Evolution ( stable ) Evolution is a professional wrestling heel stable on World Wrestling Entertainment ' s Raw brand . The original group consisted of Ric Flair , Randy Orton , Triple H , and Batista . Each member represented the best in : " the past " ( Ric Flair ) , " the present " ( Triple H ) , and " the future " ( Randy Orton and Batista ) of professional wrestling . The original group dissolved in 2005 . This occurred after Orton had been kicked out in 2004 , due to the fact that he won the World Heavyweight Championship from Chris Benoit at SummerSlam ( 2004 ) , becoming the youngest champion of that championship at the age of 24 . Triple H later defeated him at Unforgiven ( 2004 ) . In 2005 , Batista , who had won that year ' s Royal Rumble , and teased that he would chase the WWE Championship , had left the group and turned on Triple H and Ric Flair to win the World Heavyweight Championship from Triple H at WrestleMania 21 . Though Batista ' s departure was the cause of the decline of the stable , later that year , Triple H later turned on Flair , marking the final split of Evolution . On April 14 , 2014 , Evolution reunited , with Triple H , Randy Orton , and Batista re - forming the stable with the exception of Ric Flair . Originally , Mark Jindrak would ' ve been in Evolution instead of Batista , according to rumors . History . Formation ( 2002 – 2003 ) . At Unforgiven in 2002 , Triple H defended the World Heavyweight Championship against Rob Van Dam . During the match Ric Flair came down to the ring and grabbed the sledgehammer from Triple H and teased hitting Triple H before hitting Van Dam , allowing Triple H to get the win . From that point on , Flair accompanied Triple H to the ring as his manager . Shortly after , Batista moved from SmackDown ! to Raw and took Flair as his manager . When Triple H began his feud with Scott Steiner at the beginning of 2003 , Batista and Randy Orton both assisted him along with Flair . The group was officially founded on February 3 , 2003 and called itself Evolution . The stable got off to a rocky start as both Batista and Orton were injured in matches in February 2003 . On May 26 edition of " Raw " , Orton returned as a masked man who attacked both Shawn Michaels and Kevin Nash after a 2 - on - 1 handicap match with Flair and Michaels taking on Triple H . He then unmasked himself and rejoined the group . Feuds with Shawn Michaels and Goldberg ( 2003 ) . In 2003 , at Bad Blood , Flair was able to defeat Shawn Michaels after Orton struck Michaels with a chair . Later that night , Triple H retained his World Heavyweight Championship in a Hell in a Cell match against Kevin Nash . At Unforgiven , Orton ( who had a " Legend Killer " gimmick ) defeated Michaels to prove that he was indeed a Legend Killer . Later that night , Triple H defended the World Heavyweight Championship against Goldberg . Despite help from Flair , Triple H lost the title to Goldberg . On September 29 edition of " Raw " , Triple H issued a $ 100 , 000 bounty to anybody who could take out Goldberg . On October 20 edition of " Raw " , Batista returned from injury and rejoined Evolution by taking out Goldberg and claiming the $ 100 , 000 bounty . At Survivor Series , Orton participated in a Team Bischoff versus Team Austin elimination tag team match in which Orton was the sole survivor . Later that night , Goldberg faced Triple H in a rematch from Unforgiven for the World Heavyweight Championship which Goldberg won despite repeated interference from Flair , Orton and Batista . Success ( 2003 – 2004 ) . At the height of Evolution ' s power , the group controlled all of the male - based championships of RAW after Armageddon . Batista teamed with Flair to win the World Tag Team Championship from Dudley Boyz ( Bubba Ray Dudley and D - Von Dudley ) in a Tag Team Turmoil match , Orton captured the WWE Intercontinental Championship from Rob Van Dam , and Triple H regained the World Heavyweight Championship from Goldberg ( in a Triple Threat match that also involved Kane ) , with the help of the other members . In January 2004 at the Royal Rumble , Ric Flair and Batista successfully defended the World Tag Team Championship against Dudley Boyz in a Tables match , and World Heavyweight Champion Triple H fought Shawn Michaels to no contest in a Last Man Standing match , thus retaining the championship . Flair and Batista exchanged the World Tag Team Championship with Booker T and Rob Van Dam . At WrestleMania XX , Evolution defeated Rock ' n ' Sock Connection ( The Rock and Mick Foley ) in a 3 - on - 2 handicap match . Later that night , Triple H lost the World Heavyweight Championship to Chris Benoit ( in a triple threat match that also involved Shawn Michaels ) when he tapped out to the Crippler Crossface . At Backlash , Orton defended the WWE Intercontinental Championship successfully against Cactus Jack ( Mick Foley ) in a Hardcore match . Later that night , Flair lost to Shelton Benjamin in a one - on - one action , while Chris Benoit retained the World Heavyweight Championship in a triple threat match against Triple H and Shawn Michaels , this time forcing Michaels to submit with the Sharpshooter . Dissent and self - destruction ( 2004 ) . While champion , Benoit teamed with Edge to take the World Tag Team Championship from Flair and Batista . In summer of 2004 , Eugene was made an " honorary member " of Evolution . When the angle finished , it was revealed that Triple H used him . The angle concluded after Eugene accidentally caused Triple H ' s loss to Chris Benoit at Vengeance . On the same night , Edge defeated Randy Orton to end his seven - month - long Intercontinental Championship reign . Triple H received one final shot at the World Heavyweight Championship , on the July 26 , 2004 edition of " Raw " in an Iron Man match . Earlier that night , Randy