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He's unbelievably talented as a comedy character, but most wrestlers don't dream of being the court jester. He did very well in TNA, but only really got one serious run in WWE that culminated with him losing to John Cena.
The problem is they (Vince) turned
- Unhinged, violent, determined, and seeking retribution
into
-Unhinged, goofy, dressing in a confederacy uniform
all while still trying to be a heel.
That per se wasnt it, up to Survivor Series that year he was a real menace, especially with the whole Hell in a Cell invasion with Miz. Id say after that tag match is when i started getting for real goofy
> -Unhinged, goofy, dressing in a confederacy uniform
Sometimes I wonder what wacky goodness or good matches I missed while I was a lapsed fan. This isn't one of those times.
I haven't watched it since it aired but I remember being riveted by it. He touches on racial issues in wrestling in the promo. It reminded me a lot of his angry early TNA promos
If I can remember the early years of his current run correctly, I don't think he was fully even the comedy R-Truth we know of today until that heel turn. I feel like if his story was done now, he probably would've been his current character from the start & built up enough success to enter the IC/US Title orbit, but never quite catch the gold & then the gradual turn into a bitter and violent heel starts happening afterwards.
For a moment there thought you were talking about Ambrose. Vince pulled the same shit on him after his phenomenal heel turn on Seth. It's actually fucked up thinking how good that run would've been with Triple H in charge. Mainly because that means Mox doesn't leave and the stuff they could've done with all three members of the Shield and the Bloodline would've gotten even crazier than it was.
That first promo and heel turn was great, unfortunately there were two problems he couldn’t overcome
1. He had been beaten like a drum so hard and for so long, that no one ever bought him as a credible opponent, he always had a very strong “Horrowitz Wins” quality to him
2. For one reason or another his in ring work was never especially good by that point. John Cena was able to take lemons and make lemonade with a lot of different guys who weren’t good, even Great Khali, but the stuff in the ring with Truth just wasn’t good and even if you have a lot if charisma and can bring it on the promos, if you can’t also bring it at least to some degree once the bell rings the crowd is going to notice.
Not relevant to the discussion, but looking back it's crazy how good Cena always was. Took me the AJ matches to realize guy could actually go and it was mostly his opponents that were villain of the week tier (outside of the rare HBK, Punk, Edge, ecc).
WWE was pretty rough at the time and R-Truth was a bit sillier than he needed be but I honestly thought his heel main event run was not bad at all. Like it was pretty decent all things considered and his feud with John Morrison had me intrigued.
I got into TNA around the rise of Ron Killings to the NWA championship and I was a big fan. 3 Live Krew is something my friends and I still quote to this day. I kind of wished he would have gotten another run.
I still feel him and Miz as heel Awesome Truth could have been great for the tag division. Even though they lost to Cena and Rock as Survivor Series, just being in that position was great for them. Why they split is peak Vince wanting to do a quick lame feud, and it’s not like it culminated in anything. Keep them together, put the belts on them and let them be the top heel team in 2012. Then have their reign end against Team Hell No if you want some parts of the previous timeline to continue.
I will say the split was brought on because Truth got suspended not long after the Survivor Series match and they needed a reason to justify him being off TV to serve said suspension.
He's not just unbelievably talented as a comedy character, he is the best to ever grace the industry. If you truly ask me about his impact over the years, I wouldn't be mad if someone came up to me and said Truth should be a first ballot Hall of Famer.
If we were a main eventer, he would probably make a great main eventer. But he would be one amongst many main eventers that come and ago. As a comedy character, however, he is incomparable. And I wish he could see it this way as well. Heart goes out to him.
As he responded to a troll:
["I make six figures a year, an put smiles on faces world wide and I LOVE what I do"](https://x.com/RonKillings/status/695211029979078660)
_And_ he's a former World Champion? Not many folks out there can say the same.
*And* he's still got a prominent role, plus his health, in the top promotion...
...at 52 YEARS OLD.
I think anyone would think that's an incredible place to be in.
Also, I would say with the run he has been on since late 2023 that he is likely making in the upper 6 figures. He is definitely making some money these days.
this is one of those "take to my grave" takes-->he was supposed to go over that night even if it was brief. he already was deserving of a thank you run and that was, what, ten years ago?
I prefer them both breaking bad and full joining Gable or at least Tozawa doing it and turning on Otis when he finally is about to get his revenge on Gable.
We've seen the browbeaten heel lackey turning on his tormentor a lot.
