Evolution (professional wrestling)

Evolution
File:Evolutiontitles.jpg Evolution members (left to right): Randy Orton, Ric Flair, Triple H and Batista.
Stable
Members	Triple H Ric Flair Randy Orton Batista
Name(s)	Evolution
Debut	February 03, 2003
Disbanded	October 10, 2005

Evolution was a heel stable on World Wrestling Entertainment's RAW brand consisting of Triple H, Ric Flair, Batista, and Randy Orton. The group is considered by many to be modeled after Ric Flair's old stable the Four Horsemen from the NWA and WCW. Triple H said in an interview on IGN.com that the whole Evolution concept was to take two rising stars and turn them into the biggest stars that they could possibly be.

Stable history

2002-2003

At Unforgiven 2002,Triple H defended his World Heavywieght Championship against Rob Van Dam. Van Dam looked like he was about to win the World title when Ric Flair came down to the ring and grabbed the sledge Hammer from Triple H. It looked like Flair was going to hit Triple H with the hammer, but instead he hit Van Dam, allowing Triple H to hit the Pedigree for the win. From then on Triple H took on Flair as a Manager. Shortly there after Batista joined RAW from SmackDown! and took Flair on as his manager. When Triple H began his feud with Scott Steiner in January and February 2003, Batista came to his aid along with Randy Orton. The group was officially founded on February 3 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/or Batista depending on who was healthy) of professional wrestling. The stable got off to a rocky start as Batista and Orton were injured in a match. Several months later, Orton rejoined the group followed by Batista who came to the aid of Triple H during his feud with Bill Goldberg.

Ric 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 afterwards (with the exception of Triple H's current role in D-Generation X). During the group, each of the members had individual quirks about their character clearly distinguishing them from the others:

• Orton, upon coming back from his injury in May 2003, became "the Legend Killer", who would humiliate and/or defeat numerous "legendary" wrestlers/celebrities, becoming infamous when he spat in the face of Mick Foley and later on Harley Race. This gimmick would begin his rise to stardom, as he went on to be involved in many high profile matches in 2003 and became a top midcarder, main event jobber, and eventual main eventer as a member of Evolution.
• Batista, known as "Evolution's Animal" (shortened to "The Animal" after leaving the group), was the silent and strong enforcer type member of the group. Despite being a physical specimen, his progress as a wrestler and/or as a personality was much steadier than Orton's (which can possibly be attributed to his then-heel status), so he was mainly kept in the background until later.
• Flair, "The Nature Boy" and the "Dirtiest Player in the Game", who was renowned for his cheating tactics and due to old age now took a managerial role and mainly focused on helping the others, though he became increasingly more active as a wrestler as the group progressed.
• Triple H, "The Game", the member that represented the present, was the leader, and the one who either possessed or pursued the World Heavyweight Title all the time. He was the notably cunning, evil, ruthless one on the team, and would often take his promos to go through the "long list of losers" consisting of the many big name wrestlers of his time that he has beaten.

At the height of Evolution's power, the group controlled all of the male-based championships of RAW after Armageddon 2003. After losing to Shawn Michaels in a singles match earlier that night, Batista teamed with Flair to win the World Tag Team Championship in a tag team turmoil challenge, coming out last and pinning the Dudley Boyz. Randy Orton captured the WWE Intercontinental Championship from Rob Van Dam. This reign would become the longest Intercontinental Title reign in six years (until Shelton Benjamin's reign in 2004). At the end of the night, Triple H defeated Bill Goldberg and Kane in a triple threat match to regain the World Heavyweight Championship for the third time, with the help of Randy Orton and Batista.

2004

Triple H would end up losing the title to Chris Benoit when he tapped out to the Crippler Crossface at WrestleMania XX in a triple threat match also involving Shawn Michaels. In the midst of this reign, Benoit would later team with Edge to take the World Tag Team Titles from Flair and Batista. During this time, Eugene was made an "honorary member" of Evolution so that Triple H could use him to get back the title and control RAW. He was kicked out of the group with a harsh beating after accidentally costing Triple H a title match against Chris Benoit at Vengeance 2004, the same night that Edge, a present and future rival (as well as future ally) of Orton's, defeated him to end his seven-month-long Intercontinental Championship reign. That night cemented the fact that Edge and Chris Benoit, together and separately, dismantled the entire championship power grip of Evolution.

