WWE News: Batista Departure Could Complicate Payback Plans, Spell An End For Evolution
Batista is leaving the WWE very soon, and it could complicate the future for Evolution and throw a monkey wrench into their upcoming match at Payback.
Batista is being advertised on next week’s Raw, but that will be his last appearance in the WWE for quite some time as he’s planning on hitting the road to promote Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, reported Mike Johnson of PWInsider.
[WARNING: Possible spoilers ahead]
This has led many insiders to believe that the WWE is planning for Batista to lose at Payback. Batista is teaming with Randy Orton and Triple H in a No Holds Barred Elimination match against The Shield on the show.
“Giving him the win right before he takes off would be counterproductive,” noted Bleacher Report correspondent Ryan Dilbert. “That is, unless it’s Triple H who gets the pin, setting up further conflict between him and The Shield and more specifically, Roman Reigns.
“WWE needs a way to write Batista off TV, and Evolution breaking up and attacking him is a probable scenario. It’s The Shield that may be doing the imploding, though.”
Dilbert isn’t the only one predicting that Evolution will break up. Geno Mrosko of the WWE blog Cageside Seats believes that Evolution has run its course, especially given the reason for getting the group back together was to launch Triple H into a “hot babyface act.”
Batista’s departure from the WWE could make room for some other young new stars to take a bigger place in the WWE, Mrosko notes.
“Plus, continuing Evolution would mean bringing in new members and while names like Cody Rhodes and Dolph Ziggler have been brought up among fans salivating at the thought of better writing for those two characters, there doesn’t appear to be any actual support for that idea within WWE,” he wrote.
This could be even more important given the departure of CM Punk from the WWE. Though there have been continual rumors that he could be coming back to the ring, CM Punk has now confirmed that the is retired and enjoying his days out of wrestling.
“It feels good,’ he told RedEyeChicago.com of being retired at 35. “It’s a lot easier when you hook up with organizations like the Cubs and being friends with some of the team members. It isn’t hard to support their charities. Plus I get to do fun stuff like bowl and paint chairs and play whiffle ball with Bill Murray. It was super fun and for a great cause. You’ve got athletes and actresses and musicians and all kinds of people painting chairs. I’m super happy to be a part of it.”
The WWE has another few days to figure out what to do with Batista and Evolution. His last appearance is billed for Monday on Raw.