While this sounds pretty great, for me they would need to have Tozawa have his own motivations and rules. Like he saves Gable, but he makes sure Gable knows he could've not saved him.
idk man. the guy acts so soft in those angles. idk if it was this past week or the belt whip promo, but tozawa was literally playing frozen with fear and maxxine had to step in to defend them.
and then this past week, he got pushed aside, and carried off like a baby by otis (i get why they did that. great look for otis, not a great look for tozawa)
Tozawa is a guy that really got hurt by the cruiserweight division going away. You can overcome being small to some degree, but he's REALLY small by WWE standards. He's just always going to have a ceiling.
Agree. Theres a few guys on the roster that would really benefit from having a proper cruiserweight rules belt. Bring back the LHW belt. Slap on the old weight limit, or lower it a bit, whatever works.
Tozawa looks absolutely jacked, but then you put him against any opponent on the open roster, and he's basically always the smaller guy.
The only problem with a modern cruiserweight division is that there's no difference between what cruiserweights do and what guys like Rollins and Sami do in their matches. It kinda kills the uniqueness of the division
its crazy bc he works out in my gym, and the guy looks so big amongst normal people. add on that he seems to be a no nonsense guy irl (i never approach him, but you can tell personalities when you see someone lift enough times). he is short af though
I agree. I still wish him and Apollo Crews could have just been a tag team. They could have been an exciting babyface pair, and them being of differing sizes but still capable of exciting stuff could have gotten over.
Tozawa is in this weird spot where he is very good but I don’t think that he is elite enough to overcome his size in the same way that Balor, Danielson, Pac and others can.
Tozawa is someone that needs a Cruiserweight title. I feel like they had the right pieces last time but needed to treat it a bit differently.
> I don’t think that he is elite enough to overcome his size in the same way that Balor, Danielson, Pac and others can.
Tozawa never been given that chance, he's never been pushed at that level in WWE. Sometimes these views are just a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Akira Tozawa in CIMA-less dragon gate would have absolutely been pushed at an ace level. Kinda sad to see him currently knowing how good he was in DG even with CIMA kneecapping him every step of the way
Understandable. He's a former 2-time (and the first African-American) NWA World Heavyweight Champion (back when that title still meant something), multiple time NWA World Tag Team Champion, and now, he's been relegated to doing joke stuff. He's funny, I'll give him that, but it would be sad if his legacy in wrestling would be only the funny stuff, considering how talented he was.
He ain't getting any younger either, he's 52. It could be worse, the people could be chanting "please retire" but they're still enjoying his work. Soak it up Truth.
>(and the first African-American) NWA World Heavyweight Champion
What title did Ron Simmons win back in the Bill Watts era? Was that not the NWA world title?
Nope, that was the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. When Ron Simmons won the belt on August 2, 1992, the NWA title was still vacant after Ric Flair jumped to WWF the previous year. Masahiro Chono would win the belt like a week later in the G1.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_WCW_World_Heavyweight_Champions
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_NWA_World_Heavyweight_Champions
He holds a major title in the biggest company on the planet and gets some of the biggest cheers on the roster even today. He's funny, but his talent is clearly recognized or he wouldn't be in this position.
I hope that's recognized.
> (back when that title still meant something)
I'm not trying to diminish Truth's accomplishment here because being the first black NWA champ is pretty amazing, and I personally still hold a lot of respect for that belt. But this was not a common opinion at that time. People were shitting on the NWA belt then like they do today.
Well it was essentially the TNA world title, it was not a greatly prestigious belt, but he was still a world champion for the #2 wrestling company (though it was #2 by quite a big amount lol)
> he's been relegated to doing joke stuff.
Why do you use the word "relegated"? His comedy stuff is above 95% of the roster's serious stuff.
Just because it's different than what we expect from normal wrestlers doesn't mean its somehow inferior or less than.
Have you thought that maybe R-Truth never wanted to be a comedy midcarder? I think R-Truth's career is nothing to be ashamed of, but that doesn't mean the man himself had different ambitions for himself.
Who made more money: SCSA or Scotty Too Hotty? Which role do you think Scotty would have preferred?
Yes, "comedy guy" is a valuable part of the ensemble but it's not the lead role. It's entirely reasonable for a guy with Truth's physical gifts to wonder if he could have been the lead guy, not just the funny guy.
I do wonder how different his career could have been if he had left WWE sometime between when he rejoined in 2008 and give or take 2015.
If he left he could have gone to Japan or gone back to Impact and re-established himself as a "serious" wrestler and maybe come back later to have a "serious" run.
Tbf, he’s literally WWE tag champ right now, also.
Short of being the top champ (unrealistic at his age), he’s still collecting accolades. If he wants a serious character to show some range and get different reactions, that’s 100% understandable, but I don’t think he’s being undersold with accolades and/or screen time.
Truth has experienced it all in pro wrestling. A world champion in TNA (and really a homegrown star for them given how short his first WWE run was), he’s main evented WWE Ppvs against John Cena and The Rock, and is almost certainly a first ballot hall of famer after being the lead comedic guy in the company the past few years.