While Edge went on to continuously best Evolution by cheating to keep the title, Triple H received one more shot at Benoit's World Heavyweight Championship, on the July 26 2004 episode of RAW in an Iron Man Match. Earlier that same night, a future #1 contender for the world title would be decided in a battle royal which included Evolution as well as Chris Jericho and Edge, who were among Benoit's anti-Evolution allies. The final three men in the ring were Orton, Edge, and Jericho, who shockingly eliminated Edge before dealing with Orton. Orton went on to eliminate Jericho to become #1 contender for the title at SummerSlam 2004, which left the floor open for an all-Evolution SummerSlam main event if Triple H were to beat Benoit. Eugene, however, screwed Triple H by helping Benoit get a pin fall to take the lead 4-3 in the final seconds.

This one night would actually set up three matches all dealing with Evolution for SummerSlam: Triple H vs. Eugene, Randy Orton vs. defending World Champion Chris Benoit, and Batista vs. Chris Jericho vs. IC Champion Edge (thanks to the building feud between the two Canadians and Batista's recent dominance over them). At SummerSlam, Edge pinned Jericho clean after a Spear to retain the Intercontinental Championship, Triple H beat Eugene with a Pedigree after Eugene was distracted by an altercation between Flair and William Regal, and after numerous Crippler Crossface and RKO counters between Orton and Benoit in their match, Orton got in the RKO and pinned Benoit to take the World Title, becoming the youngest world champion in WWE history in the process.

Dissent and self-destruction

2004

The following night, on the August 16 2004 episode of RAW set in London, Ontario, Orton was kicked out of Evolution. After they helped him win in an immediate main-event championship rematch again Benoit, the group appeared to stay solid with Orton despite him taking what was assumed to be Triple H's spot, as Batista lifted him high in the air and showed him off to the crowd. When Batista turned Randy towards Triple H, however, The Game did the now-infamous "thumbs up, thumbs down" gesture (the sign appropriated eventually by Batista), prompting Batista to drop him with an electric chair, beginning a beatdown, which left the announcers speechless.

Triple H, believing Orton's rise was too soon for his liking, still believed the championship was his and turned on Orton. The severing of the ties and the ensuing Orton face turn became solidified the following week, when Orton wouldn't hand the title to Triple H, opting to spit in his face instead. At Unforgiven 2004, Flair and Batista, along with Jonathan Coachman, finally helped Triple H recapture the World Heavyweight Championship from Orton. The group went on to feud with Orton and several old enemies for the next few months, with one of Orton's common statements being how Triple H took away everything he had and how he loves to stand front and center as the absolute leader of Evolution, never to let any of the others succeed any further than he wants. This would later on become useful detail in the friction that would soon develop between Triple H and Batista.

At the 2004 Survivor Series, Triple H, Batista, Gene Snitsky, and Edge were defeated by Maven, Chris Jericho, Chris Benoit, and Orton in a match for control of RAW over the following month (the members of the winning team would each be the RAW general manager for a week), adding to unrest within Evolution. In the first week following Survivor Series, Triple H had offered Maven a spot in Evolution (rather than have Maven challenge him for the World Title) which was turned down.

Throughout the next two months, the relationship between Batista and Triple H began to deteriorate. After a loss to Chris Jericho by disqualification, Batista was verbally insulted by Triple H. Batista teased leaving Evolution that night, but he declared that he was still part of Evolution and that they tricked everyone. Still, Dave began behaving more like a face in the next few weeks, despite Evolution's heelish tactics. One particular moment showed a disgusted Batista as Triple H and Ric Flair boasted about how they had intimidated and/or beat up Jim Ross, Danny Hodge, and Stacy Keibler. He continued to show his loyalty to Triple H and Evolution by running down to the ring and assisting him in matches. However, despite this, fans started cheering for Batista, which made some wonder what he could accomplish in the upcoming New Year. This wasn't helped by the fact that after the November 29, 2004 controversy that caused the World Heavyweight Championship to be vacated (Edge and Benoit, who were declared co-winners of a #1 contender's battle royal earlier in the night, pinned each other simultaneously), General Manager Eric Bischoff (by then tired of helping Evolution with no benefit to himself) booked the title to be on the line at New Year's Revolution 2005 in the Elimination Chamber match, involving Orton as well as Triple H and Batista (in addition to Edge, Jericho, and Benoit).

