Raw Best of the Best Match 1 - CM Punk Defeats Batista

PY · 11-02-2008, 12:33 PM

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Dave Batista has been “The Animal” since childhood, in temper if not in name. Raised in a rough part of southeast Washington, D.C., he describes himself as being “a skinny kid with asthma and a bad size complex”— and a penchant for getting into trouble with authorities. He spent a few years in San Francisco after his parents separated, until his mother sent the troubled teen to live with his father in suburban Virginia. By the time he turned 17, he was estranged from both parents, living on his own, and still getting into trouble.

For the better part of 10 years, Batista spent his days training and competing as a bodybuilder, and his nights “bouncing in clubs, floating from here to there.” (He’s still amazed that one club he worked at is less than two blocks from Washington D.C.’s MCI Center, where he defended his World Heavyweight Championship against JBL at SummerSlam in 2005.) His drifting stopped the night he unleashed his explosive temper on two patrons who had attacked his fellow bouncers. “By the time I was finished with them,” he relates, “they were lying on the ground with their eyes rolling in the back of their heads. I was very scared they were going to die.” They didn’t, but the incident did result in Batista’s arrest, a year’s probation, and his decision to make radical changes in his life.

Enrolling in Wild Samoan Afa’s wrestling school in Allentown, Pa., Batista admits that at first he saw WWE simply as “a way to make a living”— until he was told at a WCW tryout that he didn’t have the chops to make it as a wrestler. “That lit a fire under my a**. Wrestling became an obsession that I fell in love with. I completely redirected my training and philosophies, redesigned my body and mental outlook. I just really wanted to be an athlete and an entertainer.”
Though his personal perseverance brought him to WWE in May 2002, Batista credits former Evolution colleagues Triple H and Ric Flair with developing “a muscleheaded goofball” into a World Heavyweight Champion, one who backs his composed words and demeanor with an explosive fury befitting his nickname. He considers himself neither a leader nor a follower in the locker room (“I’m just a loner, I keep to myself,” he insists), but inside the ring, on the covers of muscle mags like FLEX, and even once against budding Superman Tom Welling on The CW Network series Smallville, “The Animal” is clearly a dominant species. A dominant species who, by the way, has collected more than 50 vintage tin lunchboxes. Our advice: respect this six-foot-six, 290-pound beast and his 1967 Green Hornet sandwich container (sporting Bruce Lee’s face on the front), which he cherishes among his most prized possessions. You’ll live longer.

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Luck is for losers, at least according to CM Punk. Even though his arm is literally tattooed with good-luck charms, Punk believes you make your own good fortune through hard work and intense preparation.

Growing up in Chicago, the Raw Superstar’s childhood consisted of watching the likes of “Rowdy” Roddy Piper and Jimmy Snuka exchange words, then blows. Such heated rivalries helped Punk realize that WWE was where he belonged. Adopting the “straightedge” movement—in which one bases their life around personal development, and avoids drugs, alcohol and a dependency lifestyle — Punk has brought his own style to WWE.

Punk's in-ring repertoire is an assimilation of fighting styles he has learned from his travels around the world. In his WWE pay-per-view debut as a part of Team DX at Survivor Series 2006, Punk brought down the house in Philadelphia where fans showed their respect for his talents.

In 2007, the Straightedge Supertar obtained the ECW Championship by defeating John Morrison on ECW on Sci Fi. In his tenure in the Land of the Extreme, he was considered a top contender and constant threat for whoever was holding the ECW Title.

At WrestleMania 24, Punk won the Money in the Bank Ladder Match, becoming Mr. Money in the Bank. This means that Punk has earned an opportunity to challenge any WWE champion, at any time, through WrestleMania XXV.

On the June 23 edition of Raw, the Straightedge Superstar was drafted from ECW to Raw after World Tag Team Champions Cody Rhodes & Hardcore Holly defeated ECW's Chavo Guerrero & Bam Neely earning the brand the draft pick.

PY · 11-02-2008, 12:35 PM

Rules:

First one with 7 votes, with reasoning wins.

xChumChumx · 11-02-2008, 12:45 PM

CM Punk has worked for everything he has got in the business. Although Batista has improved a lot, given the amount of time he has been given his progress has been extremely slow. Putting Punk over Batista might be unheard of in some cases, but what you see from Punk is the future of the business. Punk always goes out of his way for charity events and events in general. Batista might be at the top of the business a lot more than Punk, but Punk shows the love for the sport much more than Batista has, in my opinion.

