Evolution's Place In Faction History

 

This year marked 20 Year's since Evolution debuted in the WWE. During that time Triple H had the top spot in a chokehold and many fan's had kind of grew sick of him. Ya know he was only in that spot because of who he married and not the work he put in. Anyway the decision was made to build a new stable around him with Ric Flair by his side and two young upstarts Randy Orton and Dave Batista.

The group was clearly influenced by The Four Horsemen of the 80's with the purpose being the past (Ric Flair), the present (Triple H), and future of wrestling (Randy Orton and Batista) teaming up to dominate the WWE. And dominate they in fact did, Triple H won the World Heavyweight championship 4 times as a member of the group. Randy Orton won the Intercontinental title and his first World Heavyweight championship at the age of 24 while a member of the group. Ric Flair still semi active won the IC title once and the tag team titles twice with Batista. While Batista won the 2005 Royal Rumble while a member of Evolution.

For all those accolades and dominance, there is a question on where Evolution ranks in the world of wrestling stables. When you talk wrestling stables the top three everyone mentions are the Four Horsemen, The nWo, and D-Generation X. All for what individual members of the group accomplished, their influence on later factions and pop culture relevancy. 

Evolution was clearly modeled after The Four Horsemen who dominated the NWA in the 80's. However they didn't have a flashy hand signal, catchphrase, or brand of colors associated with them. Evolution also was only a full faction for two years, one and a half if you want to get technical. Fracturing in 2004 when they kicked Randy out (bad call) and then separating in 2005 when Triple H and Naitch turned on Batista.

Here's what they had. They did have one catchy ass theme song which is a top ten in wrestling themes in my opinion. Two future legends legitimately rose from being associated with the group in Orton an Batista. For most of their time as a unit they were champions and let it be known they were better than you. They clearly were the most popular and dominate faction of the Ruthless Aggression era. They also were the first group of wrestlers I remember that as a unit always dressed to the nine's, coming after a time in the 90's when everyone dressed down because they were the "cool" heels.

The wrestlers of today like MJF of course have heard of the Four Horsemen or seen archived footage, but he wasn't alive to experience them. He was however around to experience Evolution and nine times out of ten they likely influenced his in-ring style and character presentation. Same for a guy like Nick Aldis who would have been a teenager entering young adulthood when Evolution was around, even Cody and The Miz likely took cues from them.

With all that being said, I place them in the top ten of factions in wrestling history. They won't crack the top 3, but they were a damn good stable who deserves their place in the upper echelon of  faction history.