2005

As 2005 opened, Batista's growing popularity was becoming more and more evident, especially to Triple H. In the Elimination Chamber match at New Year's Revolution 2005 for the World Title, Batista, Orton, and Triple H ended up being the last three men remaining in the match. Triple H sat back and watched Orton eliminate Batista with an RKO, then took advantage himself by giving Orton the Pedigree and winning the match, regaining the title. Prior to the match, Orton confronted Batista and made him question his loyalties to Triple H, but Batista proved himself to remain loyal to Triple H and helped him defeat Orton after being eliminated. When Triple H came out the night after to celebrate the victory and Batista's loyalty, Orton came out and question Triple H's loyalty to Batista, pointing out Triple H's negligence and carelessness in Batista's elimination. This led to a #1 contender's match taking place later that night between Orton and Batista for the World Heavyweight Championship at the 2005 Royal Rumble. While Batista clearly had control, Triple H took advantage of a Flair distraction in order to offer Batista a chair to use. Batista declined, argued with Triple H, and was subsequently pinned by Orton, adding to the dissent that was slowly forming between the Animal and the Game.

Triple H soon realized the possibility of Batista, much like Randy Orton the year before, becoming a threat to his World Heavyweight Championship. Triple H suggested that Dave not enter the Royal Rumble match, claiming that it would be selfish of him to do so, and to simply focus on Triple H retaining the title. After defeating La Résistance in a handicap match, Dave entered anyway, claiming it to be a "backup plan" in case Triple H lost to Orton. He went on to win the Royal Rumble, earning the right to participate in the main event of WrestleMania 21 against the World Champion of his choice. That same night, Triple H (kayfabe) concussed and then pinned Orton to retain the title, ending their feud.

In an attempt to persuade Batista to challenge WWE Champion John "Bradshaw" Layfield rather than Triple H, Triple H concocted a scheme that would ignite him to go to SmackDown!. This plan saw him plant taped comments from SmackDown! superstars The Big Show and JBL, talk to Batista about how both men holding the world titles would lead to Evolution controlling WWE, and finally having a limousine resembling Layfield's try and run over Batista. Initially, Dave didn't want help from Evolution and wanted to confront JBL by himself. Triple H insisted that Evolution stick together and accompanied Dave anyway. The limo came to run Batista over, so Triple H made the save. Batista proceeded to go to SmackDown! by himself and attack The Cabinet.

On an February 21 2005 episode of RAW, the Royal Rumble winner Batista overheard Triple H and Flair talking about the scheme that was to bring Evolution control of the WWE as well as get Batista off Triple H's back. So, at the contract singing ceremony to decide which brand he would choose and which title he would go for at WrestleMania 21, Batista turned his back on Evolution by appropriating the aforementioned "thumbs up, thumbs down" gesture that Triple H had used to prompt Batista to begin Orton's betrayal just a little over six months ago. He continued on by throwing Flair out of the ring and delivering a standing Batista Bomb to the World Heavyweight Champion Triple H through a table. Batista went on to defeat Triple H for the title at WrestleMania and in several rematches, the last of which was at Vengeance 2005 in a Hell in a Cell match, after which Batista went to SmackDown! and Triple H took some time off.

With Orton and Batista leaving the group, it left only two members, Triple H and Flair. Because of this, Evolution was no longer a stable; nor did it have the "past, present, and future" theme that gave it its name still inset, since the "future" part was done with both departures. During Triple H's entire feud against Batista, Flair stayed in his mostly managerial role to Triple H. After Triple H took time off following Hell in a Cell, though, Flair turned face, eventually defeating Carlito for the Intercontinental Title at Unforgiven 2005. He was scheduled to team with the returning Triple H on the WWE Homecoming episode on October 3, against Carlito and Chris Masters. After winning that match, Triple H re-solidified himself as a heel and betrayed Flair with a brutal beatdown that would go into the backstage area. Triple H would later justify it on the ground of Flair being "proud to be mediocre" and a "charity case" has-been, leading to a bloody feud between the two which marked the end of Evolution once and for all.

