RADICAN'S TAKE TALES FROM THE PULPIT 9/16: Will Batista step up and be the star he wants to be? Sep 16, 2008 - 4:00:02 PM

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By Sean Radican, PWTorch Columnist

As the months go by, Batista's move from Smackdown to Raw has been lackluster at best outside of some bright moments here and there (most of them during his short feud with Cena building to SummerSlam). The thing about Batista is that he seems to have all the tools necessary to be an elite level performer in WWE, but something is missing. Jason Powell at ProWrestling.net broke the news yesterday that Batista is frustrated that he's not pushed at the level of the very top-tier in the WWE.

After getting a win over Cena at SummerSlam that should have been a launching point, Batista has slowly faded to the background again. His mid-card World Championship feud with C.M. Punk was lacking for both parties. He also didn't do much to prove himself of having that "it" factor to carry a bad match when he was in the ring with Mysterio, Kane, and JBL at the Scramble match at Unforgiven.

I don't think a heel turn is the answer to getting the most out of Batista at this point either. The simple fact is that Batista can't talk and doesn’t have the charisma of Triple H, Cena, Michaels, Edge, and The Undertaker, so what has he done to justify a bigger push?

Batista is slotted perfectly as the guy in the main event mix that can work with the stars, but isn't someone who management can count on to carry the promotion for months on end. If there were any year where he could prove he was worthy of a bigger push, it's this year with all of the injuries on the roster.

It's telling that Batista is being booker in a lousy undercard match at "No Mercy" where he's set to take on JBL for the #1 contender to the WWE Championship. He's got no chance to succeed being put in the ring with JBL and it's already been proven they don't have chemistry working together in the ring.

Creative decided that instead of putting Batista into the title picture again against Punk, they would put the strap on Jericho at Unforgiven. The Jericho-HBK feud didn't need the WWE Championship. Their feud could have main evented any PPV with a strong Batista match on the undercard.

Batista has shown that he can work with the top wrestlers and hold his end of those feuds, but he's not a proven elite wrestler in the WWE. I don't think he ever will be, as he lacks the charisma and promo skills necessary to build a company around. He's also inconsistent in that he'll have stretched of brilliance for months on end and then simply fade to the background. Batista has something to prove and he'll be hard-pressed at his age to climb up the ladder, especially when he hasn't done it with a depleted roster.

Let your voice be heard!: Tomorrow, I'll present my second "The Taint" of the week award. "The Taint" award goes to the single most idiotic moment of the week in wrestling. You can email me your nominations up until midnight tonight at PWTorchSean@gmail.com. Vote early and often if you see something worthy of "The Taint." Make sure you put "The Taint" in the subject line for your nominations. Be sure to check right back here to see who wins "The Taint" this week!

Sean Radican and Derek Burgan deliver state-of-the-art wrestling audio each and every weekend exclusively at PWTorch.com/members. When not writing his obnoxiously successful “Tales from the Pulpit,” Sean collects matches to help Derek burn bridges. Contact him at PWTorchSean@gmail.com.

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