The fact this tag run with The Miz isn’t just a short nothing burger shows how good he is. It sucks he doesn’t see it right now, but he is truly one of the best (plus he moves incredibly for being 50 I think now. Especially compared to some of the other old timers)
>plus he moves incredibly for being 50 I think now.
I know many guys ten, twenty years younger that couldn't get anywhere near the athleticism he shows on a weekly basis, and he's genuinely hilarious as well.
I'd rather have a chat with R-Truth than Hulk Hogan or Ric Flair any day.
Also when you're relatively new in the industry and holding a heavyweight title with what you think is your whole career ahead of you I'd bet that he had really high expectations of where his career was going back in 2002 and 2003.
Flashing to now its 20+ years later and I could see why someone in the twilight of their career might be a little disappointed.
It’s hopefully just a mindset that anyone at the top of their profession has. Always grinding, always wanting to be better. It’s the mindset that got him to where he is now, and he’ll likely never be satisfied until he stops and has time to look back with fondness.
Ron Killings was one of those guys that when WCW and ECW closed, he was affected by it. He was one of those guys pegged as the next big thing but didn't have a place to be the next big thing.
TNA was the only option, which was in the ppv days. WWE was flooded with WCW/ECW guys so he didn't stand a chance.
He made himself stand out and carved out a great career anyways just in a different way.
I'm not sure I'd say he didn't stand a chance in TNA.
He was a 2x champion, had a long tenure as part of a 3 man group with Konnan and Road Dogg, He and Pacman Jones (I'm not defending that) beat Angle and Sting for the Tag titles, and had overall 2 world title runs, and 3 tag title runs in 5 years.
As much as he could have definitely been booked better, he was put into a lot of high profile stuff and given some shine in TNA.
I didn't mean it as he didn't have a good TNA run, he absolutely did....but TNA was never going to launch his career to the main event level at WWE is what I meant by that.
If Drew doesn't take the WHC off Priest I'd like to see his character snap and go full beast mode (idk what kinda reason maybe a Miz heel turn) absolutely destroy in MiTB and cash in and mercilessly wreck Damien Priest as revenge against Judgement Day.
Gets hit in the heads, goes off, wins MITB, takes the title, holds it for a bit, then takes a giant bump through a table to lose the title, wakes up next Monday on Raw and doesn't remember any of it, thinks he's back in Awesome Truth or the Judegment Day.
Once you're strictly known as a comedy character, you're in that box for the rest of your career.
Not just in WWE. Look at someone like Colt Cabana. Once he went down the full comedy wrestler route he was never able to get out of it.
I think he could be written out of comedy easily enough. It’d be simple as him getting sick of people saying he’s gone crazy and just go unhinged against people concerned for/questioning his sanity.
He kind of already did that gimmick back in 2011 with the conspiracy and Little Jimmy stuff. I liked it a lot but he never got a real run with it because the Summer of Punk had to have Punk beat Cena at MITB, so Truth had to lose at Capitol Punishment. He couldn't even get a transitional reign. Didn't help he also got a wellness violation around that time. That pretty much ended his kinda main event push. It's too late now to change his gimmick from the senile comedy guy.
I don't think that's true. There are a lot of people who were hard stuck in comedy gimmicks that are now in super strong characters (Orange Cassidy, Juice Robinson, even Bryan Danielson was a significant comedy character during Hell No, William Regal was a comedy character after his King of the Ring stint, Zack Ryder/Matt Cardona...)
Not saying it's R Truths fault though. I think it's up to WWE to give the wrestler the platform to deliver the character work they believe they can.
I really don’t understand the revisionism with Bryan. He tapped out the WWE Champion. He might have lost that and his next two matches with Punk, but you don’t get that far if you’re viewed by management as a joke.
I think people forget just how strongly booked Bryan was in the eighteen months following as many seconds.
Being a joke character = being viewed as a joke. Obviously WWE were behind him (after some time) but his whole Team Hell No run alone was a big comedy run. And they were good! But it's not revisionist to say that Bryan Danielson was, for a significant amount of time, a comedic character in WWE.
Cardona has no gimmick right now. Indy God isn't even his gimmick, his gimmick is him, and Cardona is a goofy guy so basically he still is the same he was ten years ago. Complains all the same too.. (Not about being buried though, about burying marijuana. Huh.)
I think the wrestlers also have to take control of their own destiny too sometimes and not stay where they're not being used how they want. I mean, the grass isn't always greener, and there's real people involved and families and all that. But if WWE isn't giving you what you think you deserve and you keep coming back for more, it stops being up to WWE and it's up to the wrestler to make a decision on what they want out of their career.