In wrestling

• Members
  • Triple H - 2003 to 2005 (Final Member)
  • Ric Flair - 2003 to 2005 (Final Member)
  • Batista - 2003 to 2005
  • Randy Orton - 2003 to 2004

• Proposed members
  • Eugene (2004) was named an "honorary member" by Triple H
  • Kane (2003) and Maven (2004) were both offered spots in Evolution but turned them down in favor of world championship opprtunities against Triple H. However the two made seperate heel turns soon after.
  • Chris Masters was rumoured to join Evolution after the obvious signs that Batista was going to leave. Masters made his first appearance stepping out of a limousine and dressed richly, trademark Ric Flair/Evolution style, even having a run-in with Flair in the process. He never joined the team, however.
  • Mark Jindrak was slated to join Evolution and a TitanTron was actually filmed with Jindrak in the lineup. However, creative never brought him into the stable.

• Theme music
  • Line in the Sand was composed by WWE's music composer, Jim Johnston, and performed by music group Motörhead.

Championships and accomplishments

Championships

• World Tag Team Championship (1 time) Ric Flair & Batista (1)
• WWE Intercontinental Championship (2 times) Randy Orton (1), Ric Flair (1)
• World Heavyweight Championship (3 times) Triple H (2), Randy Orton (1)

Accomplishments

• All of the members have been in a World Championship match at WrestleMania:
  • Randy Orton at WrestleMania 22 vs Kurt Angle and Rey Mysterio for the World Heavyweight Championship. (lost match, Mysterio won title)
  • Batista at WrestleMania 21 against Triple H and at WrestleMania 23 against The Undertaker, both matches for the World Heavyweight Championship. (defeated Triple H, lost to Undertaker)
  • Ric Flair at Wrestlemania VIII against The "Macho Man" Randy Savage, for the WWF Championship. (lost to Savage)
  • Triple H at WrestleMania 2000 in a Fatal Four Way Match against The Big Show, The Rock, and Mick Foley for the WWF Championship, WrestleMania X8 against Chris Jericho for the WWF Undisputed Championship, WrestleMania XIX against Booker T for the World Heavyweight Championship, WrestleMania XX in a Triple Threat Match against Shawn Michaels and Chris Benoit for the World Heavyweight Championship, and at WrestleMania 22 against John Cena for the WWE Championship. (won at Wrestlemania 2000, Wrestlemania X8, and Wrestlemania XIX, lost last two matches)
• Evolution is one of only two four-man stables in which every member was a World Champion at some point of their careers (the other being Team RECK. Triple H is the only two man in the group who have held both the WWE Championship and the World Heavyweight Championship at one point of his career. As the WWE Undisputed Champion, Triple H is the only man who has held both championships simultaneously, until Flair presented him with the new Undisputed WWE Championship belt. Flair is the only person in the group to have won the NWA, WCW and WWE Championships.
• Between 2003 and mid 2005, at least one member of Evolution wrestled in the main event of every RAW pay per view.
• Triple H and Batista are the only multiple time winners of WWE's incarnation of the World Heavyweight Championship. Batista is the only man to have won it on both RAW and SmackDown!, while Triple H is the man with the most title reigns (5).
• Every member of Evolution (except Randy Orton) has won a Royal Rumble Match: Ric Flair won in 1992, Triple H won in 2002 and Batista won in 2005.
• All the members of Evolution (except Ric Flair) have held WWE's incarnation of the World Heavyweight Championship. (However, Flair did hold the original big gold belt in WWE; when he left WCW for the then-WWF in the early '90s, exit money issues caused him to take it with him to the WWF.)
• Between the 4 members, they have held recognized World Heavyweight wrestling championships a total of 37 times.
• All four of these individuals have been defeated by The Undertaker at WrestleMania. It is ironic that the group lost to The Undertaker at WrestleMania in lineal order of membership (Triple H at WrestleMania X-Seven, Ric Flair at WrestleMania X8, Randy Orton at WrestleMania 21 and Batista at WrestleMania 23). Three of them have lost to The Undertaker through his trademark finisher-The Tombstone Piledriver (Triple H being beaten by The Last Ride), and only one (Batista) has lost a World Championship to The Undertaker in the process.

