Dave Bautista is probably best known for starring in the Guardians of the Galaxy movies these days but wrestling fans know him best as Batista, a multi-time world champion (or "Bootista" depending on how you felt about his return to the company in 2014). He recently sat down with Edge and Christian for their Pod of Awesomeness and delivered an assessment of today's WWE product.
His thoughts line up with what many former wrestlers say about WWE today and it doesn't sound like he's overly impressed by the latest crop of talent and what they're bringing to the table.
"This is not a dig on anyone, but I just don’t feel that the product is as good as it used to be. I think it [has] just changed in a lot of ways and not for the better. When I came up with [Edge and Christian], I mean, everybody was rockstars, man! They were real, live rockstars! They were real performers and everybody had kind of an edge to them. They were interesting and different individuals and I feel like a lot of that [has] just been lost. I feel like a lot of the edginess has been taken out of wrestling, the creativity. There’s still great stuff going on with the company, but I don’t… and I feel like a dinosaur when I’m saying this, but I don’t feel like the product is as good as it was."
There are definitely still a lot of big stars in WWE but Batista isn't wrong in many respects. However, his comments about NXT are sure to rile many fans (and wrestlers) up to some extent.
"I think a lot of the guys, their hands are tied and I think a lot of the guys now, they’re terrified that they’ll lose their job. If they do something wrong, they’re going to lose their job. They’re much more easily replaceable now because they have a factory for them! NXT, it’s a wrestler factory. They just turn out wrestlers. I think a lot of them, again, I don’t mean to sound disrespectful, I don’t mean [it as a] dig, a lot of them are cookie cutter. They’re coming up withthese kind of characters for them. They’re cookie cutter and they’re not individuals. They’re not thinking outside of the box."
These comments do seem overly harsh and we don't know how much Batista actually keeps up with WWE's current output and whether his assessment can be deemed accurate. He's entitled to his opinion, though, and it will be interesting seeing if he can change what he views as problems within the company when and if he does return. What do you guys think? Sound off below.