Batista doesn’t think people suddenly became worse. He thinks society started rewarding the worst behavior.
Speaking to WOLF Gyms, the former WWE Champion said somewhere along the way, shock value became more important than character. Instead of celebrating people who work hard or treat others well, he believes today’s culture rewards the loudest, most outrageous people because controversy spreads faster than kindness ever could. To Batista, that’s where everything started to change.
“I think we took a wrong turn when we started putting so much stock into shock value reality shows because people like that and they get addicted to it… It’s shock value. And I think that became trendy.”
He says social media only poured gasoline on that fire. People don’t just go viral for doing ridiculous things anymore—they build careers from it. Batista believes that has created a generation of people who see outrage as the quickest path to success.
“I think people are going viral for s*** like that. They’re becoming famous for s*** like that. And I think a lot of people think, ‘Well, that’s my role model. I want to be like that. I want to get that attention. This is what I got to do to get it.'”
Even Hollywood isn’t immune. Batista pointed to Henry Cavill as someone he genuinely admires, calling him generous and respectful. But he also admitted those aren’t the stories people click on anymore. The headlines people chase are the train wrecks.
“People like the bad stuff. It’s more intriguing than hearing that somebody did something nice, or hearing that Henry Cavill… he’s such a gentleman, he’s so generous. They’d rather hear about an actor who’s just off the rails… All the negative stuff just goes viral and it’s clickbait.”
He even believes good deeds have become complicated. According to Batista, too many people feel the need to record themselves helping others, turning acts of kindness into another form of self-promotion instead of simply doing the right thing.
“A lot of times too, I think people are guilty of wanting to film themselves doing positive stuff… It comes off disingenuous when they’re just self-promoting.”
That frustration is also why Batista says he’ll never accept something he believes has become far too common over the last decade: Punching down. Whether it’s bullying someone, mocking people in weaker positions or treating others like they’re beneath you, Batista says that behavior has somehow become normal—and he wants no part of it.
“I won’t punch down. I’ll never be the type of person that punches down. To me, those are low lives or bullies, not people I want to deal with, work with, or even be in an environment with.”
For Batista, success has never been about tearing someone else apart to get ahead. He’d rather surround himself with people who lift each other up, value integrity and actually want to make those around them better.
That’s why he believes the biggest problem isn’t social media, reality television or even clickbait by themselves. It’s that society has slowly started rewarding outrage over decency—and until that changes, he doesn’t expect the negativity to disappear anytime soon.
Do you agree with Batista that society now rewards controversy more than character, or do you think he’s looking at today’s culture too negatively? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
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