Rock Region, Phoenix SubRegion, Second Round: (7) Kevin Nash vs. (10) Batista

[NSL]

This is a second round match in the Phoenix SubRegion of The Rock Region. It is a standard one-on-one match. It will take place at the Talking Stick Resort Arena.

(7) "Big Daddy Cool" Kevin Nash

vs.

(10) "The Animal" Batista

Polls will be open for three days following a one day period for discussion. Voting will be based on who you feel is the greater of the two competitors. Post your reasons for why your pick should win below. Remember that this is non-spam and the most votes in the poll win. Any ties will be broken by the amount of posts of support for each candidate, with one vote per poster.

Also remember that this is a non-spam forum. If you post a response without giving a reason for your selection, it will be penalized for spam and deleted.​

 

[NSL]

I'm probably going to get strung up for this one, but I do not like Batista. Not as a wrestler, or as a B-level comic book character. I do like Kevin Nash though. Not the guy who hogged the booking in WCW, but the guy who was dominant in the WWF, and then paved the way for sweeping changes to the industry with the Outsiders and the beginning of the nWo. Nash may not have been a wrestling mastermind, but he was entertaining, and a great mic worker. Any time Batista grabbed a mic, I needed a translator (not to the levels of Warrior, but close).

Nash's big wins over the likes of Goldberg, Hart, and HBK have a more lasting impact than Batista's wins over...anyone, really. This one's pretty easy for me.

 

[OYDK]

I really don't like Kevin Nash. As a person, I'm sure he's an alright guy, but as a wrestler, I'll always claim everything that he ever got came out of who he knew. So take note that I say this with a boat-load of bias.

Literally, in his early WWE days, his best quality was being big... and knowing Shawn Michaels. That's all it took to get him a year long title reign, a reign in which he was one of the lowest drawing champions "of all time" I might add. Sure he was semi-over for a time, but after the initial euphoria wore off, people realized that there was no depth there at all and tuned out. He changed up his character in WCW but again, it was Hulk Hogan and the NWO that allowed Nash to get to the World title and everything else. On his own, there's no way he comes close to what he eventually accomplished.

Batista on the other hand, headlined one of the most bought and watched Wrestlemania's of all time, in his first ever Mania main event. Everybody knows what he did after that. From winning World titles, to headlining Manias against guys like The Undertaker and HHH, to being a 2 time Rumble winner, Batista built a legitimate legendary career in 8 years.

Nash had the book for the majority of his run on top and when it comes to a guy like Nash, I refuse to view his World titles as equal to Batista's. He was anything but "best for business" and as such, likely would not have won the titles had he not been booking them for himself. The three things Nash has going for him here is his dirty streak, his willingness to literally do anything to win, and the "influence" that he has had on the business, of course through groups that included much more talented than him. It wouldn't be enough to put down a primed Batista.

Vote The Animal, my brackets will thank you.

 

[Tastycles]

Kevin Nash's WWF title reign was a very longwinded and low drawing blemish on the historical success of that title. His WCW title reigns were very short, often booked by himself and frequently ended in absolutely bullshit means like tag matches and the fingerpoke of doom. Not only that, he literally awarded himself the title which the WWE no longer recognises. His combined WCW title reigns are the same as that of The Rock, a wrestler who never wrestled for the company, which would say it all, if it weren't for the additional bit of trivia that three of Nash's reigns were shorter than David Arquette's.

Nash's run as the face of the company in WWF didn't work. His run as a top player in WCW lead to him playing second fiddle to Hogan and booking himself to look brilliant. Batista was the face of Smackdown and had a few decent title runs and some good rivalries, particularly the three way one with Edge and Undertaker. He completely rejuvenated himself as a heel towards the end of his first career and then had a decent stint a couple of years ago playing the fall guy for Bryan. Batista is massively underrated, and the first face vs face match with Cena at Summerslam 2008 is a grossly under appreciated match from two very good wrestlers.

Smackdown, on a Friday night, under the stewardship of Batista drew more than Monday Night Raw when Diesel was champion. Batista wins.

 

[Richard Blonoff]

Tasty already said everything I could say about Nash and then some, and I actually look at Nash in a generally positive light.

Batista, had he stuck around, could have accomplished even more in an already illustrious career. He had a unique look, and when given the right opponent he could wrestle some damn fine matches. For me he still has the best Hell in a Cell match with Triple H at Vengeance 2005.

Vote The Animal.

 

[Pay Per Ghost]

Eh Batista and it isn't that difficult. Again people need to be clear about which Nash we are taking. His Diesel days or that red hot Wolfpac babyface leading upto Starrcade 1998. Coz say what you want about him, that Nash was over like a mother.

I wonder had he not turned heel with Hogan, maybe we would have held him in higher regards.

 

[SSJPhenom]

In the grand scheme of things, I think Batista has accomplished more in the business then Nash. I know Nash had his runs at the top, but they were either boring and unsuccessful or extremely short. In WCW, it seemed like he was perfectly comfortable in his spot playing second fiddle to Hogan and he didn't want to do much else. I'm sure his mindset was let everyone else do all the work and I'll just make money. Which he did, but ultimately, he could've been so much more.

