Former WWE writer Brian Gewirtz is doing all sorts of publicity for his new book. While on the 'The Kurt Angle Show' to promote 'There's Just One Problem... True Tales from the Former, One-Time, 7th Most Powerful Person in WWE', he talked about a number of topics, including some of the ideas he pitched as a top writer for The Federation.
He mentioned that the four members of Evolution weren't the only wrestlers pitched for the group. While WWE has been public about Mark Jindrak being in the group and then removed from it because the other members didn't see him as a fit, Gewirtz notes that John Cena's name was thrown into the mix a couple of times. "I might've said it, 'What about that John Cena guy joining Evolution? What if we did that?' He talked about how The Federation tossed the idea around but it was ultimately decided that, at that time, John hadn't found himself as a performer yet.
Evolution was formed in early 2003, while The Chain Gang Commander debuted on SmackDown on June 27, 2002. He struggled early to find his authentic voice, until testing out a rap gimmick that would ultimately catapult him into superstardom. Meanwhile, Evolution became a dominant faction with Randy Orton, Dave "The Animal" Batista (who replaced Jindrak), "Nature Boy" Ric Flair, and Triple H being the four members. All went on to do big things in WWE, with the Viper and the Animal seeing the biggest success and becoming singles champions.
He Seemed to Do Just Fine Without Evolution
It could be argued that Evolution was the start of the ascension of Orton and Batista, but Cena did just fine on his own. In fact, it could be argued that had John been in the group, he wouldn't have gone on to have the meteoric rise in The Federation he eventually did, nor become a 16-time World Champion.
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