WWE announced earlier this week that former WWE Champion and Guardians of the Galaxy star Batista will be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2020. Since then dozens of wrestlers have congratulated “The Animal,” including all three members of his former faction Evolution. He, Triple H, Randy Orton and Ric Flair utterly dominated Monday Night Raw in the mid-2000s, holding all three of the brands championships prior to Orton and Batista’s eventual split from the group. In the years that followed the four men would all feud with each other at some point, leading to multiple world title changes and WrestleMania matches, though that wouldn’t stop them from reuniting on television several times.
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With Batista’s induction, three of the group’s four members have been inducted into the Hall of Fame at least once. Now fans just need to wait a few years for Orton to get his induction to complete the cycle.
I’ve stood next to and across from him in the ring, and with pride watched him perform on the silver screen. A man who has followed his heart to realize all of his dreams & now adds another accomplishment added to the long list of his accolades. Congrats @DaveBautista!#WWEHOF pic.twitter.com/4s1laKSSZ0
— Triple H (@TripleH) December 9, 2019
“Dave deserves it,” Orton said in an interview with WWE.com. “I’ve known him for 20 years; he was the first guy I ever ran into when I reported down to Louisville for developmental when I was 19 years old. I remember seeing this 350-pound jacked up man and thinking to myself, ‘what have I gotten myself into?’ Of course, after that was Evolution and I saw Dave grow, we became friends, we traveled the world together. My hats off to him. Man, I can’t wait to hear his speech. I know it’ll be heartfelt. He’s always been good to me and I look forward to seeing him on that special day.”
“I texted him and I think it’s great,” Flair said during an interview on this week’s WINCLY podcast. “Now we just have to get Hunter going and get Randy, who’s making too much money to get out of it so I can get my third [induction, with Evolution].”
Joining Batista in this year’s class will be the New World Order faction, featuring Hollywood Hogan, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall and Sean Waltmant