Future collusion

2005

Batista and Randy Orton were drafted to SmackDown in the 2005 Draft Lottery; both were returning for the first time since debuting there in 2002, during which they had a short feud (which consisted of Orton finding partners to take on Reverend D-Von Dudley and Batista, only to be spinebustered and pinned by Batista week after week).

During this time, Batista joined forces with Eddie Guerrero and feuded with Orton, but after Eddie died, Orton took Guerrero's spot on Team SmackDown at Survivor Series, and the two former Evolution mates teamed together once more. Like in both of the old Evolution years (with in 2003, against in 2004), Orton would be the sole survivor, winning the match for SmackDown.

When Batista had to surrender the World Heavyweight Championship, he made references to both Triple H and Flair as still being his friends, but so as to preserve kayfabe, he did not mention Flair by name (instead referencing him by his quote of "to be the man you've gotta beat the man") and referred to Triple H by his real first name, Paul.

2006

Orton and Triple H worked together to try to eliminate Rey Mysterio at the 2006 Royal Rumble, but Mysterio eliminated both men to win.

At Saturday Night's Main Event on March 18 2006, Orton and Triple H appeared to co-operate despite being on opposite teams. On June 7, 2006, Orton announced his contract with SmackDown! had expired and was now a part of RAW. Currently on RAW Triple H is a face (as are Ric Flair and Batista on SmackDown) and Orton is heel (in effect, their post-SummerSlam 2004 roles were reversed). At a July 8, 2006 house show in London, Ontario, Ric Flair teamed with Triple H against the Spirit Squad, and was introduced by Triple H as, for one night only, a member of D-Generation X (although not official, as these types of things happen often at house shows).

Rated-RKO vs. D-Generation X (2006-2007)

On the October 9th, 2006 episode of RAW, Edge called Randy Orton to the ring so he could form an alliance where they would together destroy former Evolution teammate Triple H and Shawn Michaels. Edge blamed Triple H for the downfall in Randy Orton's career, by showing a video of Evolution turning on Orton. Edge stated to Orton that D-Generation X (Triple H and Shawn Michaels) cost him his WWE Championship shot and Randy's success in the WWE. Edge and Randy Orton then shook hands, declaring that they would together destroy D-Generation X, creating a tag team/stable known as Rated-RKO.

They would later defeat DX at Cyber Sunday 2006, with help from special guest referee Eric Bischoff, who used to aid Evolution during his tenure as RAW General Manager. The following night, Orton and Edge would face World Tag Team Champions Roddy Piper and Flair, who (despite Eric Bischoff being the official referee) won the match thanks to interference from DX, however, on the following RAW, Edge and Orton defeated Flair and Piper in a rematch, winning the World Tag Team Championships.

Rated-RKO would actually make the rivalry personal between themselves and DX by bloodying and beating down Ric Flair on the November 27 episode of RAW during a segment of the "Cutting Edge" talk show after Flair and DX had already done away with the Spirit Squad earlier that night. This was accentuated the very next week by Triple H and Michaels speaking of Flair as a great influence on them and over the last five years a close personal friend (hinting only slightly toward the days of Evolution, as their rivalry with Michaels was only in kayfabe). Since then Orton and Edge have bloodied DX with the use of the con-chair-to (very similarly to how they did it to Flair), as well as hit Flair with another assault of this kind, this one being minimal compared to the other.

This feud was ended when Triple H tore his right quadricep muscle at New Year's Revolution 2007 and, with Edge and Orton starting to take interest in their own world championship pursuits and putting themselves ahead of the team, Rated-RKO steadily but certainly imploded from within.

2007

In the first-ever tri-branded WWE Draft Lottery, Batista won a draft pick for the SmackDown! brand, which resulted in Flair moving from RAW to SmackDown! which may lead to yet another ancient tag team reuniting,(ex: Steiner Brothers, D-X,)

External links

• Triple H at WWE.com
• Ric Flair at WWE.com
• Randy Orton at WWE.com
• Dave Batista at WWE.com