile relationship for well over a decade. There is no indication that this incident will have any ramifications on Shawn's WWE status.

WWE: New Hart Foundation targets HBK?

It’s been well known to all fans (at least those who keep up on wrestling gossip) that the WWE plans to debut a new Hart Foundation in the WWE, most likely on the Smackdown brand. The group would consist of Harry Smith, T.J. Wilson, Teddy Hart and Ted DiBiase Jr. The news breaking out today is that this group may get Uncle Bret’s revenge on ‘The Heartbreak Kid’ Shawn Michaels, 10 years after the infamous Montreal Screwjob.

It’s being reported now that the current plan is for them to start up around November, as they’re booked for the November 6th taping of Smackdown. The talk right now is for them to make their pay per view debut at Survivor Series and attack Shawn Michaels. However, there’s a chance of it not happening as well due to lack of experience and Teddy Hart’s immaturity issues.

Of course, another issue to think about is that right now, they are currently booked for the Smackdown brand and Shawn Michaels is on the RAW brand. Anything can happen from now until then, such as the Smackdown taping appearance being canceled and of course, HBK being moved over to Smackdown right before or even sometime after this Survivor Series attack takes place. Personally, I wouldn’t mind seeing this all happen (except I wouldn't want HBK on the Smackdown brand) but in my opinion it should be done sometime down the road when the group does have more experience. It makes sense for the Hart Foundation to want to attack HBK, probably makes more sense than any other storyline WWE could do due to the real life issues but unless both sides are completely for it and are mature about it, as well as having all the Hart Foundation members actually being READY for it, I don’t want it to take place. Perhaps what they should do is debut on Smackdown and always talk about a “mission” they need to accomplish and how they need to work hard on Smackdown in order to get to that mission. Of course, that would be, get drafted over to Raw eventually and THEN take the opportunity to seek out revenge. That is, however, just my opinion of this rumor.