Batista - The Animal Unleashed DVD (Disc 2) Review

Match 1: SmackDown 2006 - World Heavyweight Championship - Batista (c) vs. King Booker vs. Finlay
Batista gets to defend his World Heavyweight Championship against two former buddies in King Booker and Finlay. I miss these days from SmackDown, Batista gets a lot of crap but he really rose to the occasion every night for SmackDown. He made a great leader for the blue brand. While the predictability of this match was through the roof, they still put on a great match here. Finlay did his usual shenanigans with his shillelagh in hand and putting it to use behind the referee's back. Batista was able to turn the tides and hit a Batista Bomb on Finlay to secure the win. Good triple threat match here that allowed Batista to finally put these two away before moving on to WrestleMania season.
Winner: Batista
Rating: ***1/4

Match 2: SmackDown 2007 - Batista vs. Kane vs. Finlay vs. Mark Henry
Such a weird choice of a match to be placed on this DVD. Regardless, Edge is with JBL & Michael Cole to call this match and scout one of his future opponents. Winner gets to face Edge at One Night Stand for the strap. Decent match here that like the last match, really suffered from the predictability. And also like the last match, Batista was suffering from an injured hamstring which he nicely sold throughout the contest. But like the last match, he hit a Batista Bomb on Finlay before handing out Spears to everyone else for the win. He stares down a nervous Edge after the match. A good match but like I said, really strange to see this placed on the DVD.
Winner: Batista
Rating: **1/2

Match 3: SmackDown 2007 - Batista vs. Edge
You guessed it, another SmackDown match! This match was following their bout at Night of Champions where Batista failed to dethrone Edge. These two had really good chemistry for whatever reason and it definitely showed here. Edge is a master artist and Batista can hang with the very best of them. However, I've probably seen these two wrestle each other about a million times so nothing here is different or will stand out so much. Batista gets the clean win over the brand's top dog with a Batista Bomb. A strong television non-title match with a questionable finish. I get that they want Batista to look good and stay in contention, but a completely clean win over Edge made him look like a weaker champion. We all have different opinions but I just had to question why he scored the clean win here.
Winner: Batista
Rating: ***

Match 4: SmackDown 2007 - Last Man Standing - Batista vs. Kane
This is in late 2007 where Edge aligned himself with Vickie Guerrero and inserted himself into the World Heavyweight Championship picture. On this particular episode, Guerrero booked Edge against Funaki while Batista had to face Kane in a Last Man Standing match. Like I said in the previous bout, Batista can definitely hang with the best and when he works with a veteran like Kane, the psychology and storytelling go hand in hand. This is just something Batista never really gets the credit for. Last Man Standing matches do tend do drag but I feel like the did an efficient job of pacing the counts and making them look believable. Ending saw Batista hit a Spinebuster on Kane atop the announcers table before Edge appeared out of nowhere and hit a Spear on Batista. Batista was able to recover and get up before the ten count to win the match but the message was sent from Edge.
Winner: Batista
Rating: ***

Match 5: One Night Stand 2008 - Stretcher - Batista vs. Shawn Michaels
This match is another perfect example of how good a storyteller Batista really is. This was in the midst of Ric Flair's retirement and shaped into a Stretcher match after Shawn Michaels faked a knee injury at Backlash. While this match is between Batista and Shawn Michaels, seeds are still planted here for a long feud between Chris Jericho and Michaels. I really enjoyed this match and really enjoyed seeing Batista look like a man with no remorse, it felt like I was watching his Evolution days again. The match looked pretty even until Batista turned it up a notch, Batista was ready to win the match until Jericho came out for a second time and made the save. He started encouraging Michaels to get up and win. However, Batista brought out the bottom half of the steel steps and delivered a Spinebuster to Michaels on it. After, Batista placed Michaels on the stretcher before rolling him over the line for the win. Great match and great use of the stretcher throughout the match. Jericho added another layer to the match and Batista was brilliant in looking at Jericho in amusement. Great stuff all around.
Winner: Batista
Rating: ***3/4

Match 6: Great American Bash 2008 - World Heavyweight Championship - CM Punk (c) vs. Batista
CM Punk was booked like an absolute champ in 2008 as the champion for the red brand. Things didn't look too good for him as he had an animal in his way, Batista. If you haven't figured it out by now, Batista is almost booked as generously as John Cena. The commentators would not stop reminding us how Punk was the underdog of the match. The two worked a really good match around that story, Batista was fantastic in looking stronger while Punk was just as good in looking fast and cunning. Batista was understandably in control throughout the entire match but Punk wouldn't let up, putting his best efforts forward and made himself look like a legitimate contender. Credit to Batista for that, too. Batista hit a Spinebuster outside and once he rolled Punk back in the ring, Kane appeared out of nowhere and attacked both men which led to a disqualification. Punk raises his belt in front of Batista after Kane left and then handed out a Batista Bomb to Punk. I'm not sure what just happened. Is Batista a heel? Was Kane's interference absolute necessary? And why exactly did Punk raise the belt after a disqualification victory?
Winner: CM Punk
Rating: ***

Match 7: Cyber Sunday 2008 - World Heavyweight Championship - Chris Jericho (c) vs. Batista
I reviewed this match over five years ago and gave it a ***3/4. Let's see how that stands here in March of 2016. For the second year in a row, Batista is involved in the main event at Cyber Sunday for the World Heavyweight Championship with Stone Cold Steve Austin being the special guest referee. Chris Jericho tried to walk away from the match in the beginning until Austin made sure there wouldn't be any running away as a count out victory would lead to a title change. This was such a mess. I mean that in a good way and a bad way. Having JBL, Randy Orton and Shawn Michaels all jump on the boat was stupid fun to watch, especially with the crowd eating it up. The Stunner to Orton was a thing of beauty. Austin tried to hit one on Jericho who pushed Austin away but fell trap to a Batista Bomb. Batista scored the victory and shared a cold one with the legend afterwards. Like I said, a cluster of a match but it was definitely enjoyable to watch.
Winner: Batista
Rating: ***1/2

Overall Thoughts and Rating:
While some of the matches that were chosen for this disc were pretty odd, I still enjoyed them for the most part. We often underestimate just how good Batista actually is or was as a wrestler. He can tell a great story and make his opponents look good in the process, win or lose. If anything, this disc really shines that statement in the limelight. Would I have preferred to see other matches on here? Sure, but this was still a nice compilation. Disc 3 review coming up!
Rating: 7.25/10