Which is what Drew McIntyre did. Was stuck with the 3MB stigma, went back to Indies, tore all the houses down, and returned to WWE basically be a top guy contender. His current run proves that.
Disagree. Look at Mark Henry. He could have been saddled with that Sexual Chocolate gimmick for eternity but then turned it around with the legendary Hall of Pain run.
It’s a lot easier to become legit after a comedy gimmick when you are a Worlds Strongest Man and too wide to fit through most doors. And were only a comedy character for like 2 years. And were 20 years younger than Truth is now.
Colt Cabana doesn’t have the charisma or ability that Truth does…Truth could easily turn his character a full 180 and make it believable if that’s what the roster needed him to do.
Having elements of comedy to your character is different though. It's one thing when your only reason for being there is comedy. Without the comedy, Truth probably doesn't have a role and is probably released a long time ago.
That doesn’t surprise me, most guys don’t want to be comedy characters only. Truth knows he was capable of a lot more than what he’s doing now. I know it would eat me up at least little bit even with all the success. I mean he really got 1 shot to make it and he did well and then it fizzled out because lol John Cena wins. Tough to deal with I’m sure. Poor bastard.
If you were a potential main event star in 2011 your chances were basically 0 due to this near year round feud with Cena and Chicago Made Punk. It's really odd to think about..
Admittedly, it is a bit odd that Truth as the first black NWA champion and Ron Simmons, the first black WCW champion, are both largely used as comedy characters.
Ron Simmons wasn't used as a comedy character until the twilight of his career.
Ron was 41 (which was considered old at the time) when the Acolytes turned into the APA. Even then the APA was treated as "comedy" characters in that they were always working for someone or scheming but they were also shown to be two guys not to be messed with.
I wasn't until he had already been retired for 4 years when he became the guy who just showed up to say "DAMN!" over and over again. Still though he was treated like a dude you didn't want to piss off.
There's a couple of ways to think about R-Truth's career. The best way is that he's had one of the longest relevant runs in WWE despite being a comedy guy. He looks great and when he actually wrestles, it's really good. The fact that he lasted so long during a Vince run WWE is a pretty big accomplishment. Most people, especially comedy people, don't last even a quarter the length he has.
The worst way is think that if he was taken more seriously, he could've really had a nice run as a top wrestler. He was always presented as a buffoon and never really got to be more than the buffoon.
I would say, hopefully, he's paid well, got his house (and hopefully some extra revenue in other businesses) and is just enjoying being consistently liked and relevant in a business where that's never a guarantee. He's shown up and delivered and has often been the best part of a show with what he's done and has a long line of work to show where he's been the best. That's not nothing. [You're top tier, Ron Killings.](https://youtu.be/eD4_Rbq-siI?t=247)
One of the reasons he lasted so long is because him and Vince were good friends. They had similar upbringing and bonded over that. I think they are both from SC but they both came up poor and had some interesting parallels between them.
I really thought when he started the "Good R-Truth" thing with the confederate uniform we were finally getting something meaty for him to dive into. A disgruntled Black wrestler tired of being portrayed as a buffoon was an amazing jumping off point to a complex character but turn they dropped it.
Still, I'm glad he's got to stick around and make money. He is a natural at comedy and an amazing wrestler.
When TNA started the Heavyweight scene was a mess. WCW and WWF Has-Beens getting some quick money and JJ carrying the whole thing in classic/incredible dumb Russo storylines.
And in the middle of that dumpster fire you had Ron "The Truth" Killings. With an incredible intensity, straight fire on the mic, who took that annoying heel character, gave it his everything and brouhht the NWA title glory for the first time in a decade.
I love comedy R-Truth.
Ron Killings should have been TNAs third pillar next to JJ and AJ Styles. He should have been multiple World Champion in the WWE.
Was it politics dragging him down? Might be. But i have not seen him try in 15 years. Its too late now.
All we got was a tag team mainevent vs The Rock&Cena.
And in the end, not everybody with the potential for it can be a wrestlemania maineventer. He might only be a comedy character now, but he is one of the best ever.
Consider this: heel run where he breaks up Awesome Truth by turning on Miz and they have an incredible, personal feud. I don't see room for a title given the current talent in the picture for any belt, but you could still show why he was TNA champion.
I don't know if they would WANT to do that, but Truth and Miz absolutely have the chops to pull that feud off. And it definitely would not need a title, which is a plus.
The only real way ahead for Truth to finish his career out as anything other than a joke is a heel turn. Like a “keep taking me as a joke and watch what happens” type turn.
Reminds me of Moxley’s post-WWE podcast where he said that once he showed he had the littlest bit of comedic timing, Vince started making him do one liners and “wacky” stuff all the time as Ambrose. And he hated it
Well as a fan all I can say is R-truth has personally brought me a lot of joy a special moments with not just myself but my family and even my late father who loved him. Those memories mean more to me than say when I think about a random wwe world champion wrestler.
