One MIND-BLOWING Secret From Every WWE Royal Rumble
2004 - The Rock Was Changing WrestleMania Plans YEARS Ago
Evolution was a great idea and, ultimately, a massively effective stable.
The idea was to position Ric Flair as the wily genius mentor, Triple H as his modern great best in the world successor, and Batista and Randy Orton as their successors. It worked and it didn’t. The actual week-to-week experience was often drab and overlong. Triple H was no Ric Flair, which is an understatement. But Batista did get over to a massive extent, and Randy Orton, even if through longevity alone, joined him eventually.
The big split was mooted to happen at Royal Rumble 2004 - but, in a premonition of 2024, the Rock got in the way of the original plans.
The idea of Triple H and Orton falling out en route to a showdown at WrestleMania 20 was discussed, but the Rock was persuaded to work what would be his last match for seven years. Instead, as a result, Evolution remained intact and defeated the reunited Rock n’ Sock Connection.
In truth, this was probably a combination of the Rock needing a match, and the reality that it was too soon to split up Evolution. Orton was not ready. He needed the Cactus Jack match at Backlash to establish him as a main event-level threat. In the inverse scenario of 2024, though, it wasn’t the Rock who destroyed anything.
Triple H undermined Orton, and badly, throughout their delayed summer series, meaning the Cactus Jack match might as well have not happened. Orton would have been better off selling his soul to the Rock and going 50/50 with R-Truth.