Evolution (professional wrestling)
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Evolution_(professional_wrestling)".

content
Evolution
Stable
Members Ric Flair
Batista
Triple H
Randy Orton[1]
Name(s) Evolution[1]
Debut February 3, 2003[1]
Disbanded October 3, 2005[2]
Promotions WWE

Evolution was a professional wrestling heel stable on World Wrestling Entertainment's RAW brand consisting of Ric Flair, Randy Orton, Triple H, and Batista. The group is considered by many to be modeled after Ric Flair's old stable, the Four Horsemen, from the National Wrestling Alliance and World Championship Wrestling.[1]

Contents

History

Formation (2002–2003)

At Unforgiven in 2002, Triple H defended the World Heavyweight Championship against Rob Van Dam. During the match Ric Flair came down to the ring and grabbed the sledgehammer from Triple H and teased hitting Triple H before hitting Van Dam, allowing Triple H to get the win.[3] From that point on, Flair accompanied Triple H to the ring as his manager. Shortly after, Batista moved from SmackDown! to Raw and took Flair as his manager. When Triple H began his feud with Scott Steiner at the beginning of 2003, Batista and Randy Orton both assisted him along with Flair.[4]

The group was officially founded on February 3, 2003 and called itself Evolution, as in "the Evolution of this business." Each of the members represented the best in "the past" (Ric Flair), "the present" (Triple H), and "the future" (Randy Orton and Batista) of professional wrestling.[1][5] The stable got off to a rocky start as both Batista and Orton were injured in matches in February 2003. On May 26 edition of Raw, Orton returned as a masked man who attacked both Shawn Michaels and Kevin Nash after a 2-on-1 handicap match with Flair and Michaels taking on Triple H. He then unmasked himself and rejoined the group.[1][6]

Feuds with Shawn Michaels and Goldberg (2003)

In 2003, at Bad Blood, Flair was able to defeat Shawn Michaels after Orton whacked Michaels with a chair. Later that night, Triple H retained his World Heavyweight Championship in a Hell in a Cell match against the big man, Kevin Nash.[1][7] At Unforgiven, Orton (who had a "Legend Killer" gimmick) defeated Michaels to prove that he was indeed a Legend Killer.[8] Later that night, Triple H defended the World Heavyweight Championship against Goldberg. Despite help from Flair, Triple H lost the title to Goldberg.[9]

On September 29 edition of Raw, Triple H issued a $100,000 bounty to anybody who could take out Goldberg.[1][10] On October 20 edition of Raw, Batista returned from injury and rejoined Evolution by taking out Goldberg and claiming the $100,000 bounty.[1][11] At Survivor Series, Orton participated in a Team Bischoff vs. Team Austin elimination tag team match in which Orton was the sole survivor.[12] Later that night, Goldberg faced Triple H in a rematch from Unforgiven for the World Heavyweight Championship which Goldberg won despite repeated interference from Flair, Orton and Batista.[13]

Flair's character trademarks of coming out in suits and being a noted Playboy, along with his and Triple H's trademark heel ruthlessness, were traits that carried over into the entire stable, both during and for a couple of years after Evolution. While in the group each of the members had individual quirks:

  • Orton, after returning from injury in May 2003, became "the Legend Killer" and humiliated and sometimes defeated numerous "legendary" wrestlers and celebrities, becoming infamous when he spat in the face of Mick Foley and later on Harley Race.
  • Batista, known as "Evolution's Animal" (shortened to "The Animal"), was the silent, strong enforcer of the group. His progress as a wrestler and personality wasn't as quick as Orton's and he was mainly kept in the background until after Orton was kicked out.
  • Flair, "The Nature Boy" and the "Dirtiest Player in the Game", took a managerial role and mainly focused on helping the others, though he became increasingly more active as a wrestler as the group progressed, including winning the World Tag Team titles with Batista.
  • Triple H, "The Game", was the leader and the one who either possessed or pursued the World Heavyweight title at all times. He was champion when the group formed and he lost the belt to Chris Benoit, who would later be defeated by Orton. Orton's victory led to his eventual expulsion from the group.

Success (2003–2004)

Randy Orton as the Intercontinental Champion during the apex of Evolution
Randy Orton as the Intercontinental Champion during the apex of Evolution

At the height of Evolution's power, the group controlled all of the male-based championships of RAW after Armageddon. Batista teamed with Flair to win the World Tag Team Championship from Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray Dudley and D-Von Dudley) in a Tag Team Turmoil match,[14] Orton captured the WWE Intercontinental Championship from Rob Van Dam,[15][16] and Triple H regained the World Heavyweight Championship from Goldberg (in a Triple Threat match that also involved Kane), with the help of the other members.[1][17][18]