Orton won a number - one contender battle royal for the World Heavyweight Championship and potentially a title match between Triple H and Orton could have taken place at SummerSlam , however , Eugene interfered in the Iron Man match and helped Benoit take the lead and retain the title in the final seconds , setting up a title match between Benoit and Orton at SummerSlam . At SummerSlam , Orton pinned Benoit to become the new World Heavyweight Champion and the youngest World Champion in WWE history to date . On the August 16 , 2004 edition of " Raw " , Orton was kicked out of Evolution following a successful defense of the title against Chris Benoit . Batista hoisted Orton on to his shoulders in what appeared to be a celebration , but following the thumbs down from Triple H , the group proceeded to attack Orton . At Unforgiven , Triple H beat Orton to regain the World Heavyweight Championship , with help from Flair , Batista and Jonathan Coachman . Orton ' s feud with Evolution continued until Survivor Series where Triple H , Batista , Gene Snitsky and Edge were defeated by Orton , Maven , Chris Jericho and Chris Benoit in a Survivor Series match for control of RAW over the following month . On December 6 edition of " Raw " , the World Heavyweight Championship was vacated when a triple threat match with Triple H , Edge and Benoit ended in a double pin ( Edge tapped out to Benoit ' s Crippler Crossface while he had Benoit pinned to the ground ) , and the title was to be decided in an Elimination Chamber match at New Year ' s Revolution in early 2005 . Dissolution ( 2005 ) . In the Elimination Chamber match at New Year ' s Revolution , Batista , Orton , and Triple H were the last three remaining in the match . Orton eliminated Batista with an RKO and Triple H pinned Orton with Batista ' s help to win the title . On the following night ' s " Raw " a number - one contender ' s match saw Orton pin Batista to gain a title shot at the Royal Rumble . Triple H suggested that Batista not enter the Royal Rumble match , wanting the group to focus on Triple H retaining the title . Batista declined , entered the Rumble at number 28 and won . As part of the match ' s storyline , Orton was concussed and then pinned to have Triple H retain the title , finally ending their feud . Triple H tried to persuade Batista to challenge for the WWE Championship rather than his title . The scheme was unsuccessful and at the contract signing ceremony , Batista turned his back on Evolution and attacked Flair and Triple H , choosing to challenge for Triple H ' s title at WrestleMania 21 , thus quitting the faction and starting a more successful singles career . Batista defeated Triple H for the World title at WrestleMania 21 , then defended and retained the title in rematches at Backlash , and Vengeance in a Hell in a Cell match . After Vengeance , Triple H took time off , Flair turned face , and the group was dissolved . Triple H returned at the " WWE Homecoming " episode of " Raw " on October 3 where he was to team with Flair in a tag team match against Carlito and Chris Masters . After winning that match , Triple H betrayed Flair and attacked him with a sledgehammer thus turning heel in the process and marking the end of Evolution . One - night - only reunions ( 2007 – 2013 ) . On December 10 , 2007 , Evolution had an in - ring reunion as faces on the " Raw " 15th Anniversary special episode . After Batista , Flair , and Triple H , who turned face himself in summer 2006 , made their way to the ring , Orton ( being the only current heel ) refused to join them . He stated that if he would have to be remembered for being part of a tag - team , it would be as a member of Rated - RKO . Orton ' s remarks led to a six - man tag team match between Evolution and the team of Rated RKO and Umaga , which was won by Evolution . On December 8 , 2008 , Batista and Triple H teamed together to take on Orton , Cody Rhodes and Manu in a handicap match , but lost . August 18 2013 at SummerSlam 2013 , Triple H came to the aid of Orton before his match against Daniel Bryan . Reunion ( 2014 ) . In 2014 , after WrestleMania XXX , Triple H , Batista , and Randy Orton reformed their alliance under the " Authority " name Triple H had been using since the year before . After Daniel Bryan won the WWE World Heavyweight Championship against Batista and Orton at the main event of WrestleMania . The next night on RAW , Batista and Orton competed with The Usos for the WWE Tag Team Championship but ended in a no contest due to both teams being counted out , afterwards Orton and Batista continued their assault on the Usos . Later that night , Batista and Orton along with Kane attacked Bryan before defending his title against Triple H . On April 14th , 2014 , Triple H , Randy Orton and Batista came down to the ring to attack The Shield after their 13 - man handicap match , using the name Evolution again . The Shield defeated Evolution in a six - man tag team match at Extreme Rules . A rematch was set against The Shield at the pay - per - view Payback , which was a No Holds Barred match . The Shield defeated Evolution yet again at Payback with a victory in which none of The Shield were eliminated . On the June 2nd edition of Raw , Batista quit the WWE , after his world title match request for that night was denied by Triple H . Gimmick . Each of the members represented the best in " the past " ( Ric Flair ) , " the present " ( Triple H ) , and " the future " ( Randy Orton and Batista ) of professional wrestling . Flair ' s character trademarks of coming out in suits and being a noted Playboy , along with his and Triple H ' s trademark heel ruthlessness , were traits that carried over into the entire stable , both during and for a couple of years after Evolution . While in the group each of the members had individual quirks :