ECW original The Sandman believes Batista’s in-ring ability has been somewhat overrated, although he acknowledged that the former World Heavyweight Champion possessed the presence and star power that ultimately helped make him one of WWE’s biggest names.
The subject came up during episode 135 of The Sandman Podcast, as Sandman and the panel reviewed WWE’s June 2006 ECW Arena house show, which was recently released through the company’s Vault channel on YouTube.
Their discussion eventually shifted toward WWE’s handling of the relaunched ECW brand and its decision to feature established WWE names such as Big Show, Batista and Bobby Lashley prominently in the main event picture rather than building primarily around ECW originals and emerging talent.
When discussing Batista specifically, Sandman suggested that his strengths may have been better suited to ECW’s trademark style. “Batista probably would have been way better in a hardcore situation than a regular match.”
Host Brian W. Tosh pushed back on that assessment, arguing that Batista was capable of producing strong matches at various stages of his career. Sandman acknowledged Batista’s undeniable presence but maintained his opinion of his overall in-ring ability. “Everybody knows he was a mid-level worker.”
However, Sandman immediately acknowledged one of Batista’s greatest strengths. “but he had it. He used it.” Tosh pointed to Batista’s eventual success outside professional wrestling as evidence of that charisma and presence. “There’s a reason he’s in Hollywood.”
Another member of the panel suggested that Batista’s look could have made him a natural fit for ECW. Sandman clarified that his criticism was not intended as a complete dismissal of Batista as a performer, but rather an observation about the type of wrestling that might have suited him best. “I thought he would have had good hardcore matches.”
The Batista discussion formed part of a broader examination of WWE’s 2006 ECW revival and why the panel believes the brand ultimately failed to recreate what made the original promotion successful.
They argued that WWE increasingly positioned established main roster stars at the top of the ECW card instead of using the brand’s veterans to help elevate a new generation. Within months of the ECW Arena event, the show’s featured programs included Big Show against Batista and Bob Holly against Lashley.
Sandman questioned whether Vince McMahon would ever have allowed the relaunched ECW to become more popular than WWE’s established brands and argued that the project was effectively doomed from the beginning.
Batista, meanwhile, went on to become one of WWE’s defining stars of his generation. He captured six world championships, won the Royal Rumble twice and headlined WrestleMania before transitioning into a highly successful Hollywood career that has included roles in Guardians of the Galaxy, Dune and Knives Out.
Batista’s involvement with the ECW brand came during that same 2006 period, when WWE regularly brought established main roster performers into programs involving ECW talent. Sandman’s argument was that Batista’s size, physical presence and aura could have been particularly effective in an environment emphasizing brawling and weapons rather than conventional wrestling matches.
He applied similar reasoning to some of the bigger wrestlers from ECW’s original run, noting elsewhere during the episode that performers such as Roadkill and Bubba Ray Dudley were capable of doing many of the things normally associated with smaller wrestlers. Much of the episode focused on revisiting the June 2006 ECW Arena event itself, which took place 11 days after ECW returned to television on Syfy. Sandman admitted that he has no memory of the show despite defeating Justin Credible that night.
The panel also discussed Paul Heyman’s post-show address to the audience, CM Punk’s early ECW appearance against Stevie Richards, and the main event between Rob Van Dam and Kurt Angle. Sandman also had considerable praise for Big Show during the episode. He recalled an occasion when Show decided to bleed during one of their matches without informing him beforehand and described the former WWE Champion as a “Philly boy” who was one of the boys.
The conversation additionally covered Van Dam’s 2006 run as both WWE and ECW Champion. Sandman argued that RVD’s career could have been twice as successful without the arrest that disrupted his championship run and described him as a “super Hall of Famer” caliber performer.
