If WWE doesn't give the belt to Batista, I'll be surprised. I don't know why anyone thinks he's not over. Just listen to the pop he's been getting lately. Hell, he's been getting that pop for months in anticipation of the face turn the fans could see building. I was at No Way Out back in February. When JBL's Cabinet ran in and started whaling on the Big Show after the main event, you should have heard the "BA-TI-STA" chant that erupted. And damn was it a cool moment when his music hit ten seconds later in the middle of that. The biggest pop of the night aside from Undertaker's was Cena and Batista posing at the end.
With that said, anyone who takes the belt from HHH is nothing more than an interim champion. Let's be serious. Trips has more backstage clout than anyone save maybe JBL (And I only say that because NO FREAKING WAY should he have a title run this long. The man is a lumbering oaf, and his current persona is a poor man's HHH, and THAT is saying something). I guarantee you he will AT LEAST equal Flair's 16-time mark, maybe surpass it.
As for Orton, again, I question anyone who thinks he wasn't over as a face. He got a huge pop. Hell, some nights his was the only pop I'd notice watching Raw. But they dropped the ball by letting Hunter take the belt from him after only one month. They destroyed the credibility they had been building for two years with his Tag and Intercontinental Title reigns, and his list of legends killed, by having him job to Hunter. I think he's going to beat Taker. This is probably his last Wrestlemania. Why not put over the next generation? His legacy is secure.
But whatever happens, please, NO MORE EVOLUTION. Maven? I would get a bigger reaction from the crowd than him at this point. Chris Masters? They spent a month hyping him as a singles star. Evolution would need more than a poser to regain credibility. Evolution should live up to its name. They had the icon in Flair, the current top dog in HHH, and the future stars in Orton and Batista. It was a gimmick that made total sense while it worked, but trying to recapture that will be a mistake. And given WWE's track record, it's a mistake I fully anticipate them making.
