Batista, Randy Orton, Ric Flair & Triple H vs. Chris Benoit, Mick Foley, Shawn Michaels & Shelton Benjamin

[8.0] "A big time eight man TV main event. Crazy star power, some great intensity, a hot crowd, Flair and Benoit chopping the hell out of each other is a blast, the heel team work is nice. What a way to hype up a PLE. *** 3/4"

[7.0] "The All-Star tag effectively showcased the upcoming matches for Backlash of that year while also making room for other pairs to keep the connective tissue flowing. It seamlessly blended previews of Backlash's matchups with moments that paired different combinations of the mix. It's worth noting that Foley was clearly driven, working at an urgent pace to deliver an impressive performance. The first third was mainly the babyfaces in control, building towards an all-out chaotic brawl for a commercial send-off. The rest of the match offered double heat with spots that erupted the crowd when the faces managed to turn the tide for a brief portion or for a hope spot. The closing stretch produced another chaotic portion, wrapping a very fruitful TV match. ***1/2"

[7.0] "[3.5*] Super fun match heading to Backlash 2004. This 4-on-4 Multi-Man led to 3 PPV matches and the one I am focused right now is Randy Orton vs Cactus Jack. The match was great and the Chicago crowd was very hot for everything. HBK pinned Orton after a Sweet Chin Music."

[8.0] "Good main event tag match. Stacked as hell and in front of a hot Chicago crowd they didnt have to do much for this to be good. Wouldve liked to have seen more of Foley and Shelton in this match. Flair I thought was too sloppy for my liking. This was far from his best work. Besides that its a good fun match. 4/5"

[9.0] "Fantastic main event thats all action with several major rivalries in play. Ric Flair and Chris Benoit always seemed to work well together and beat the crap out of each other with the chops every time they face off and this is no exception. It's just awesome to watch. Shelton Benjamin shows a really good intensity to him in this match as well and while his inexperience in the main event scene does get him caught in the face in peril spot, he never looks out of place. I enjoyed how in the first half of the match the face team was in control and then after the commercial Evolution are up to their usual tricks. When it breaks down after Shawn Michaels gets the hot tag, it just goes completely chaotic in the best ways possible and the finishing stretch with him and Randy Orton was fantastic where Shawn gets caught with the RKO and just as he's about to lose, Benoit makes the save with the Diving Headbut, before Shawn finally turns it around with the super kick and collapses on top of him for the classic finish. It's an epic match and I loved every minute of it."

[8.0] "Ric Flair and Chris Benoit just punching each other and slapping each other was definitely the highlight for me this in the match. Shawn Michaels and Ric Flair started off hot in this with Michaels taunting Flair by stealing Flair's usual taunts, and Flair's bumping and selling, as usual, was extremely dramatic in this. Before we headed to the 1st commercial and into Evolution's great heat segment on Shelton the match erupted into an all-out brawl. The chaos in the final moments was done nicely before HBK scored a superkick on Orton for the win. A tremendous match with nonstop action, with a hot crowd all the way ****1/4"

[7.0] "Really fun 8-man tag to preview the various match-ups for Backlash, with a great crowd making for a great atmosphere the entire duration. Benoit was naturally the highlight, showing ridiculous intensity and stiffness in his offence and then selling and bumping extremely well to put his opponents' offence over. Flair was really good with his own selling and bumping early on to likewise put all his opponents over, though as usual he leaned a bit too heavily into melodrama territory, and throughout the match his spot-calling was annoyingly obvious. It was always great whenever the babyfaces all rallied together and teamed up to take out the heels, with the crowd appropriately popping big each time it happened. All 4 members of Evolution did very well once they finally gained control (which naturally happened off camera during the ad break, as WWE loves to do) and initiated a big, physical group beatdown filled with all the standard heel tactics. Shelton was a slight bit awkward in his set-ups and transitions, but he made up for that with his various wonderful athletic displays, and his face-in-peril selling and bumping were nicely energetic to make Evolution's group beatdown look even more brutal. The various run-on spots in the final 1/4th were all set-up smoothly and executed in excitingly quick succession, allowing all 8 guys to showcase what they were capable of (though obviously some wrestlers here were better than others). The only real negative of this match was Foley, whose offence remains extremely basic with only punches and kicks, but he was at least pretty energetic and massively over with the crowd so that his work was ultimately still more positive than negative. They didn't do enough for me to consider this match 'great', but it was definitely really good at the absolute least. ***1/2"

[9.0] "This was an awesome match, and a must watch given the competitors involved and how good it was. Evolution in their prime taking on Benoit, Michaels, Foley and Benjamin, and this match absolutely delivered. Tons of great moments, nonstop action, and a red hot crowd, plus a great finish. All guys looked great and had their moments, and there was no dragging whatsoever. A very underrated gem in my book. Loved this. ****1/4"

[8.0] "This crowd was on FIRE! Evolution was probably the most star-studded faction of all-time in retrospect, and the team of Benjamin, Benoit, Foley, and Michaels were equal parts incredible in the ring and perfect based on the storylines at play. I hadn't watched this match in years but I'm glad I went back to check it out again. Even with the occasional misstep, the crowd was so into it and the match was so entertaining that I didn't care. Great match."

[7.0] "Rare occassion where Evolution competes in their full glory. Exciting match and hyped crowd, perfect RAW finale."

[9.0] "Great match, an absolute blast where everyone just went nuts and got a chance to look good. More matches like this, with lots of alliances and interwoven storylines, yes please!"

[8.0] "Great TV match. Sets up things nicely for Backlash. Some old school heel tactics by Evolution are great to watch.. Benjamin does a good job of selling a beating and the hot tag works well. Crowd is hot throughout which helps. ****1/4"