Tuesday, JULY 22 – 1:17 P.M.

-WWE Summerslam is on the horizon and it is possible that Batista will once again score a title shot. Of course, WWE could go with Batista vs. John Cena, but nonetheless, this got me to thinking to back when a shot at the Heavyweight Championship was a huge deal. If you received a shot, you damn well better have taken advantage of it because it was not likely to happen again. As Mickey Goldmill said in Rocky, “Like the bible says, you ain’t gonna get another chance.”

At Wrestlemania III, Jesse Ventura made a big deal about how Andre the Giant deserved at least one shot at the title because of everything he had accomplished in his great career. Jesse’s head would spin if he had to explain the abundance of title matches granted to Batista.

Yours truly decided to do a little bit of research, beginning at Summerslam 2006. In the last four pay-per-view events of 2006, Batista was unsuccessful in two title matches as a challenger vs. King Booker. He received a third championship match at the Survivor Series and defeated Booker for the title. He did not defend the title at the next PPV because he was involved in a tag team match.

In 2007, Batista participated in fourteen (14) pay-per-view events. He was the World Heavyweight Champion in seven of these events. He defended the title six times and was involved in one tag team match. He challenged for the title in all seven of the other events, including three in a row vs. Edge (all unsuccessful) and three in a row vs. The Great Khali (two unsuccessful).

This year, Batista has been unsuccessful in his two championships matches on PPV, vs. C.M. Punk at The Great American Bash, and vs. Edge at Night of Champions. If he is in the title match at Summerslam, I do not see him winning. WWE’s creative team has taken a beating for recycling the same matches over and over again. It is difficult to look at how they book Batista and not say the criticism is warranted.

-It is funny how quickly things can change. When Jim Ross was drafted to Smackdown, he was very unhappy about it. Recently, a rumor surfaced saying Ross was on his way back to Raw. Ross wrote in his blog that he did not want to go back to Raw, citing the fact that he now had his “football weekends” off.

With Triple H and Ross now on Smackdown, it is arguable that Friday night is in possession of the “A” show. With the schedule and the fact that Smackdown has always been the wrestling heavy show, I think Ross is right where he should be. A change of scenery, even an initially unwelcome one, can do wonders for someone. Now that the dust has settled, I bet Ross is very happy to be on Smackdown, both personally and professionally. This move could have added many years to the Hall of Famer’s career, so consider all of us very lucky if that is the case.

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