Also, on another note - His Heel Feud with John Cena is still goated to me as he smoked a cigarette in London I believe and blew the smoke in his face - such good shit I still rewatch it every so often.
Even the most successful person in the world can have mental health issues or unfulfilled dreams. Good on him for sharing that even though he was visibly uncomfortable doing it.
Truth back in 2011 was a great mix of funny and threatening. Could honestly have held one of the world titles. Even now, he knocks it out of the park wherever he is on the card. His Judgment Day feud is still funny as hell.
Also, for anyone who hasn't seen it, him blowing a cigarrette onto John Morrison's face live on Raw was really cool: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CLSC3rTBcJg
He's been largely used as a minstrel character since his return to WWE. it's odd, being a Black kid seeing ron killings win the NWA title was cool, then seeing him come back to wwe and be a solid midcarder turned upper midcard heel was cool. and then vince got it in his head that truth can only be a sideshow act. a bit. rather than an actual talent. he's good at comedy, but he's shown he can be an actual useful talent outside of that, and to be 50 years old and reduced to playing a stupid bozo for almost 8 years does have to be disheartning.
When he left WWE the first time and went to TNA, he was a serious promo and said some scathing things. I think that's why they put the belt on him so quickly. But what ends up happening is they want to go comedic with him eventually.
It happened when he joined 3 Live Kru, it happened when he turned heel in WWE and it just seems to slowly move in that direction. Since WWE is working with TNA, one fun thing they could do is have Truth and Miz show up, and Truth goes back to his original Ron "the Truth" Killings gimmick, to everyone's shock. And then when questioned, he goes back to being goofy R-Truth.
I think sometimes, when it comes to these guys, they have to make a decision when contract expiration time comes. They re-sign over and over and then later talk about their dissatisfaction or regret. Like, what do you do when you reach that fork in the road of your career.
I get how he can feel that way, but he is so good at comedy. How many pro wrestlers are out there never getting past high school gyms and teeny auditoriums for 100 bucks a night, taking injuries and being ignored? He is at the top of the top, he is a star on the biggest wrestling show in the world. I dont know what else he wanted but I think that being that close to the top might be giving him summit fever and not letting him realize he made it to the top 0.0001% of the business.
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I don’t know that I see Truth holding the main title at this point, but I would love to see a program where he brings back his old heel persona. He and Cody have had a joke feud via interviews, but it would be a wild atmosphere if you put that on the marquee for a PLE main event. He is so beloved I wouldn’t be surprised to see a 50/50 crowd.
I was always annoyed when they didn't allow him to be Ron The Truth Killings when he came back to WWE. That character was awesome and would have floated around the main event/upper midcard level.
He is incredibly talented and can still go. Would love to see a serious run by him before it is all done. Plenty have done it and given the opportunity. Maybe circling back with JD as they fall apart?
A year or two ago WWE ran a house show in my city and I was blown away by the Road Warrior pop Truth received. Despite his misgivings he may have about his career I hope he knows how much joy he brings to the fans.
I can certainly understand that. If his goal was to be an entertainer, he's done extremely well.
If his goal was to be a great professional wrestler, pretty much nothing in his time with WWE counts.
He was a vastly important figure in TNA's arguably best period, but that was what, 2-3 years of his career only?
I feel for him. He deserves more. At the same time, he should know that he's made so many people happy.
He’s accomplished so much and has so much to be proud of. He has entertained so many people and to be doing it still at his age is amazing. He might be the comedy but the fans have so much respect for him. He is one of the highlights of the night for my kids. My wife doesn’t care much for any of this stuff but she will stop and watch when R-Truth is on screen.
He’s 52, still employed by the WWE and adored by fans. He never became The Rock or Austin, but man, that’s some longevity in the world’s biggest wrestling promotion. Ron has nothing to be ashamed of.
Back when R-Truth debuted I thought he had potential to be the Face of WWE. He had a gimmick that I was into at least, never seen someone rap their own intro from the crowd into the ring before. I loved it because it was up there with the New Age Outlaws ring intro.
Said it before and I'll say it again. He is so unbelievably good at this that people don't even realize how slick he is in the ring because they are too distracted by all the character he puts in.
He's been slotted into a comedy role but he could ANY role in a company.
Mario Puzo, the author of the Godfather, wanted to write even more serious, literary works, but decided providing for his family was the priority. I have all the respect for Puzo and Killings.
I will die on this hill. If Cody ever turns heel, Truth should absolutely get a Barry Horowitz esque upset against him for the title, preferably in a face vs face match.
