Batista is set to headline this year's WWE Hall of Fame ceremony (which is set to be postponed this year due to the coronavirus outbreak, likely until SummerSlam weekend) and deservedly so given the illustrious career he's had in the company and the fact he retired from in-ring competition at last year's WrestleMania.
Big Dave has seen many wrestlers come and go during his stint with the WWE, some of whom he loves, others of whom he doesn't. These are 5 wrestlers Batista is on good terms with, as well as some of those who would do best to avoid The Animal once the Hall of Fame finally rolls around.
10 He Loves: Titus O'Neil
Titus O'Neil and Batista are long-time best friends, having had a close relationship for several years, even before Titus O'Neil joined the WWE. The two men have always looked out for each other, with Batista even calling the WWE out when Titus was suspended in 2017 for grabbing Vince McMahon's arm live on air. Batista even went as far as to advise Titus to ask for his release from the company due to the incident, proving their friendship stretches even further than Batista's loyalty to the WWE.
9 Doesn't Love: Booker T
This dislike is well documented and regularly features when it comes to those Batista has issues with backstage in the WWE. Booker T and Batista famously had a real backstage fight in 2006, which was curiously even covered by WWE.com at the time despite being an altercation that never occurred on TV or in a scripted form by the company. Reportedly stemming from a Wrestler's Court (though others claimed this happened on a SummerSlam advert shoot) over Batista and Melina's affair, Booker T would get the better of Batista in the exchange and bad blood between the two likely exists today, despite Batista having changed his ways since this situation.
8 He Loves: Triple H
This is an unsurprising entry given how closely the two have been intertwined during Batista's career, but The Animal has often spoken highly of Triple H and believes him instrumental in the success he obtained in the WWE.
He even refused to wrestle any other wrestler besides Triple H in his retirement match, believing it to be the right choice for the fans in terms of his character arc with the company. In becoming a Hall of Famer in the class of 2020, Batista will likely thank Triple H personally during his acceptance speech, given many deem their rivalry to be the best of his career.
7 Doesn't Love: Alberto Del Rio
Batista likely isn't the only wrestler to have backstage issues with Alberto Del Rio, who has burnt more bridges than almost anyone else during his time away from the WWE, which makes talks of his 2020 return particularly shocking. Del Rio was the first person Batista attacked during his return to the company in 2014, but the problem between them grew during a Twitter exchange before the Royal Rumble that year, with Del Rio calling Batista's MMA career into question and the latter firing back with comments that reportedly caused some issues with officials backstage as well as his fellow wrestlers. Though the two did wrestle during his 2014 run, its fair to say Batista isn't Del Rio's biggest fan even today.
6 He Loves: Ric Flair
Another of Batista's running buddies in Evolution, despite attacking the Nature Boy during his story-line birthday celebrations in his 2019 WWE return, Batista holds Ric Flair in high regard. Flair taught Batista a great deal during their time in Evolution including wrestling beside him and winning the tag-team championships. Batista has never forgotten all the knowledge and kindness Flair showed to him at a time when he was fairly new to the business, and credits his run in Evolution as sky-rocketing him into stardom in the company, something that wouldn't have had the same effect without Ric Flair.
5 Doesn't Love: AJ Styles
In a surprising turn of events, Batista took umbrage with many who praise AJ Style's in-ring career, stating that he was little more than a stunt man who was overrated in the eyes of many during his TNA days. Unsurprisingly, Styles wasn't particularly grateful for Batista's opinion and insulted Batista's wrestling ability right back.
Though little came of these remarks, Styles likely still holds a level of disdain for the claim that his matches were little more than "car-wreck matches". Styles likely has some level of a last laugh as, though Batista is a soon-to-be Hall of Famer, he was recently labelled PWI's Wrestler of the Decade.
4 He Loves: Rey Mysterio
The friendship between Rey Mysterio and Batista is so strong that the WWE even implemented it into their story-lines, using it as fuel to turn Batista heel in 2009 when he attacked Rey. The two men were two of the biggest stars on the WWE SmackDown brand during the mid-to-late 2000s, and both also grew lasting friendships with Eddie Guerrero at the time. Batista cultivates a real love of Mexican wrestling and views Rey Mysterio as one of the most talented men to have wrestled, with the two having had memorable matches against one another in the past.
3 Doesn't Love: John Morrison
Its hard to write about those who Batista isn't a fan of backstage in WWE without mentioning the infamous John Morrison situation. Whilst on top on WWE SmackDown in 2006 John Morrison was a part of MNM with Joey Mercury and his then real-life partner Melina. Rumours go that Melina and Batista engaged in an affair despite this relationship, despite Morrison's and many other wrestler's disapproval of the situation. Though this happened a long time ago and Morrison has since gotten married to TNA Knockout Taya, its likely he still holds a certain resentment for Batista over what occurred at the time.
2 Loves: CM Punk
Though CM Punk and Batista have had issues in the past, due to CM Punk feeling part-timers like Batista were being favoured over him in WrestleMania plans, and which contributed a great deal to his decision to leave the WWE in 2014, the two men have stated they remain good friends outside of the ring.
They frequently share political opinions on Twitter, with CM Punk claiming Batista is one of the good guys despite the manner in which The Animal was pushed over him in 2014. Their friendship was furthered thanks to CM Punk's comic book writing career, where in an interesting turn of events he was able to write a comic book run of Drax, the character Batista plays in The Guardians of the Galaxy and the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
1 Doesn't Love: The RAW Locker Room In 2003
As revealed by WWE's latest Network special series "Ruthless Aggression", Triple H made it clear to Randy Orton and Batista that their involvement in Evolution would give them a lot of heat with other stars backstage on WWE RAW. This was due to the fact that the two men would be seen as being given a handout without paying their dues in the company for a while beforehand. Though Batista holds no hard feelings towards anyone in the locker room today, at the time he was likely treated with some distrust from those he shared the locker room with and didn't particularly love the hostility caused by their jealousy at his push.