Dortmund's demolished Borussia Moenchengladbach 4-0 in their league opener under new coach Thomas Tuchel, with the team playing a scintillating brand of attacking football that will go a long way towards speeding up the transition period following long-time boss Juergen Klopp's departure last season.
"Bayern are and remain the big favourites for the title," Watzke told Bild newspaper. "In regard to the spots behind them, then whoever has written off Dortmund has made a mistake. We were never gone."
Dortmund, German champions in 2011 and double winners in 2012, imploded midway through last season to sit mired in last place at the halfway mark.
A strong second half saw them finish seventh, four spots below Gladbach, as they salvaged a Europa League spot at the end of what was an otherwise disappointing campaign.
Saturday's thumping win, however, filled fans and club bosses with optimism but Watzke warned what the team needed now was stability and consistency.
"No one had any idea that the team would deliver such a game," Watzke said, while warning against early-season over-confidence with Dortmund facing Norway's Odd in a Europa League playoff on Thursday before travelling to promoted Ingolstadt, who stunned Mainz 05 1-0 in their opener, on the weekend.
"We now have two tough games ahead of us. Last season, after winning the (Ruhr) derby (against rivals Schalke 04) we celebrated but still fell back into a hole afterwards."
(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann)
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