Batista had an uninterrupted run with the WWE from 2002 to 2010. Throughout his tenure, he hasn't been sidelined by an injury for more than 5 months. Aside from medical reasons, he never left the company. He wasn't absent for just "almost a year." And he hasn't been gone before to merit "another" return.
Is his return a big deal, though?
I don't think so.
Personally, I find him boring. But let's take a deeper look at why his return isn't really "good for business," as the overused mantra goes.
Though charismatic, Batista doesn't have the strong character of the prominent names during the attitude era. Though good on the mic, he doesn't have a wide array of emotions to convey. And most certainly, his wrestling skills are just at par with John Cena's infamous "five moves of doom."
He is NOT the big name that the upcoming Wrestlemania XXX needs.
Batista's rise to prominence was more of luck than anything else, a matter of being in the right place at the right time. The WWE was just moving away from its Attitude Era and into a period of experimentation (before eventually settling with what is now known as the PG era). Gone were the likes of Steve Austin and the Rock. Brock Lesnar, the "Next Big Thing" whom the WWE invested on to carry their brand to the next age proved to be too immature for life on the road and left the company. WWE was left with few marketable wrestlers, and many of them didn't really fit Vince McMahon's idea of a "WWE superstar" (i.e. Eddie Guerrero, Rey Mysterio, Jr., and Chris Benoit). WWE was desperate for new stars. The beneficiary of those uncertain times? John Cena, Edge... and of course, Dave Batista. Randy Orton, though a contemporary of Batista's, was considered a prospect back then and was sidelined for more than 2 years because of a recurring elbow injury.
The desperation caused by that age of uncertainty compelled the WWE to force the wrestlers of their choice down our throats. We were conditioned to accept them as strong and cool characters. They were positioned to be the top guys of the company. Storylines were developed around them. Pay Per Views were designed to showcase them as the stars the WWE wanted them to be.
That uncertain age explains why wrestling fans - at least the longtime wrestling fans who know the industry - never really accepted the WWE's fabricated characters. Edge's popularity never really zoomed to its full potential. John Cena, well, we all know how much of the audience actually, genuinely hate him. And Batista... he was just - as he always will be - a strong guy we're supposed to cheer for.
Batista left in 2010 to pursue other career options because, according to him, he's getting old.
And now he's coming back.
As a part-timer who is rumored to win the Royal Rumble and challenge Randy Orton for the WWE Heavyweight Championship at Wrestlemania XXX. The operative word there is "part-timer."
He's coming back with the same arrangement the WWE had with the Rock. He's coming back with basically the same storyline that propelled the Cena-Rock feud, albeit with different protagonists and a different Wrestlemania.
But Batista is no Dwayne Johnson... and there lies the problem.
Bad decision for the WWE.