In January 2004 at the Royal Rumble, Ric Flair and Batista successfully defended the World Tag Team Championship against Dudley Boyz in a Tables match, and World Heavyweight Champion Triple H fought Shawn Michaels to no contest in a Last Man Standing match, thus retaining the championship.[19] Flair and Batista exchanged the World Tag Team Championship with Booker T and Rob Van Dam.[20][21][22] At WrestleMania XX, Evolution defeated Rock 'n' Sock Connection (The Rock and Mick Foley) in a 3-on-2 handicap match.[1][23] Later that night, Triple H lost the World Heavyweight Championship to Chris Benoit (in a triple threat match that also involved Shawn Michaels) when he tapped out to the Crippler Crossface.[1][24] At Backlash, Orton defended the WWE Intercontinental Championship successfully against Cactus Jack (Mick Foley) in a Hardcore match. Later that night, Flair lost to Shelton Benjamin in a one-on-one action,[25] while Chris Benoit retained the World Heavyweight Championship in a triple threat match against Triple H and Shawn Michaels, this time forcing Michaels to submit with the Sharpshooter.[26]

Dissent and self-destruction (2004)

While champion, Benoit teamed with Edge to take the World Tag Team Championship from Flair and Batista.[27] In summer of 2004, Eugene was made an "honorary member" of Evolution. When the angle finished, it was revealed that Triple H used him. The angle concluded after Eugene accidentally caused Triple H's loss to Chris Benoit at Vengeance.[28] On the same night, Edge defeated Randy Orton to end his seven-month-long Intercontinental Championship reign.[29]

Triple H received one final shot at the World Heavyweight Championship, on the July 26, 2004 edition of Raw in an Iron Man match. Earlier that night, Randy Orton won a number-one contender battle royal for the World Heavyweight Championship and potentially a title match between Triple H and Orton could have taken place at SummerSlam, however, Eugene interfered in the Iron Man match and helped Benoit take the lead and retain the title in the final seconds, setting up a title match between Benoit and Orton at SummerSlam.[30] At SummerSlam, Orton pinned Benoit to become the new World Heavyweight Champion and the youngest World Champion in WWE history to date.[31][32] On the August 16, 2004 edition of Raw, Orton was kicked out of Evolution following a successful defense of the title against Chris Benoit.[1][33] Batista hoisted Orton on to his shoulders in what appeared to be a celebration, but following the thumbs down from Triple H, the group proceeded to attack Orton.[33]

At Unforgiven, Triple H beat Orton to regain the World Heavyweight Championship, with help from Flair, Batista and Jonathan Coachman.[34][35] Orton's feud with Evolution continued until Survivor Series where Triple H, Batista, Gene Snitsky and Edge were defeated by Orton, Maven, Chris Jericho and Chris Benoit in a Survivor Series match for control of RAW over the following month.[36]

On December 6 edition of Raw, the World Heavyweight Championship was vacated when a triple threat match with Triple H, Edge and Benoit ended in a double pin (Edge tapped out to Benoit's Crippler Crossface while he had Benoit pinned to the ground),[37] and the title was to be decided in an Elimination Chamber match at New Year's Revolution in early 2005.

Dissolution (2005)

Triple H as the World Heavyweight Champion
Triple H as the World Heavyweight Champion

In the Elimination Chamber match at New Year's Revolution, Batista, Orton, and Triple H were the last three remaining in the match. Orton eliminated Batista with an RKO and Triple H pinned Orton with Batista's help to win the title.[1][38][39] On the following night's Raw a number-one contender's match saw Orton pin Batista to gain a title shot at the Royal Rumble.[40] Triple H suggested that Batista not enter the Royal Rumble match, wanting the group to focus on Triple H retaining the title. Batista declined and entered the Rumble at number 28 and won.[1][41] As part of the match's storyline, Randy Orton was concussed and then pinned to have Triple H retain the title, finally ending their feud.[1][42]

Triple H tried to persuade Batista to challenge for the WWE Championship rather than his title. The scheme was unsuccessful and at the contract signing ceremony, Batista turned his back on Evolution and attacked Flair and Triple H, choosing to challenge for Triple H's title at WrestleMania 21, thus quitting the faction and starting a more successful singles career.[43] Batista defeated Triple H for the World title at WrestleMania 21,[44] then defended and retained the title in rematches at Backlash,[45] and Vengeance in a Hell in a Cell match.[46]

After Vengeance, Triple H took time off, Flair turned face, and the group was dissolved. Triple H returned at the "WWE Homecoming" episode of Raw on October 3 where he was to team with Flair in a tag team match against Carlito and Chris Masters. After winning that match, Triple H betrayed Flair and turned heel, marking the end of Evolution.[2]

Aftermath

Orton turned heel again and challenged The Undertaker to a match to end his WrestleMania streak. Orton, however, lost to Undertaker at WrestleMania 21, thus increasing Undertaker's streak to 13-0.[47] Orton was drafted to SmackDown! on June 16, 2005 edition of SmackDown! as the second pick of the 2005 Draft Lottery, helping JBL defeat Undertaker in a No Disqualification match.[48] Orton continued to feud with Undertaker for the remainder of the year.

