For years, John Cena had been the face of Monday Night Raw, and Dave Batista had been the face of Friday Night SmackDown.
Cena was often the WWE Champion (and still is), while Batista held the World Heavyweight Championship.
They both were dubbed as nice guys who would go to any length to please the WWE Universe.
That is until Batista was cost that World Championship by best friend Rey Mysterio.
A beat-down for the ages ensued of the "Master of the 619," and a much-anticipated heel turn for a man who many believed was boring.
This opened up the proverbial "Pandora's Box" for the WWE, and they didn't disappoint us.
We were finally treated to a dream feud: John Cena versus the reinvented Batista.
Doing Vince's Dirtywork
Recap
Vince McMahon and Bret Hart were in the middle of a feud, revolving around the infamous Montreal Screwjob.
After much back-and-forth on the microphone, Vince told Bret that his father did not deserve to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.
Bret Hart was sick of it. He kicked the chairman and was about to lock in the sharpshooter.
All of a sudden, Batista attacked Hart from behind and quickly left Bret squirming on the canvas.
Mr. McMahon instructed Batista to hold "The Hitman" so he could spit in his face, which was deja-vu of what had happened nearly twelve years earlier.
Why It Worked
I loved this because it left you intrigued as to why Batista came to the rescue of Vince McMahon.
We really had no back story to go on at the time.
It also intertwined Raw's (eventual) two biggest matches at WrestleMania 26, which is kind of a rarity to be able to do.
Paying Back Personal Debts
Recap
John Cena had just overcome five other men in the grueling Elimination Chamber structure.
He was going to WrestleMania as the WWE Champion!
Happy ending to send the kids home with, right?
Wrong.
You see, Vince McMahon interrupted Cena's celebration to give Batista a WWE Championship match.
After a slap to his face, Batista countered with a spear and a Batista Bomb for the victory.
Why It Worked
Once again, it left you scratching your head, and wondering what the explanation on Raw was going to be.
It also submitted Batista's monster heel status on Raw, as he was a SmackDown face for the majority of his career.
Like Bret Hart, John Cena Is Screwed
Recap
John Cena was angry that he was screwed, so he called out Batista. He got Vincent K. McMahon.
McMahon gave Cena Batista, after explaining that he was simply paying Batista back for his help against Bret Hart.
This match wasn't to be for the WWE title, though. It was to see who would face The Animal at WrestleMania: Sheamus or John Cena.
John Cena won the match after an immediate and intentional low blow got Batista disqualified.
In what would become a common theme, Batista continued his ruthless attack for six minutes after the match, ending Raw standing tall over his defenseless WrestleMania opponent.
Why It Worked
It's a breath of fresh air to have a monster heel not act cowardly.
In this case, that's exactly what happened.
Batista knew he could beat Cena, considering he had previously broken his neck.
So he took the DQ route, continued an ambush and happily accepted Cena as his challenger at WrestleMania.
The Promo of Batista's Career
Recap
Before they met at WrestleMania 26, they had a war of words on the mic.
I would chalk this one up as Batista owning John Cena.
Batista claimed that he should have been the face of the WWE, not Cena. He said that John Cena can't beat him, never had and never will.
Why It Worked
In my humble opinion, this was easily the best promo of Batista's WWE career.
Many true things were said by both men, giving it a realistic feel.
WrestleMania 26 Match
Recap
After a long and epic main event at WrestleMania 26, John Cena overcame the odds—as he always does—to defeat Batista and once again become the WWE Champion.
Not to worry, this feud was far from over.
Why It Worked
This is one of the matches I would tell any John Cena critic to watch.
Both of these guys are not exactly the best technical wrestlers, yet they proved that they can put on a pretty good match together.
As far as the result is concerned, John Cena isn't losing at WrestleMania.
It just isn't good for business (that includes his match against The Rock next year).
So I can't blame the WWE for the decision to have Cena go over.
Batista Invokes Rematch Clause for Extreme Rules, Cena Uses Duct Tape to Win
Recap
Despite what happened at WrestleMania, Batista still didn't believe John Cena could beat him.
With that in mind, he invoked his rematch clause at the Extreme Rules pay-per-view, in a Last Man Standing Match.
Normally, you think of brutality when thinking of such a match as a Last Man Standing, but this match was won by cleverness.
That cleverness was by John Cena, who duct taped Batista's legs to the ring post, enabling him to get back to his feet by the ten count.
Therefore, your winner and still WWE Champion: John Cena.
Why It Worked
Honestly, this may have been the flaw in this feud.
The face shouldn't be using something like duct tape to win a match. That should be the heel.
They could have had Batista win this match and still had him leave on the same night that he did.
I will say, however, that this did help the build to their final match at Over The Limit.
Over the Limit Buildup & Match
Recap
Batista believed John Cena had taken a coward's way out with the duct tape finish at Extreme Rules.
Cena said he was not a coward.
An I Quit match was set for Over The Limit, a match that would be that much more hardcore than the Last Man Standing Match at Extreme Rules.
This would see things like cars used, with the finish not being tainted at all.
This time, Cena had Batista set up for an Attitude Adjustment on top of a car, when Dave waived the match, but Cena still went through with the move and sent The Animal through the stage.
Why It Worked
The build up sold the face as the coward and the heel as the victim, in a way. That was a bit neat, partly because John Cena has never been booked in such a way.
Batista Quits—Again
Recap
Batista was begging for another rematch against John Cena, but the general manager Bret Hart enforced that he must qualify first.
Batista did not like this and said he would quit if Hart didn't allow him his rematch.
Hart denied him and awarded Randy Orton a win by forfeit, and Batista did indeed follow through on his promise to quit.
Why It Worked
The WWE has a way of humiliating talents on their way out the door, and this was no exception.
Considering what he had done for the company, it was pretty sad to see this guy sit in a wheel chair and quit the company.
Then again, it was cool that this story line went full circle, with Bret Hart involved in the start and finish.
