Mark Jindrak in Evolution (partially found unaired vignettes of professional wrestling stable; 2003)
Evolution was a professional wrestling stable that was prominent between 2003 to 2005. Consisting of Triple H, Ric Flair, Randy Orton, and Batista, Evolution was a dominant group on WWE Raw, with its name representing the best in the past (Flair), present (Triple H), and future (Randy Orton and Batista). However, when Batista suffered two triceps injuries that took him out of action for months, WWE had considered replacing him with Mark Jindrak, shooting vignettes featuring Jindrak as the fourth man for Evolution's Titantron.
Background
Evolution is often compared to the Flair-led Four Horsemen,[1] with Flair alongside Tully Blanchard, and Ole and Arn Anderson, becoming one of the most successful groups within professional wrestling.[2] Arn was the group's enforcer; this role would be fulfilled in Evolution by Batista, being one of the two proteges alongside Randy Orton.[3] Both would achieve success, as they would capture world titles throughout their careers, as well as headlining Wrestlemania on a few occasions.[4]
The group made their debut on the 20th January 2003 edition of Raw by beating up Scott Steiner.[5] However, Batista's time in Evolution almost ended as soon as it begun. In early-2003, he suffered a triceps injury during a tag team match, and in an attempt to maintain his body with vigorous training, ending up re-tearing the muscle, resulting in him being on the side-lines for the majority of the year.[6] Thus, WWE owner Vince McMahon opted to replace him with Mark Jindrak.[7] Prior to potentially joining Evolution, Jindrak had won the WCW World Tag Team Championship twice with Sean O'Haire,[8] and was a member of The Alliance.[9] Considering his size and stature, Jindrak on paper was deemed a worthy replacement, and he was filmed in a few vignettes and promos with Triple H, Flair, and Orton.[6][3] According to Bruce Pritchard, these vignettes included the four in a helicopter, and kissing women in a nightclub.
Ultimately, Jindrak was dropped from the group.[6][3] The main reasons were that Jindrak was deemed immature and not ready for the role,[7] while Triple H also considered him a bad influence for the younger Orton, Jindrak and Orton being close friends at the time.[6] One incident where the four were on a roadtrip to the next event led to Triple H demanding that Jindrak and Orton be separated, and to not be involved with Jindrak at all.[6] Early signs that Jindrak's role was not guaranteed came when similar vignettes featuring just the original trio were filmed.[6] Eventually, McMahon relented,[7] telling Jindrak "Mark, basically the hype may have been too much to shove you down the fans' throats", the hype coming from WWE's constant promotion of the fourth Evolution member.[10] Evolution would reinduct Batista into the group when he interfered in a match between Goldberg and Shawn Michaels on the 20th October 2003 edition of Raw.[11] Jindrak would form a short-lived tag team with Garrison Cade,[12] and generally was involved in smaller feuds before being released from WWE on 5th July 2005.[13] Nevertheless, he would achieve great success wrestling in Mexico.[14]
Availability
Because Jindrak was replaced in Evolution prior to making his debut for the stable, the vignettes featuring him were never featured in Evolution's Titantron, with the helicopter and nightclub clips containing just the trio. When Batista was re-added, WWE simply spliced clips of him between the vignettes. One vignette featuring Jindrak walking over a hill was included in the 2020 documentary WWE Ruthless Aggression.[6] Orton and Pritchard confirmed that additional vignettes involving Jindrak were filmed,[6] but they have never been publicly released by WWE.
Gallery
Videos
See Also
- AJ Styles vs Kenny Omega (lost footage of professional wrestling match; 2006)
- Alberto Del Rio vs CM Punk vs Dolph Ziggler vs Jack Swagger vs John Cena (partially found master tape footage of untelevised Hell in a Cell match; 2011)
- Awesome Kong vs Melissa Anderson (lost footage of professional wrestling match; 2009)
- Bill Longson vs Whipper Billy Watson (lost footage of professional wrestling match; 1947)
- Blood Circus (partially found Santo Gold film; 1985)
- Braden Walker's "Knock Knock" promo (lost original pre-tapes of WWE backstage segment; 2008)
- Bradshaw vs Christian (lost footage of professional wrestling match; 2001)
- Bret Hart-Hulk Hogan photoshoot (lost professional wrestling promotional photos; 1993)
- Bret Hart vs Tom Magee (found untelevised professional wrestling match; 1986)
- Catch-As-Catch-Can Wrestling (lost early BBC televised professional wrestling matches; 1938-1939; 1946-1947)
- Celebrity Wrestling (partially found ITV professional wrestling reality show; 2005)
- Chowdaheads (partially found unaired professional wrestling cartoon show; 1999)
- Collision in Korea (found professional wrestling event in North Korea; 1995)
- Collision in Korea wrestler sketches (lost North Korean pencil sketch portraits of professional wrestlers; 1995)
- Cultaholic (lost debut video of professional wrestling YouTube channel; 2017)
- ECW Anarchy Rulz (lost build of cancelled Nintendo 64 port of professional wrestling game; existence unconfirmed; 2000)
- ECW at E3 2000 (partially found footage of professional wrestling at gaming trade event; 2000)
