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Batista & Warriors come out to play
By Noah Starr and Vodafone Warriors Staff
Written: January 14, 2007
Fan-favorite Batista seems to take to the squared circle like a fish takes to water. If the current WWE Heavyweight Champion were ever to leave sports-entertainment (and we certainly hope he wont anytime soon) he might make a fine addition to the Vodafone Warriors rugby squad in Auckland, New Zealand.
Arriving in Auckland early Friday morning to help promote next months WWE SmackDown Road to WrestleMania 23 Tour, the Animal was greeted with incredible excitement and a hearty haka the traditional dance of New Zealands Maori people. The performance was topped off with the teams much-debated throat-slitting gesture that would definitely bring a toothless grin to the face of SmackDowns Chris Benoit. Batista spent almost two hours watching the team practice, paying extra attention to the teams vice-captain and self-proclaimed WWE nut, Ruben Wiki.
After donning a specially-made Warriors jersey (number 1 of course), Batista posed for local photographers before heading off to a slew of television interviews. Back in the states, King Booker might think of himself as lord of the SmackDown kingdom, but if you ask any of the Vodafone Warriors theyll certainly tell you - Batista rules!
Batista is number one
http://www.wwe.com/inside/news/3966636
Warriors Get Pre-Season Smackdown
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Batista
©Getty Images / Michael Buckner
09/01/2007
XtraMSN
Big-time professional wrestling will come face to face with rugby league when WWE world heavyweight champion Batista meets the Warriors on Friday.
The 196cm, 131kg American is due to arrive in Auckland that morning for a two-day visit to promote next month's WWE Smackdown Road to WrestleMania 23 Tour.
In the afternoon he'll be a special guest at a Warriors training session, watching the players at work as they complete the first week of their pre-season programme ahead of the 2007 NRL competition.
Kiwis Ruben Wiki, Manu Vatuvei, Simon Mannering and Jerome Ropati joined the squad for the first time since the end of the 2006 NRL when training resumed on Monday after the Christmas-New Year break.
Wiki's a self-confessed WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) fan as are a number of his team-mates.
Wrestling, of the more orthodox kind, is part of the Warriors' training mix from time to time.
The WWE Smackdown Road to Wrestlemania 23 Tour will be the first time Auckland and Christchurch fans have a chance to get up close and personal with the WWE stars. Two shows are being held, the first at Westpac Centre in Christchurch on February 23 and the second at Western Springs in Auckland on February 24.
The timing doesn't work out well for Wiki and other WWE fans in the Warriors. They'll miss the Auckland show because they'll be in Mackay that weekend for their first major 2007 NRL trial against the North Queensland Cowboys.
http://xtramsn.co.nz/sport/0,,12050-6786578,00.html
Well...tells us how much each code knows about the other.
