How Triple H Has Created Evolution 2.0 For WWE With The Undisputed Era

In terms of elevation within Evolution, Triple H gave with one hand and wielded perhaps the biggest of his many shovels with the other. In Dave Batista, he had helped mold a star destined to replace him or, at very least, briefly supplant him. Underneath a relatively selfless veneer, Hunter perhaps reluctantly had to accept that 'Big Dave' was stacked with everything he was beginning to lack. In contrast to 'The Animal's utterly gripping WrestleMania run, Randy Orton's wheels fell off before he even made it onto the fabled road. By design, dumb luck or both, the window he opened for Randy Orton was slammed shut quicker than the time it took him to beat, bludgeon and beat 'The Legend Killer' again over the course of three disastrous months.

Literally. Orton won the World Heavyweight Title at SummerSlam 2004 and lost it back to his ex-communicated leader three weeks later, having turned babyface by being booted out of the stable, then running a f*cking mile every time his heels ex-buddies tried to get near him. By the time Orton was preparing for his Royal Rumble 2005 title match with 'The Game', he'd lost so much momentum and so many matches featuring his former Evolution boss that fans no longer believed in him to get the job done. Again they were right, too - he couldn't do it there, and wouldn't again until No Mercy 2007 when, appropriately enough, Triple H beat him clean for the WWE Title within minutes of Orton being awarded it.

Many cynical observers considered 'The Apex Predator's 2004-2005 trainwreck run something of a calculated collapse. Batista didn't need a doomed shadow to emerge out from, but it certainly didn't hurt that he was following such a failure. His WrestleMania moment came on his own terms, not at the expense of Orton's - but Triple H looked to have had a hand in sharpening up the roster's next ruler as well as shattering the main pretender to the throne.

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