History Wrestling / Evolution

%% GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2020. If you're reading this in the future, please check the trope description to make sure your example matches the current criteria.
* GoneHorriblyRight: Orton and Batista were touted as wrestling's future. The group starts falling apart when they turned on Orton after he won his first World Title, and Batista winning the (2005) Wrestling/RoyalRumble and choosing to go after Triple H's World Heavyweight title instead of the WWE Championship sealed the group's fate (by the time Triple H turned on Flair late in 2005, the duo can barely be considered as still running the stable).

* PuttingTheBandBackTogether: In 2007 on Raw's 15th Anniversary Episode, although only for that night, and with Flair, Triple H and Batista all faces at that point while Orton was a heel and didn't trust them.

* StartMyOwn: Orton would later form Legacy, with Evolution as a blueprint.

* NotSoDifferent: With Wrestling/TheShield. If you exclude Wrestling/RicFlair, every member of the Shield corresponds to a member of Evolution during the latter's second run. Wrestling/DeanAmbrose and Wrestling/RandyOrton are the insane and unhinged ones, Wrestling/SethRollins and Wrestling/TripleH as the EvilGenius and opportunist members, and Wrestling/RomanReigns and Wrestling/{{Batista}} as the silent muscle/powerhouses. This is partially why Wrestling/TripleH was able to manipulate Rollins into betraying his stablemates and breaking up the Shield. However, they are also...

* {{Irony}}: Despite Triple H touting Batista (along with Randy Orton) pushed as "the future" of the wrestling business in Evolution, Batista left the industry before Triple H transitioned from active competitor to authority figure, came back twice for short runs and then officially retired all the while Triple H has remained open to wrestle part-time when needed.

* OlderThanTheyLook[=/=]{{Irony}}: Despite Batista being one of the two superstars (along with Randy Orton) pushed as "the future" of the business in Evolution, Batista is, in fact, several months ''older'' than Triple H (both born in 1969, Batista in January, Trips in July).

* FatalFlaw: {{Pride}} and {{Ambition|IsEvil}} were what tore the original incarnation of Evolution apart. Both Batista and Orton were young, rising stars, hungry for success, while it was obvious to everyone else that Evolution was Hunter's attempt to keep a stranglehold on the World Title and get out of Wrestling/ShawnMichaels's shadow. This is why the next incarnation of Evolution is more unstable but more likely to last; Batista and Orton are a full decade OlderAndWiser and have had massive amounts of success, enough to be considered on the same level as Hunter himself. They don't have that same drive anymore nor do they need Hunter to get anywhere in the business. At the same time, however, their egos have grown to match their former mentor's -- the only thing preventing that from getting in the way is the fact that this is an alliance of convenience rather than need, seeing as they only reunited to get rid of Wrestling/TheShield.

* NotSoSimilar: Evolution was born out of convenience; Hunter needed muscle to support his reign as World Heavyweight Champion, and Orton and Batista needed tickets to the big time. When the latter started infringing on his spotlight, Hunter didn't hesitate to kick them both to the curb, and didn't feel an ounce of regret for it. Even their reunion was born out of convenience: they all hated Wrestling/TheShield, and wanted to get rid of them. The Shield, however, was a brotherhood; they would've done anything for each other. As much as Rollins espoused that everything was a lie, that he never saw Ambrose and Reigns as his brothers, and committed so many atrocious acts to cement the fact, not once was anyone fully convinced -- not even Rollins itself. After Wrestling/TripleH inevitably betrayed him, it became blatantly clear that in reality, Rollins considered breaking up the Shield to be his biggest regret, a mistake he wanted to make up for so ''badly'' that he was willing to take a steel chair to the back if it meant one of his brothers finally forgave him.

* OhCrap: Both Flair and Triple H had an epic one when Batista decided to stay on Raw and challenge for the World Heavyweight Title rather than go to Smackdown and challenge for the WWE Title.
** Orton also had a pretty epic one when, right after being hoisted up onto [=Batista=]'s shoulders, he saw Triple H give him the gladiatorial thumbs-down. Cue electric chair drop and asskicking.

* StartOfDarkness: Randy's ousting from Evolution is widely agreed upon to be the starting point of his descent from the suave "Legend Killer" to the cold and sadistic "Viper." Evolution left its mark on Randy through his insanity, his hatred of Wrestling/TripleH (and to a lesser extent, Wrestling/{{Batista}}), and his own power stable: the Legacy. Through this, one can argue that Evolution turning on him is what defined Randy's ''entire'' career. Only recently has he managed to get over it.

* RedBaron: "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair, "The Game" Triple H, "The Animal" Batista, "The Viper" Randy Orton.

%% GettingCrapPastTheRadar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2020. If you're reading this in the future, please check the trope description to make sure your example matches the current criteria.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar : Their return episode in 2014 saw them mock Wrestling/TheShield after orchestrating and finishing a mugging of the enemy trio. Said mocking included biting their "Believe in the Shield" catchphrase, just with Evolution's name placed in instead. Said episode took place in [[SweetHomeAlabama Birmingham, Alabama]]. Twitter had a field day with it, which was no doubt part of the reason this became the trending hashtag representing the event.

* FreudianTrio: Their 2014 incarnation plays this straight.

* TheBully: The group is essentially the "mean frat boys running things at school" type.

* {{Expy}}: Well, Expies: Of NWA/WCW's The Four Horsemen, with Triple H in the Ric Flair role, and Flair himself as J.J. Dillon.

