Batista returned to WWE in 2014 after a four-year absence. He was greeted as a hero before inadvertently becoming a heel through no fault of his own. It all went down at one of the most maligned pay-per-views in recent memory: the 2014 Royal Rumble.
Batista entered number 28 in the Royal Rumble. There was one problem: the entire building had their heart set on Daniel Bryan entering. As the rumble went on, the fans booed each new entrant, and Batista was no exception. Even when longtime fan favorite Rey Mysterio entered at 30, he was vociferously booed for the crime of not being Daniel Bryan.
It wasn't long before the match reached the climax. With four men left in the ring, fans quickly turned against Batista — nobody wanted to see another part-timer take a spot from a workhorse. Alas, it was not to be: Batista threw Roman Reigns over the top rope and won the rumble, to a shower of boos.
It's a moment known by fans as "Bootista," one of the most memorable Rumble endings for all the wrong reasons. Dave Bautista himself has seldom addressed it, if ever, but many of his fellow wrestlers felt bad that he was booed for something that wasn't his fault.
As bad as this was, it at least led to a good ending: this was one of the key moments that led Bryan to the main event of Wrestlemania XXX, where he faced off against Batista and Randy Orton. Batista even tapped out to Bryan, giving the indie legend his first WWE championship.
