Mark Jindrak: Evolution Passed Him By

It was once an urban legend that Mark Jindrak was penciled in to be part of the heel stable Evolution in 2003. At the time, Triple H was the leading man on the RAW brand and was looking to create his own Four Horsemen stable. Originally, the group was going to consist of Triple H, Ric Flair, Randy Orton and Batista. However, Batista was slowed by injuries and his spot was up for grabs. Jindrak was seen as a perfect fit, but as noted in the Ruthless Aggression documentary series on the WWE Network, his immaturity prevented his big break.

A lot of people may be wondering, who the hell is Mark Jindrak? Prior to entering the WWE, Jindrak worked in World Championship Wrestling most notably being part of the Natural Born Thrillers. The Thrillers were a group of young wrestlers that were presented as being the future of the company. They made their debut in June 2000 and Jindrak won the tag titles two times before the company was bought out by WWE in March 2001.

Jindrak didn’t have a major impact during the Invasion angle and largely appeared on C-level shows such as Jakked before being sent to the Heartland Wrestling Association and working for Ohio Valley Wrestling for much of 2002 and 2003.

By the fall of 2003, Jindrak was picked to essentially replace Batista in Evolution and vignettes were produced with Jindrak in the group. However, as previously noted, Triple H didn’t believe Jindrak was a good fit for the group due to his antics on the road, and Jindrak was left out. So, what did Jindrak do when the biggest push of his career slipped through his fingers?

Jindrak formed a short-lived tag team with Garrison Cade in the summer of 2003. They were a low level team that didn’t receive a major push of any kind. The team ended in the winter of 2004 when Jindrak was drafted to Smackdown. Jindrak would return to a singles role where he became the “Reflection Of Perfection” and was managed by Teddy Long. The character was a modern day version of the Narcissist that Lex Luger played in 2003. Jindrak’s character didn’t get much traction and was dropped shortly after it was developed.

In the fall of 2004, Jindrak would get the biggest push of his WWE career when he was paired with Luther Reigns and Kurt Angle on Smackdown. The group shaved Big Show’s head on the 5th Anniversary show of Smackdown, but the trio didn’t have a lot of success. The group would dissolve early in 2005 and Jindrak would win a brief feud with Reigns after they had a falling out.

Following the breakup of the group, Jindrak would become an enhancement talent putting over other talents. WWE released Jindrak on July 5th, 2005. Jindrak’s WWE career was over.

Despite not having much success in WWE, Jindrak ended up going to Mexico to continue his career. Jindrak would change his name to Marco Corleone, which was inspired by the Godfather. He started to work with CMLL and was there for a few years before going to AAA for a year. Jindrak was also involved with Lucha Libre USA that aired on MTV.

Jindrak would remain with CMLL for seven years from 2011 to 2018 and achieved his greatest success during that time. Jindrak won the CMLL World Championship (first American to hold championship), Trios Championship, Copa CMLL, and Cuadrangular de Parejas during his time with the company. Jindrak was one of the more popular wrestlers during that time and appeared many Mexican shows and was voted the “Best Body of Mexico” during his tenure in the area.

As of March 2020, Jindrak’s in-ring career appears to have come to an end with his last documented match taking place on March 23rd, 2018. Since the release of Ruthless Aggression’s release, Jindrak has lobbied for a showdown against Triple H at WrestleMania. It’s likely never going to happen, but to maintain some level of a buzz it’s expected for such a thing to happen.

What are your memories of Mark Jindrak?

Thanks for reading.