Batista spent his time in WWE improving his in-ring and promo abilities from the beginning, which noticeably led to better matches and rivalries later in his career. Between feuding with wrestlers such as The Undertaker, Triple H, Randy Orton, and Shawn Michaels, among others, Batista wrestled in WWE during a time period where he learned from veterans and legends.
These learning experiences allowed Batista to win multiple championships in the world title picture and the tag team division. In his full-time tenure, Batista spent eight years, despite injuries, developing his reputation and earning his status as a memorable wrestler and all-time great big man.
11 2002
Batista's introduction to the WWE main roster came as a gimmick where he was Deacon Batista, the enforcer for D-Von Dudley when D-Von portrayed the Reverend persona. Debuting on SmackDown in the late spring of 2002, Batista spent that time wrestling to get experience working matches on TV.
Deacon Batista would turn on Reverend D-Von following D-Von blaming Batista for some losses and was moved to RAW, to end the year. Batista would be mentored by Ric Flair on RAW and won his pay-per-view debut at Armageddon over Kane.
10 2003
Batista started 2003 by being recruited by Triple H to be part of the faction, Evolution. His momentum was halted by an injury that kept him out of wrestling from February to October. He returned in October and made an impact by kayfabe crushing Goldberg's ankle in a chair on RAW.
At Survivor Series, Batista interfered in one of the Elimination Tag Team Matches and cost Stone Cold Steve Austin's team the match. This led to a brief feud with Shawn Michaels and a match at Armageddon saw Batista do the favor for Michaels. Batista and Ric Flair would later win the World Tag Team Titles on the same pay-per-view to redeem Batista's loss.
9 2004
Batista spent the entirety of 2004 as the muscle for Evolution. Batista and Flair won a Tables Match at the Royal Rumble over The Dudley Boyz to retain the World Tag Team Titles, which they lost a short time later. Batista debuted at WrestleMania as the third wheel in a three-on-two handicap match with Flair and Randy Orton against The Rock and Mick Foley, where he won because Orton pinned Foley.
Batista spent the rest of 2004 in the upper midcard, feuding with Chris Jericho and Edge, and assisting Triple H in the World Title picture.
8 2008
Batista was an established wrestler by 2008, he wrestled in several big matches and had some brief title reigns. Batista was involved in the Royal Rumble match and one of the Elimination Chamber matches, where he lost both, but he won at WrestleMania against Umaga.
He spent the spring and early summer feuding with Shawn Michaels and Edge, then transitioned into a World Title feud with CM Punk. He was unsuccessful against Punk and started teaming with John Cena during their feud leading up to SummerSlam. Batista and Cena won the World Tag Team Titles on RAW, dropped them a short time later, and Batista won at SummerSlam. Batista ended the year winning the World Heavyweight Title from Chris Jericho and feuding with Randy Orton.
7 2019
Batista made a brief return in 2019 to wrestle a Retirement Match against Triple H. The story for the match saw Batista kayfabe attacking Ric Flair on Flair's birthday during RAW to upset Triple H. The Retirement Match happened at WrestleMania 35 in a No Holds Barred Match, where Triple H and Batista were very creative in their choice of weapons to punish each other.
At one point, Triple H removed Batista's nose piercing with a pair of pliers while Batista was trapped under a chair, which added some 'look-away-now comedy' in an otherwise intense match. Triple H would ultimately win with a Pedigree, earning redemption for Ric Flair and sending Batista into retirement from in-ring competition.
6 2014
Batista's first comeback occurred in 2014 and in his first match back, he won the Royal Rumble. The choice to have Batista win was not well-received by fans, who wanted Daniel Bryan to win due to his popularity as an underdog babyface at the time. Batista feuded briefly with Alberto Del Rio prior to WrestleMania, with Batista and Del Rio trading victories.
Batista did the favors for Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania, causing Randy Orton to lose his WWE World Heavyweight Championship to Bryan. After that, Batista's last feud and storyline for that return run were as part of Evolution, minus Ric Flair, aligning with Triple H and Orton against The Shield. Evolution lost to The Shield twice at the next two pay-per-views and Batista left WWE in June.
5 2010
Batista's final year as a full-time wrestler began with his losing effort in the Royal Rumble Match. At the following pay-per-view, Elimination Chamber, Batista wrestled an exhausted John Cena in an impromptu match to win the WWE Title. This victory led to Batista's last feud before he left WWE in May.
Batista and Cena fought at WrestleMania, where Cena made Batista submit to the STF to win the WWE Title back, the two then had a rematch at Extreme Rules under the Last Man Standing stipulation. Cena won at Extreme Rules, and the feud-ending match happened at Over The Limit in an I Quit Match. Batista quit, and the next night on RAW, Batista quit in the storyline and legitimately left afterward.
4 2006
Batista started 2006 as World Heavyweight Champion, but he had to vacate it due to an injury. He returned in July, facing Mr. Kennedy at The Great American Bash, and lost by disqualification. Batista started a rivalry to regain the World Heavyweight Championship he had not lost against King Booker, who was in the middle of his first and only WWE World Title reign in his career there.
Batista and King Booker wrestled at SummerSlam, with Queen Sharmell costing Batista the World Title with a disqualification victory. Batista would win at Survivor Series via illegal tactics, capturing the World Heavyweight Title again and ending the year as champion.
3 2009
Batista started 2009 recovering from an injury and returned to assist Triple H in his feud with Randy Orton. During Triple H's storyline absence, Batista would win the WWE Title from Orton at Extreme Rules in a Steel Cage match and vacated it shortly after to recover from another injury.
Batista moved to SmackDown upon returning and turned heel at Bragging Rights by attacking Rey Mysterio following a loss in a World Heavyweight Title match. Batista would feud with Mysterio for the rest of the year, as well as with The Undertaker over the World Heavyweight Title.
2 2007
Batista was the World Heavyweight Champion for the majority of 2007 and spent the year greatly improving as a performer. Batista defended and lost the World Title to The Undertaker at WrestleMania 23, and was unsuccessful in winning it back from both Undertaker and Edge across multiple pay-per-views.
Upon feuding with The Great Khali, Batista would eventually regain the World Heavyweight Title at Unforgiven in September, fended off Great Khali at No Mercy in a Punjabi Prison Match, and resumed his feud with Undertaker in Hell In A Cell at Survivor Series. He lost the World Heavyweight Title to Edge at Armageddon.
1 2005
Batista's best year as a WWE wrestler was the year he broke out as a babyface main-event wrestler following a victory in the Royal Rumble Match and winning in the main event of WrestleMania 21 against his former mentor, Triple H to become World Heavyweight Champion for the first time.
Batista would retain the World Heavyweight Title against Triple H at the next two pay-per-views, including in Hell In A Cell, and moved to SmackDown in the Draft during the summer. Batista feuded with John "Bradshaw" Layfield throughout the summer and Eddie Guerrero in the fall. He ended the year as a WWE Tag Team Champion with Rey Mysterio, making him a double champion.