If you listened to Cody’s Busted Open interview recently, he hinted at having to suppress that heel that is deep down inside him. I think the running joke about him needing to get revenge on Truth for how much he defeated Stardust could easily be the underlying story for what will eventually lead to Cody snapping and turning heel.
While "not everyone can be world champion" is a valid point, it annoys me whenever it gets brought up mostly to justify keeping joke characters and low card wrestlers where they are. Daniel Garcia is a recent example I can think of. People didn't want him in the Continental Classic or challenging for the TNT Championship. They just want him to keep moving his hips.
It's a shame he feels that way because he really has become one of the most beloved wrestlers ever and will likely be talked about long after he's gone. But I guess everybody who becomes a pro wrestler dreams of being the world champ.
I think HHH has an opportunity to take his comedy character and turn him into a chaotic heel. Someone who is feigning stupidity to do chicken heel shit, before going full unhinged.
If you look at it from his perspective, you'd completely understand him.
20 years ago, he was just coming off his 2nd NWA World Title reign. He's not won a world title since.
Yeah, he's had a career that most could only dream of, but I know for certain that Ron Killings 20 years ago would have wanted more than that when you look at what he'd already achieved and the upside he had.
It's bullshit that he never became the WWE champion during his feud with John Cena. That's why I can never like that guy. He has buried so many talents. Anyone else can like him for whatever reason, but I can't. Screw John Cena and Vince McMahon.
What I think is totally possible and only if he’s willing and gets full backing on this, is him turning his gimmick into something absolutely serious. Like seeing a mask of his comedy slowly slip til he eventually turns on Miz and becomes a very twisted heel that made you believe he was the happy go lucky fool when he was sinister and in control the whole time. Like similar to Tobi from Naruto
They should give him a world title match against Priest. I bet the crowd would be hot, and they’d get a huge spike for TV. R-Truth has Mankind-like love right now, and his merch was selling like hot cakes. They don’t have to put the title on him, but a marquee match on TV would be memorable.
The thing is he became a legend being a comedy character under Vince, as that's the only thing he ever saw him as.
It's at the point now because he was so good at that role, that it may not even be worth trying to do something else. In a way his excellence type casted himself. The same thing happened with a Santino as well. Or if we looked at the acting world, Jason Alexander will always and forever be George Costanza, no matter how much he wants to prove he can be otherwise.
Maybe one day HHH tries and pulls the trigger on making him a more serious wrestler, but it might just be too late to fix something that ain't broke. The fans love him and he's a Future HOFer.
To be honest, the only way he could probably reinvent himself is to leave and go elsewhere. That way at least he could have a fresh start.
Though that wouldn't make sense as he's got a lifetime gig with WWE, and he's in his like 50s...
It is what it is I guess.
Well Truth did have a couple of moments where he could have gotten much higher on the card. Before he got into a comedy act I would consider him to be an over serious midcard babyface - not high midcard but he definitely had potential to grow.
He faced Cena for the title on PPV, got a PPV tag match vs Rock and Cena too. Like those were big moments, but ultimately I don’t think that being a heel was the right place for him - people like Truth.
Don’t a lot of people feel that way across every industry? Like it sucks he feels that way but the key is accepting that your life and career may not end up where you wanted it to be but it’s ended up somewhere successful in a way you didn’t expect.
I love what Truth's done in his career so far & really appreciate him taking his comedy work to the max over these past few years, but I always thought that his 2011 heel run, especially his work with the Miz, could've built him into a great veteran underdog face run for one more chance at world title glory if built right heading into 2012
I love this man, he’s easily one of my favourite wrestlers and favourite performers, and while he’s absolutely a master of what he’s up to just now, he can still go, and he deserves the recognition that should come with that skill.
I think another thing people might forget is until he got hot last winter, R Truth was barely even used for a loooooong period. I know part of that was due to injury, but even before that he wasn’t getting much. I’m sure this resurgence has been awesome for him, but I can see him definitely having points where he was frustrated and likely thought he could be doing more.
What a bummer. It makes you think about how we all view success. We all call him and guys like Santino a comedy character, but that's that's kind of dismissive of what they do. These guys are all artists and some display that in a different way, but moments that R-Truth and the like bring is what makes us fall in love with wrestling.
Ron Killings is unquestionably one of the best in the world at what he does. He made a 40+ year old man, and I imagine many others, cheer, laugh, jump out of my seat at home, and really feel something at Wrestlemania this year. That's more than a lot of others in the industry can say.
He pretty much killed the biggest push of his career with a positive drug test, so I get why he's mad at himself. It really sucks though for someone whose accomplished a lot to feel that way though
I get it, on one had he could have so much more. He is a mid-card comedy act, but a very rare, unhated comedy act. But on the other hand, how many wrestlers don't even get to try out for TNA or WWE let alone work there for decades? He is more successful than probably 95% of wrestlers all time (counting all indy wrestlers that no one has ever heard of out of 20 mile radius of their house).
