Dave Bautista (or Batista as he's known in the WWE ranks) made an immediate impact on the fans of World Wrestling Entertainment. Like his former Evolution buddy, Randy Orton, it was obvious we were looking at someone special. He wasn't going to be some flash in the pan "big man experiment gone wrong" that we'd seen in the past. This guy was built like a Mac Truck, had a primal aggression and could really "go" in the ring.

And just a few weeks out from Wrestlemania, it seems quite incredible to state that Dave Bautista is a World Heavyweight Championship challenger at Wrestlemania - and that the fans are eating it up.

Training under the tutelage of Afa The Wild Samoan, Bautista made his pro debut in July 1999 in Afa's WXW at the promotion's mega-event, "Sportsfest" defeating Dwayne "Gillberg" Gill. Known as "Kahn", it wasn't long before the 300+ pounder's immense power and slick in-ring work caught the eye of talent scouts who quickly signed him to a WWE developmental contract in March 2000.

Bautista, who is of Filipino and Greek descent, joined Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) as "Leviathan" where he joined fellow students Brock Lesnar, Shelton Benjamin, John Cena and Orton in setting the WWE breeding ground alight. It was a long and hard road, but as Leviathan, Bautista captured the OVW Heavyweight Championship from "The Machine" (Doug Basham) in late 2001 for a three month reign before dropping the title to "The Prototype" (Cena). "Leviathan" was also caught up in battles with WWE stars during his OVW tenure, competing against Kane, The Undertaker and most famously The Big Show - dropping the 500 pounder with an huge spear to the delight of the OVW faithful.

Honing his skills in OVW, he finally debuted for WWE in May 2002 as "Deacon Batista" to "Reverend D-Von" on Smackdown shortly after the initial roster split. Unfortunately for the Dudley Boy, however, it was the Deacon who garnered more attention from fans.

After that brief and largely uneventful run, a tricep tear saw Batista out of action for a short period of time, returning in November to Raw and the Triple H led "Evolution" - touted as the Four Horsemen of the new Millennium, Batista became The Enforcer 2k4. It was here that Batista would experience the highest of highs - it doesn't get much better than being aligned with the World Heavyweight Champion on the world's most popular pro-wrestling show.

In the 18 or so months since, we've seen Batista lurking in the background of Evolution. Sure, he'd picked up the tag titles with Ric Flair and dominated opponents with his raw power, but it was Orton and Triple H who were the over achievers of the group.

All the while, Batista was stacking up victories and doing the dirty work. The quiet achiever. The sleeping giant.

Batista found his voice in November and December of 2004, showing hints of dissent towards his leader. Out of the blue, fans raised their heads with great interest at an emerging super-power. It was incredible to think that the big man was becoming a front runner to win the Royal Rumble - a feat he pulled off with great aggression to become perhaps the most unexpected winner since Big John Studd in 1989 (at least, unexpected if you'd polled fans two months earlier). Joining past Rumble winning greats such as Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, The Rock, Steve Austin etc. is quite the accomplishment, and quite an endorsement from the powers that be.

Who of us could realistically have expected Batista to headline Wrestlemania if we were asked just 2-3 months ago? Probably no one. Literally zero percent.

WWE have done an incredible job in showing us what marks we all are. No matter how many dirt-sheets we read, no matter how many insider terms we know, at the end of the day, the WWE can manipulate us - telling us what we want to see, or at least, knowing what we want to see before we do. Sure - Batista "turning" on Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship would've been one of those "that'd be sweet" thoughts running through many fan's heads, but the WWE have manufactured this so well. It's at the point where we're frothing at the mouth and consider Triple Vs Batista a dream match up.

But a World Heavyweight Championship title shot at Wrestlemania doesn't guarantee a path to pro-wrestling immortality. Much depends on the outcome of the match, which you'd expect to be the final bout of the night. Even though history tells us that Royal Rumble winners more often than not go on to win big at 'mania, think back to two years earlier when Booker T. finally received a World Title shot against The Game - albeit not through a Rumble victory. An unsuccessful challenge saw the Book-Man drop straight back down to the mid-card (aka random Tag Team combination hell). A potential major push snuffed out in a three count.

Batista could potentially head down the same road. Although, to be fair, the fans appear to be rallying behind Batista in incredible numbers. And in this business, in general, strong pops = strong push.

Of course, there will be those that will scream "politics!" and insist that Batista is only getting a title shot because "he's Triple H's buddy!". The only questions I'm worried about are "are we entertained?" And "are we chomping at the bit for Batista to turn his back on Triple H, go out on his own and claim the World Heavyweight Championship?"

Popular opinion appears to be yes - that's all we should be concerned about.

With the heroes of the late 90's (Austin, Rocky, Sting, Goldberg) now well out of the picture, Bautista is being groomed as one of the new generation to lead the WWE in the years to come. Granted, at 36, he's no spring chicken, but this is an industry with a revolving door. The big players generally only spend a handful of years at the top and Batista appears to be very much in the beginning period of his prime. Which makes great news for us.

With the afternoon of April 4 set to see the first ever LIVE Wrestlemania event on New Zealand television, we'll get the opportunity to see Dave Bautista fulfill a dream as it happens. Will Batista walk out of Wrestlemania and into pro-wrestling immortality as World Heavyweight Champion? Or will The Game snuff the challenge out and with it, Batista's hopes of leading the new generation of WWE stars?

Brock Lesnar dropped the ball. Let's hope Dave Bautista picks it up.