Dave Batista

He began his WWE career on the May 9, 2002 episode of SmackDown! as Deacon Batista, a heel enforcer for Reverend D-Von.Batista made his WWE in-ring debut in a tag match teaming with D-Von against Faarooq and Randy Orton. Batista pinned Orton after performing a spinebuster on him. Over several weeks, Orton tried to beat D-Von and Batista with different partners, but ultimately lost each time.Batista suffered his first loss in a match against Rikishi after D-Von accidentally punched him, allowing Rikishi to take advantage and pin Batista for the win. Batista and D-Von started to argue over the forthcoming weeks, with Batista eventually turning on D-Von.After splitting with D-Von, he signed with Raw and was re-branded as Dave Batista (or simply Batista). He aligned himself with Ric Flair and feuded with Kane, whom he defeated in his pay-per-view debut at Armageddon 2002.