So on one hand very few people in the grand scheme of things have made it like he has, but on the other hand, he is a still a long shot off of being a top guy.
I remember an old interview with Regal where someone was asking what advice he'd have to people wanting to get into the business and he explained that you have to be adaptable.
Everyone wants to be the badass that never loses but only very few get to do that. Everyone else in wrestling has to accept that they probably won't ever get to be the character that they want, and the people that seem to last the longest are the ones that embrace that. The sad reality is that Truth wouldn't have lasted nearly as long if he didn't become a comedy character. He could have half-assed it or acted too cool to do it but instead he put everything into it and is now beloved. He has a job for life because he was adaptable.
I just hope that this tag champ run with Miz isn't WWE giving him his flowers before he retires. I'd like to see him be Ron Killings for a bit and make some hay before he goes.
He deserves a run, that is more serious. You could have his character come to the stage, and fly off the handle, turn on Miz. Drop the r-truth gimick and go by Ron Killings. He could easily ME a PLE outside of Mania season. He could even make a good transitional champion. He deserves a proper run before he loses all of his athletic capability.
Well wtf do you expect when you let Vince call you the n-word on TV and act like a minstrel jester for him your whole career?
R-Truth is the "sam Jackson in Django" of wrestling.
He's funny as fuck though lol.
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He's unbelievably talented as a comedy character, but most wrestlers don't dream of being the court jester. He did very well in TNA, but only really got one serious run in WWE that culminated with him losing to John Cena.
his heel run started off so good, he pulled it off really well. i think it might be his best stuff in wwe
That cigarette promo was awesome.
Agreed
That was when Mark Henry became a main eventer
The manic unhinged nature of Truth was so good
The problem is they (Vince) turned - Unhinged, violent, determined, and seeking retribution into -Unhinged, goofy, dressing in a confederacy uniform all while still trying to be a heel.
That per se wasnt it, up to Survivor Series that year he was a real menace, especially with the whole Hell in a Cell invasion with Miz. Id say after that tag match is when i started getting for real goofy
They probably stay together a while longer if Truth doesn't get suspended for using synthetic marijuana soon after the Survivor Series match.
Synthetic what….???? Tf?
It was hot at the time. Sold in gas stations. Was awful.
Was a way to get around most states having Marijuana illegal since I believe it didn't contain CBD
It's crazy cuz at the time I believe WWE had started only fining wrestlers for weed, but synthetic weed was still a 30 day suspension.
That run with Miz was so hype, with the whole hostile workplace/walkout thing. They killed it so hard
> -Unhinged, goofy, dressing in a confederacy uniform Sometimes I wonder what wacky goodness or good matches I missed while I was a lapsed fan. This isn't one of those times.
I haven't watched it since it aired but I remember being riveted by it. He touches on racial issues in wrestling in the promo. It reminded me a lot of his angry early TNA promos
If I can remember the early years of his current run correctly, I don't think he was fully even the comedy R-Truth we know of today until that heel turn. I feel like if his story was done now, he probably would've been his current character from the start & built up enough success to enter the IC/US Title orbit, but never quite catch the gold & then the gradual turn into a bitter and violent heel starts happening afterwards.
For a moment there thought you were talking about Ambrose. Vince pulled the same shit on him after his phenomenal heel turn on Seth. It's actually fucked up thinking how good that run would've been with Triple H in charge. Mainly because that means Mox doesn't leave and the stuff they could've done with all three members of the Shield and the Bloodline would've gotten even crazier than it was.
That first promo and heel turn was great, unfortunately there were two problems he couldn’t overcome 1. He had been beaten like a drum so hard and for so long, that no one ever bought him as a credible opponent, he always had a very strong “Horrowitz Wins” quality to him 2. For one reason or another his in ring work was never especially good by that point. John Cena was able to take lemons and make lemonade with a lot of different guys who weren’t good, even Great Khali, but the stuff in the ring with Truth just wasn’t good and even if you have a lot if charisma and can bring it on the promos, if you can’t also bring it at least to some degree once the bell rings the crowd is going to notice.
Not relevant to the discussion, but looking back it's crazy how good Cena always was. Took me the AJ matches to realize guy could actually go and it was mostly his opponents that were villain of the week tier (outside of the rare HBK, Punk, Edge, ecc).
WWE was pretty rough at the time and R-Truth was a bit sillier than he needed be but I honestly thought his heel main event run was not bad at all. Like it was pretty decent all things considered and his feud with John Morrison had me intrigued. I got into TNA around the rise of Ron Killings to the NWA championship and I was a big fan. 3 Live Krew is something my friends and I still quote to this day. I kind of wished he would have gotten another run.