My vote: CM Punk

John · 11-02-2008, 01:22 PM

CM Punk would probably be dominated by Batista in the opening half, Punk and Batista would them battle 50/50 and the finish would come when Batista sends Punk up for a Batista Bomb and Punk gets out and then he GTS' Batista.

winner: Punk.

King Steventon · 11-02-2008, 02:35 PM

Well now this just depends on wether we are considering their wwe work or their careers as a whole. If we are talking about their careers as a whole, then yes, no doubt about Punk winning. His series with Joe alone would be enough to tip him over Batista. But if we are talking about just their wwe accomplishment then this could be an interesting debate.

Batista may have produced a fair amount of shitty matches, and may be quite inconsistant, but what really has Punk done? His best matches would be considered no more than "good" in my view. His fued with Morrison was a mixed bag of botchorama and good tv matches, and his title reign was short but produced some good matches... with his match with Batista at the Bash probably being his best match in the 'E. Batista on the other hand has had his share of great matches as well as a fair few underated ones too, and his promo ability has also significantly increased this year.

That all said, I'm going to give Punk the vote simply because he's got more potential.

KenTheKiller · 11-02-2008, 02:45 PM

For me it's a no brainer. Now I'm not a Batista hater, in fact, I'm slowly becoming a bigger fan of the man. However Punk is leaps and bounds more enjoyable in every single aspect, in my opinion. Let's forget about FIP, ROH, and OVW promos which were typically great from week to week and focus on his WWE run. He's yet to have a GREAT promo, but he's had several good promos especially since coming to RAW, all of which I feel are better than Batista's best.

In the ring, again forgetting ROH and other indy matches, it's a closer story. I feel Batista has put on BETTER matches than Punk in the WWE. Yes, I just said that. But likewise, he has put on many and by many I mean LOADS more stinkers. I can't think of many if any BAD matches or boring matches Punk has been in since coming to the WWE, while I can think of several boring Batista matches.

Though I still believe that two of Punk's matches with Morrison were **** or right under the bill >.> And I do wonder how a Batista/Punk match, being more even with a decisive finish would turn out to be. Probably even better than the GBA one.

Anyway by far Punk wins for me, though to be fair it's closer as far as WWE careers go than if you were comparing entire careers.

PY · 11-02-2008, 03:38 PM

4-0 Punk.

Could Punk clean house on the current World Champion?

Broken Star · 11-02-2008, 04:30 PM

Batista sucks. He can only put on a good match with guys who are a lot more talented than him (see Taker, Cena, and Tripper in HIAC). Whenever he is put in with someone with even a little less talent than him, he's shit. The dude is barely mobile, and half of the time, it looks like he doesn't give a fuck, and that he's phoning his performance in. As a face, I'm bbored of him. So current day Batista: you can kiss my ass.

CM Punk is young, talented, and has an innovative offense, as opposed to Batista's offense of everyone else's finishes (spear, jackhammer, spinebuster and more I can't remember >_> ... oh and yes, I'm well aware the GTS is KENTA's). He puts on good matches, and has shown that he has far more potential than Dave ever did. I would watch a Punk match over a Batista match any day.

CM Punk

Tommy Platinum · 11-02-2008, 04:46 PM

I am going with CM Punk too.

Batista is underrated by many who claim he is talentless. He has talent, as he has had great matches and is solid in the ring in general, and improving on the mic, but despite this he is without doubt one of the most over pushed stars I have seen. He is nothing special in the ring and has become so unbelievably stale. CM Punk has produced some incredible matches outside WWE, but even if we are only counting WWE I believe he has been better these last two years, the main reason being that he has not had nearly as many chances to put on a great match as Batista has. How many times has Punk main evented a PPV? Batista has faced guys like Cena, Undertaker, Triple H, Michaels, Edge etc in high profile PPV matches, and has pretty much dominated for years.

I agree that based on his WWE work, many would question what is so amazing about Punk, but I still think he has done pretty damn well and I would like him a lot even if I had never heard of ROH. He is better on the mic and better in the ring, and just generally a lot more interesting than the extremely generic Batista, who despite showing ability, is pretty much pushed because of his look.