WWE approached former superstar about replacing Randy Orton in Evolution
According to former WWE Superstar Maven, he was once approached about possibly replacing Randy Orton in Evolution.
Triple H and Ric Flair joined forces with Batista and Randy Orton in January 2003 to form Evolution, the villainous four-man group. Due to injuries to Batista & Orton, WWE shot vignettes with Mark Jindrak as a member instead of Batista.
Speaking on That 90’s Wrestling Podcast, Maven recalled how he was considered as Orton’s replacement in the stable:
“I don’t know if you remember, but Randy broke his foot at a house show against The Dudley Boyz. The one thing when he broke his foot, they obviously wanted to keep the momentum of putting an Evolution team out. It was approached to me that I was in consideration, never to the extent of where Jindrak did… Jindrak actually filmed vignettes. I was never at that stage, never. Would I have joined? Yes!”
Maven won the WWE Tough Enough reality competition in September 2001. He went on to become a three-time Hardcore Champion before being released from WWE in July 2005.
Batista and Randy Orton remained in Evolution despite their injuries
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Triple H spoke about the early days of Evolution during an episode of the WWE Network show Ruthless Aggression in 2020. He confirmed that Mark Jindrak almost joined the group as a replacement for Batista, who missed eight months in 2003 due to a triceps injury.
Jindrak once sat alongside Randy Orton during a car ride with Ric Flair and Triple H. The journey was supposed to help the quartet bond before they appeared together on television, but Triple H disliked Jindrak’s immature behavior:
“I told Ric, ‘Never put the two of those [together] in a car with us again. I mean ever, and I don’t ever want to be in a car with Jindrak again.’”
Ric Flair and Triple H ended up waiting for Batista and Randy Orton to recover from their injuries instead of recruiting replacements. Orton returned from his foot and shoulder injuries in May 2003, while Batista returned from his triceps injury in October 2003.
Please credit That 90’s Wrestling Podcast and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.