Batista was drafted to SmackDown! on June 30, 2005 as the final SmackDown! pick of the 2005 Draft Lottery and brought the World Heavyweight Championship with himself to SmackDown!.[49] Batista went on to have two more reigns as World Heavyweight Champion,[50][51] while he also held the WWE Tag Team Championship with Rey Mysterio in late 2005.[52]

After Triple H turned on Ric Flair, Flair began a rivalry with Triple H. At Taboo Tuesday, Flair was scheduled to defend the WWE Intercontinental Championship against Triple H in a Steel Cage match, Submission match or a Regular match. Steel cage match won the voting, and Flair defeated Triple H to retain the title in a steel cage match.[53] At Survivor Series, however, Flair lost to Triple H in a non-title Last Man Standing match.[54]

One-night-only reunion (2007)

On December 10, 2007, Evolution had an in-ring reunion as faces on the Raw 15th Anniversary special episode. After Batista, Flair, and Triple H, who turned face himself in summer 2006, made their way to the ring, Orton (being the only current heel) refused to join them. He stated that if he would have to be remembered for being part of a tag-team, it would be as a member of Rated-RKO.[55] Orton's remarks led to a six-man tag team match between Evolution and the team of Rated RKO and Umaga, which was won by Evolution.[56]

Original concept

In an interview with IGN on December 20, 2004, Triple H discussed how Evolution was conceived:

“ It was my initial concept and I ran it by Vince and I ran it by Flair. My initial concept was pretty much what we said on TV. I looked around and we had Ric Flair as a baby face just sitting there and not doing a whole lot, then you had myself, and I felt like Ric could be utilized better as a mentor to a younger guy who was up and coming. I felt like somebody could get the rub off of him, then the more I started thinking about it, I thought if we put together a group where we took a couple of guys and they could get a rub off of both Ric and I, and Ric could be accompanying them to the ring and become part-wrestler, part-mentor, part-manager, that this could really get big. So I ran it by Ric and he liked the idea. And when I was talking to Vince about it, he asked me what other wrestlers I wanted to do Evolution with, and I honestly didn't know. So Ric and I spent a lot of time just watching guys. Ric and I would actually watch every match, scouting each wrestler to see who could pull this off. To me, this was an important deal because I had to pick two guys who I thought could be big stars on their own one day, otherwise we're just wasting our time.

This isn't a knock against anybody, but there are a lot of groups, and when the group folds, the guys in that group fold because they were propped up by that group. That's not what we wanted. I wanted two guys who could be stars standing on their own, we just needed to get them to that point of standing on their own, and that's what we've done. If you look at Randy Orton, it was time for him to get kicked out of the nest and try to fly on his own, so we kicked him out and he's out there flying. He's in a place where he's either going to become a huge star or he's going to hit the ground, but we got him to that point, and he got himself to that point too. Same thing with Batista. We're going to turn Batista into a big star here, and he's working his ass off at it. And when the time is right, we'll kick him out of the nest and see how he flies. That was part of the whole thrill of doing Evolution. We took two guys who, if they would've kept doing the same things they were doing, they would've just been a couple of other guys, and it would've been hard for them to progress from that level. We literally took them out with us everywhere we went, talked business to them non-stop, and they watched matches with us, they wrestled with us, and listened to our advice. I'm not trying to take credit for where they are, they are the ones who had to put in the work, but we gave them the platform to do it from. They deserve the credit, though, because they are the ones who did it.[57]

 ”

In wrestling

  • Finishing and signature moves

Championships and accomplishments

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p "Evolution Profile". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2008-01-18.
  2. ^ a b "A Stunning Homecoming". WWE. Retrieved on 2008-01-19.
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  5. ^ "RAW results - February 3, 2003". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2008-01-18.
  6. ^ "RAW results - May 26, 2003". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2007-08-18.
  7. ^ "Bad Blood 2003 results". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2008-01-18.
  8. ^ "Unforgiven 2003 official results". WWE. Retrieved on 2008-01-18.
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  25. ^ "Backlash 2004 official results". WWE. Retrieved on 2008-01-19.
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  33. ^ a b "RAW results - August 16, 2004". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2008-01-19.
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  40. ^ "RAW results - January 10, 2005". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2008-01-19.
  41. ^ a b "2005 Royal Rumble match". WWE. Retrieved on 2008-01-19.
  42. ^ "Royal Rumble 2005 official results". WWE. Retrieved on 2008-01-19.
  43. ^ "RAW results - February 21, 2005". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2008-01-19.
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  50. ^ Dee, Louie (2006-11-26). "Kingdom conquered". WWE. Retrieved on 2008-01-19.
  51. ^ Difino, Lennie (2007-09-16). "Destined for gold". WWE. Retrieved on 2008-01-19.
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  54. ^ "Trilpe H def. Ric Flair in a Last Man Standing match". WWE. Retrieved on 2008-01-19.
  55. ^ "Rated RKO Profile". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2008-01-19.
  56. ^ Robinson, Bryan (2007-12-10). "Triple reunion for The Game". WWE. Retrieved on 2008-01-19.
  57. ^ Robinson, Jon (2004-12-20). "Triple H interview". IGN Sports. Retrieved on 2008-01-19.
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  60. ^ "World Tag Team Championship official title history". WWE. Retrieved on 2008-01-19.

External links

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