* ItsAllAboutMe: As time wore on, it became very clear the group was about Triple H and his quest to hold on to the World Heavyweight Championship.

* SharpDressedMan: All four of them.
* SpannerInTheWorks: Eugene once accidentally cost Triple H a match against Wrestling/ChrisBenoit. This then led to him interfering and helping Benoit at a later time to retain his title. The latter turned out to be due to Wrestling/WilliamRegal, who had let Eugene in the building after Triple H had beaten him for the previous offense.

* FiveBadBand:
** BigBad - Triple H
** TheDragon - Randy Orton (also the SixthRangerTraitor)
** EvilGenius - Ric Flair (also [[MentorArchetype The Mentor]])
** TheBrute - [=Batista=]
** TagalongKid - Eugene.

* HeelFaceTurn: Orton after he was ousted from the group after winning the World Heavyweight Title, then later Batista, after winning the RoyalRumble and deciding on staying on Raw and challenge for the World Heavyweight title. In 2007, for a one-off appearance, the stable itself (''sans'' Orton, who [[ContinuityNod understandably didn't trust them]]) reunited as faces.

* RedBaron: "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair, "The Game" Triple H, "The Animal" Batista, "The Legend Killer" Randy Orton.

* FatalFlaw: {{Pride}} and {{Ambition}} were what tore the original incarnation of Evolution apart. Both Batista and Orton were young, rising stars, hungry for success, while it was obvious to everyone else that Evolution was Hunter's attempt to keep a stranglehold on the World Title and get out of Wrestling/ShawnMichaels's shadow. This is why the next incarnation of Evolution is more unstable but more likely to last; Batista and Orton are a full decade OlderAndWiser and have had massive amounts of success, enough to be considered on the same level as Hunter himself. They don't have that same drive anymore nor do they need Hunter to get anywhere in the business. At the same time, however, their egos have grown to match their former mentor's -- the only thing preventing that from getting in the way is the fact that this is an alliance of convenience rather than need, seeing as they only reunited to get rid of Wrestling/TheShield.

* ContinuityNod: In a world where most storylines disappear after [[ThreeMonthRule three months]], it took ''years'' for Randy Orton to get over Evolution turning on him. In fact, one could argue that [[StartOfDarkness it was this event that began Randy's in-character descent from the suave, arrogant Legend Killer to the sadist]] known as the Viper. It was expected that whenever he had a storyline with another former member, the stable would be brought up, ''especially'' if that former member happened to be Triple H.
* [[{{Expy}} Expies]]: Of NWA/WCW's The Four Horsemen, with Triple H in the Ric Flair role, and Flair himself as J.J. Dillon.

* NiceJobFixingItVillain: Triple H did this [[AesopAmnesia twice]] when he preemptively turned on Randy Orton and then Batista. Unlike Orton, [[GenreSavvy Batista saw it coming]].

* FatalFlaw: {{Pride}} and {{Ambition}} were what tore the original incarnation of Evolution apart. Both Batista and Orton were young, rising stars, hungry for success, while it was obvious to everyone else that Evolution was Hunter's attempt to keep a stranglehold on the World Title and get out of ShawnMichaels's shadow. This is why the next incarnation of Evolution is more unstable but more likely to last; Batista and Orton are a full decade OlderAndWiser and have had massive amounts of success, enough to be considered on the same level as Hunter himself. They don't have that same drive anymore nor do they need Hunter to get anywhere in the business. At the same time, however, their egos have grown to match their former mentor's -- the only thing preventing that from getting in the way is the fact that this is an alliance of convenience rather than need, seeing as they only reunited to get rid of Wrestling/TheShield.

!!Tropes associated with Evolution:

'''Evolution''' was a PowerStable on Raw between 2003 and 2005, consisting of Wrestling/RicFlair, Wrestling/TripleH, Wrestling/RandyOrton and Wrestling/{{Batista}}. Each of the members represented the best in "the past" (Ric Flair), "the present" (Triple H), and "the future" (Randy Orton and Batista) of ProfessionalWrestling. At one point (pictured right) they were collectively in the possession of the World Heavyweight Championship (Triple H), The Intercontinental Championship (Orton) and World Tag Team Championships (Batista and Flair).

* TheBrute: Batista

* OlderThanTheyLook[=/=]{{Irony}}: Despite Batista being one of the two superstars (along with Randy Orton) pushed as "the future" of the business in Evolution, Batista is, in fact, several months ''older'' than Triple H (both born in 1969, Batista in January, Trips in July)
** Triple H has much more years of experience in wrestling than Batista, however.

* StartMyOwn: Orton would later form Legacy, with Evolution as blue print.

* SpannerInTheWorks: Eugene once accidentally cost Triple H a match against Wrestling/ChrisBenoit. This then lead to him interfering and helping Benoit at a later time to retain his title. The latter turned out to be Wrestling/WilliamRegal, who had let Eugene in the building after Triple H had beaten him for the previous offense.

** Officially went this way with the ending of the 4/14/14 episode of ''RAW'', when they came out to finish off Wrestling/TheShield after setting the up Hounds of Justice to be mugged by 11 heel midcarders.
** In the 4/28/14 edition of ''RAW'', it were to seem that Ric Flair is going to reunite with the others, thus making the faction complete. Unfortunately for them, he gives The Shield his personal endorsement.

* PuttingTheBandBackTogether: In 2007 on Raws 15th Anniversary Episode, the did this, although, only for that night, and only with Flair, Triple H and Batista who was all faces at this point, except Orton who was a heel and didn't trust them.