Austin Theory, Carmelo Hayes, and Ethan Page are all fantastic choices for this role, but one of those three stands out.
The main event of WrestleMania 41, night one, was a triple-threat match between Seth Rollins, CM Punk, and Roman Reigns. Going into the match, Paul Heyman was on the side of CM Punk, much to the chagrin of Roman Reigns, who usually has Heyman in his corner. At the end of the match, Heyman was standing tall with neither of them as he aligned with Seth Rollins.
At RAW after WrestleMania, we expected an answer from Seth Rollins and Paul Heyman on Paul Heyman’s betrayal of his best friend, CM Punk, and Tribal Chief Roman Reigns. When Rollins and Heyman finally came out to talk, we got anything but that. Soon after they started, Punk came out to fight, and Rollins quickly took him out. Then Roman came out, and it looked like he had the upper hand. He speared Rollins and was about to take out Heyman with a spear. Then out of nowhere, Bron Breakker lays out Roman with a spear of his own, and at the end of the night, Rollins, Breakker, and Heyman stand tall over Punk and Roman.
Originally, Evolution had the faction members Ric Flair, Triple H, Batista, and Randy Orton. All of them played specific roles. Flair was the old veteran who knew all of the ins and outs of the business. Triple H acted as the current superstar and leader of the group. Batista acted as the young enforcer of the group. Lastly, Randy Orton acted as the young cocky superstar. While all the members had different roles, the main reason for the faction was to combine the past, present, and future to make the future stars great.
Today, we have three of those people in the modern-day version. While he won’t wrestle, Paul Heyman will act as the Flair veteran. Seth Rollins will fill the role of Triple H in the Present superstar role. Bron Breakker will act as Batista and be the group’s muscle. That leaves one role open to fill, and who will fill it?
While I’m not saying this person will be Randy Orton or be as successful as him, I have three wrestlers who can fit this role.
Austin Theory (photo courtesy WWE)
Austin Theory is the first person, I believe, who fits the role (27). In my opinion, the theory is reasonably similar to that of young Orton. Like Orton, he is a highly skilled wrestler with a grasp of mic skills. The most significant similarity Theory has to young Orton is that he is not popular with the crowd like other WWE stars. Theory has had multiple pushes in WWE, but he has never been able to win the crowd over entirely. If theory is the pick to be the modern Orton in Evolution 2.0, I think it would send him to a different level of stardom.
Carmelo Hayes (photo courtesy MSN)
The second wrestler I believe would be good in this role is Carmelo Hayes (30). Carmelo is also highly skilled in the ring and sounds good on the mic. Hayes is also regarded as one of the next great superstars. Since joining the main roster, he hasn’t had a lot of unforgettable moments, the best two being his series against Andrade and his recent Andre the Giant battle royal win. So Hayes has had some moments, but to me, he hasn’t had a main roster-defining moment. While he is slightly more over with the crowd than Theory, he would also benefit from joining Rollins’ new faction.
Ethan Page (photo courtesy Albany Herald)
Finally, the third wrestler is kinda a wild card pick. That pick is All Ego Ethan Page (35), who is only three years younger than Rollins at thirty-five. Page is the first wrestler I picked that does not fit the younger age category, but the caveat is that Page hasn’t been on the main roster. Page is great in the ring and one of NXT’s most talented promo artists. He has been 50/50 with the fans recently, but he has the potential to be a megastar like the other two. Another thing that should be mentioned about his age is that the prime of wrestlers’ careers has been extended, so Page has many great years ahead of him.
Triple H could be going in a completely different direction with this new faction of Heyman, Rollins, and Breaker. A young Randy Orton’s role must be filled if Triple H goes with Evolution 2.0 or something similar to the legendary stable.
Austin Theory, Carmelo Hayes, and Ethan Page are all fantastic choices for this role, but Austin Theory stands out. This new stable will dominate the WWE roster for months to come. Who they choose to be the next member will be an interesting story.
Still, as Evolution’s theme song by Motörhead states, “Evolution is a mystery.” (Line in the Sand [Evolution], Motörhead, Producer Jim Johnston)