- ECW Hardcore TV final episodes (lost episodes of Professional Wrestling Show; 2001)
- FMW at E3 2000 (partially found footage of professional wrestling at gaming trade event; 2000)
- The Game (partially found Disturbed cover of professional wrestling theme song; mid 2000s)
- GFW Amped (partially found unaired professional wrestling show; 2015)
- The Giant's moonsault (lost footage of professional wrestling move; existence unconfirmed; 1990s)
- Girls Gone Wild: Live from Spring Break (found WWE/Girls Gone Wild crossover special; 2003)
- GLOW (lost unfinished final season of Netflix comedy-drama series; 2019-2020)
- Goldberg's pre-television debut matches (lost footage of professional wrestling dark matches; 1997)
- Gotch-Hackenschmidt Match Film (lost world championship match; 1908)
- Gotch-Hackenschmidt Match Film (lost world championship match; 1911)
- Jake "The Snake" Roberts DDTs Hulk Hogan (lost Snake Pit segment; 1986)
- Johnny Gargano vs Velveteen Dream (lost footage of alternate finish to professional wrestling match; 2019)
- Kurt Angle vs Owen Hart (lost footage of professional wrestling match; 1999)
- The Last Battle of Atlanta (found untelevised professional wrestling steel cage match; 1983)
- Lita (partially found training videos of professional wrestler; late 1990s-2000)
- Low Ki & Mercury vs Ric Blade & TCK (partially lost footage of hardcore wrestling tag team match; 2000)
- Pat Tanaka vs Rocco Rock (lost footage of "Body Count" professional wrestling match; 1993)
- "Plane Ride From Hell" (lost photographs of drunk wrestler incidents; 2002)
- Radio WWF (lost professional wrestling radio show; 1993-1994; late 1990s-2000)
- Screwed: The Bret Hart Story (lost unfinished wrestling documentary film; 2005)
- Sex University (lost WWE webshow; 2006)
- Shin Nihon Pro Wrestling Gekitou Densetsu (lost build of unreleased Virtual Boy wrestling game; 1995)
- Strange Kentucky People (lost recording of Chris Jericho "tribute"; 1994)
- TNA Impact! 2 (lost build of unfinished professional wrestling game; 2009)
- TNA International and TNA Wrestling Collection (completely lost pro-wrestling TV shows; 2006)
- TNA Xplosion (partially found TV series; 2002-2016)
- WCW 2000 (lost work on unfinished PlayStation 2 game; 2000)
- WCW All Nighter (partially lost professional wrestling compilation show; 1994-1995)
- WCW Classics (partially found professional wrestling compilation show; 2000-2001)
- WCW Internet-only Special Events and PPVs (lost audio streams; 1997-1998)
- WCW/nWo Live (lost build of cancelled PlayStation professional wrestling game; 1998)
- WWE 24x7 (lost professional wrestling compilation show; 2007)
- WWE Brawl (lost build of cancelled fighting game based on professional wrestling; 2012)
- WWE Crush Hour (lost build of cancelled Xbox port of vehicular combat game; 2002)
- WWE SmackDown vs Raw Online (lost build of cancelled online professional wrestling PC game; 2010-2011)
- WWE Wrestlemania 36 (lost footage of alternate finishes to professional wrestling matches; 2020)
- WWF Attitude (lost professional wrestling recap show; 2001-2002)
- WWF Backlash (non-existent unfinished Nintendo 64 professional wrestling game; 2001)
- WWF Excess (partially found professional wrestling talk show; 2001-2002)
- WWF In Your House 8: Beware Of Dog (partially found untelevised professional wrestling matches; 1996)
- WWF Livewire (partially found professional wrestling recap and talk show; 1996-2001)
- WWF No Mercy (lost Game Boy Color games based on Nintendo 64 wrestling game; 2000)
- WWF Shotgun (partially found July to December season of syndicated wrestling show; 1997)
- WWF Xperience (found pay-per-view event footage; 1996)
References
- ↑ Bleacher Report comparing Evolution to the Four Horsemen. Retrieved 26 Feb '22
- ↑ Pro Wrestling Stories detailing the Four Horsemen. Retrieved 26 Feb '22
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 WhatCulture detailing the enforcer role Batista and Jindrak were considered for. Retrieved 26 Feb '22
- ↑ Last Word on Sports detailing Orton and Batista's success in wrestling. Retrieved 26 Feb '22
- ↑ KB Wrestling Reviews reviewing Evolution's debut on the 20th January 2003 edition of Raw. Retrieved 26 Feb '22
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 6.7 WWE Ruthless Aggression detailing Batista's injury, the Jindrak plans and vignettes, and why he was dropped in favour of Batista again. Retrieved 26 Feb '22
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 The Sportster detailing Triple H convincing Vince McMahon to drop Jindrak in favour of Batista. Retrieved 26 Feb '22
- ↑ Cagematch noting Jindrak as a two-time WCW World Tag Team Champion. Retrieved 26 Feb '22
- ↑ Hooked on Sport noting Jindrak being a member of The Alliance and how he was dropped from Evolution in favour of Batista. Retrieved 26 Feb '22
- ↑ Archived Sun Sentinal reporting on Jindrak's comments following his release and McMahon informing him he was not going to be a part of Evolution. Retrieved 26 Feb '22
- ↑ KB Wrestling Reviews reviewing Batista joining Evolution on the 20th October 2003 edition of Raw. Retrieved 26 Feb '22
- ↑ Cagematch noting Jindrak teaming with Garrison Cade. Retrieved 26 Feb '22
- ↑ Wrestling News Source noting Jindrak being released by WWE. Retrieved 26 Feb '22
- ↑ ESPN reporting on Jindrak's success wrestling in Mexico. Retrieved 26 Feb '22