There is only one person that has been more successful than Batista over the last decade and that is Cena. Batista should go over here.

Vote Batista.

 

[NSL]

Literally, in his early WWE days, his best quality was being big... and knowing Shawn Michaels. That's all it took to get him a year long title reign, a reign in which he was one of the lowest drawing champions "of all time" I might add. Sure he was semi-over for a time, but after the initial euphoria wore off, people realized that there was no depth there at all and tuned out. He changed up his character in WCW but again, it was Hulk Hogan and the NWO that allowed Nash to get to the World title and everything else. On his own, there's no way he comes close to what he eventually accomplished.

Batista on the other hand, headlined one of the most bought and watched Wrestlemania's of all time, in his first ever Mania main event. Everybody knows what he did after that. From winning World titles, to headlining Manias against guys like The Undertaker and HHH, to being a 2 time Rumble winner, Batista built a legitimate legendary career in 8 years.

Nash had the book for the majority of his run on top and when it comes to a guy like Nash, I refuse to view his World titles as equal to Batista's. He was anything but "best for business" and as such, likely would not have won the titles had he not been booking them for himself. The three things Nash has going for him here is his dirty streak, his willingness to literally do anything to win, and the "influence" that he has had on the business, of course through groups that included much more talented than him. It wouldn't be enough to put down a primed Batista.

The argument about Nash being at the top, based on who he knew, could also be transferred to Batista, and his alignment with HHH and Flair, could it not? And while Batista may not have been doing the booking, it's not like HHH didn't have a heavy influence on the way things were going then.

And I'm not even a huge fan of Nash's, and really don't like the time he spent at the top while he was booking, but he was highly entertaining before he had any sway.

I'm not saying this is a one-sided squash, but it would be an entertaining slugfest.

 

[OYDK]

The argument about Nash being at the top, based on who he knew, could also be transferred to Batista, and his alignment with HHH and Flair, could it not?

Yeah definitely, I was thinking about bringing this up as well. My point was that Nash was never able to be successful on his own, he came in and aligned himself with Shawn Michaels, which put him in a prime position immediately. Then he won the title and when they did eventually split him from Shawn, ratings began to slip, so they quickly put them back together. In other words, Shawn largely did the work for Diesel's reign as champ, I really believe that had Shawn not been right beside him putting in some of his best work to date, ratings would have went down the toilet.

After he went to WCW, he had Hall and Hogan to rely on for his first couple of years, and than when he went Wolfpac, he had Savage, Luger, and Sting. When he began booking himself as the man around late 99, ratings again plummeted. Kevin Nash is nowhere near as good as he or wrestling history would lead many to believe.

And while Batista may not have been doing the booking, it's not like HHH didn't have a heavy influence on the way things were going then.

True, Batista was probably a favorite of HHH's, and I would expect that considering he had been working with him for a few years before Batista's break-out. But as I said before, Batista, unlike Nash, was actually a very good draw and didn't fall flat on his face every time he performed as a single's guy. He came very close to being the man to carry the company into this era.

And I'm not even a huge fan of Nash's, and really don't like the time he spent at the top while he was booking, but he was highly entertaining before he had any sway.

Different strokes eh? I personally couldn't stand the guy and thought his shtick of big dumb goofball was ridiculous. I would never describe Nash as highly entertaining without Shawn or Scott beside him, but that's me.

 

[NSL]

Different strokes eh? I personally couldn't stand the guy and thought his shtick of big dumb goofball was ridiculous. I would never describe Nash as highly entertaining without Shawn or Scott beside him, but that's me.

You make valid points, so we'll have to agree to disagree on the other points. But, I will clarify what I meant by highly entertaining. I'll even preface this, by saying the matches themselves may not have been five-star worthy, but the time away from Shawn, working with Sid, Bret, and Taker...I liked all of that. And, to be honest, I haven't watched much from that timeframe since it happened, so I'm remembering it through the eyes of a 10-12 year old.

Batista was entertaining, for sure, but I'd argue Nash gave better promos, and neither really had a "gimmick", even if you include the Deacon and Diesel.

 

[justtxyank]

Nash has been assaulted for booking himself on top in a way that doesn't make sense at all.

At Starrcade 1998, the only guy on the roster who was close to Goldberg in overness was Kevin Nash. That Wolfpac run was WHITE HOT. He had basically become one of the best in the business at getting over from late 97 when he started feuding with The Giant, into 98 when he feuded with Hogan without ever fighting him, forming the Woflpac, going after Hall for revenge, etc. He was so over that fans wanted every babyface in the world to join the Wolfpac and follow Nash.

Batista got over by virtue of Vince putting him on top, similar to how Nash bashers think Nash got the first title. Batista's reign in WWE came during a period where WWE was literally the only game in town and operated as machine. It didn't matter how bad the guy was because there was no competition to steal their ratings.

Nash was way more entertaining than Batista, and while not a great worker by any stretch, he did have good ring psychology to make a match interesting, something Batista has barely ever been capable of.