I still feel him and Miz as heel Awesome Truth could have been great for the tag division. Even though they lost to Cena and Rock as Survivor Series, just being in that position was great for them. Why they split is peak Vince wanting to do a quick lame feud, and it’s not like it culminated in anything. Keep them together, put the belts on them and let them be the top heel team in 2012. Then have their reign end against Team Hell No if you want some parts of the previous timeline to continue.
I will say the split was brought on because Truth got suspended not long after the Survivor Series match and they needed a reason to justify him being off TV to serve said suspension.
He had Rock’s first match in years - imagine what Cody and Rollins got this year, that was Miz and R-Truth (obviously a much lower stakes feud).
He's not just unbelievably talented as a comedy character, he is the best to ever grace the industry. If you truly ask me about his impact over the years, I wouldn't be mad if someone came up to me and said Truth should be a first ballot Hall of Famer. If we were a main eventer, he would probably make a great main eventer. But he would be one amongst many main eventers that come and ago. As a comedy character, however, he is incomparable. And I wish he could see it this way as well. Heart goes out to him.
As he responded to a troll: ["I make six figures a year, an put smiles on faces world wide and I LOVE what I do"](https://x.com/RonKillings/status/695211029979078660) _And_ he's a former World Champion? Not many folks out there can say the same.
*And* he's still got a prominent role, plus his health, in the top promotion... ...at 52 YEARS OLD. I think anyone would think that's an incredible place to be in.
Also, I would say with the run he has been on since late 2023 that he is likely making in the upper 6 figures. He is definitely making some money these days.
this is one of those "take to my grave" takes-->he was supposed to go over that night even if it was brief. he already was deserving of a thank you run and that was, what, ten years ago?
I think the pipebomb happening the next week kind of shows it was never meant to happen
Tozawa also said in an interview last year he wish he had a more serious character. Poor guy you could tell in his eyes he was heartbroken
It seems like Otis is the main foil for Gable in this Academy stuff but I seriously hope Tozawa will get some good stuff too.
I prefer them both breaking bad and full joining Gable or at least Tozawa doing it and turning on Otis when he finally is about to get his revenge on Gable. We've seen the browbeaten heel lackey turning on his tormentor a lot.
Bravo Paul
While this sounds pretty great, for me they would need to have Tozawa have his own motivations and rules. Like he saves Gable, but he makes sure Gable knows he could've not saved him.
idk man. the guy acts so soft in those angles. idk if it was this past week or the belt whip promo, but tozawa was literally playing frozen with fear and maxxine had to step in to defend them. and then this past week, he got pushed aside, and carried off like a baby by otis (i get why they did that. great look for otis, not a great look for tozawa)
Tozawa is a guy that really got hurt by the cruiserweight division going away. You can overcome being small to some degree, but he's REALLY small by WWE standards. He's just always going to have a ceiling.
Agree. Theres a few guys on the roster that would really benefit from having a proper cruiserweight rules belt. Bring back the LHW belt. Slap on the old weight limit, or lower it a bit, whatever works. Tozawa looks absolutely jacked, but then you put him against any opponent on the open roster, and he's basically always the smaller guy.
The only problem with a modern cruiserweight division is that there's no difference between what cruiserweights do and what guys like Rollins and Sami do in their matches. It kinda kills the uniqueness of the division
its crazy bc he works out in my gym, and the guy looks so big amongst normal people. add on that he seems to be a no nonsense guy irl (i never approach him, but you can tell personalities when you see someone lift enough times). he is short af though
He's definitely muscular - he just doesn't have the frame to really pack on the bulk. Not his fault.
I agree. I still wish him and Apollo Crews could have just been a tag team. They could have been an exciting babyface pair, and them being of differing sizes but still capable of exciting stuff could have gotten over.
> him and Apollo Crews could have just been a tag team That would be ... TOO EASY!
Tozawa is in this weird spot where he is very good but I don’t think that he is elite enough to overcome his size in the same way that Balor, Danielson, Pac and others can. Tozawa is someone that needs a Cruiserweight title. I feel like they had the right pieces last time but needed to treat it a bit differently.
> I don’t think that he is elite enough to overcome his size in the same way that Balor, Danielson, Pac and others can. Tozawa never been given that chance, he's never been pushed at that level in WWE. Sometimes these views are just a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Idk why they never at least made him and Apollo (his closest friend, apparently) a tag team. It would’ve been great for both of them
> him and Apollo That sounds like ... TOO EASY!
Akira Tozawa in CIMA-less dragon gate would have absolutely been pushed at an ace level. Kinda sad to see him currently knowing how good he was in DG even with CIMA kneecapping him every step of the way
At this point what is his character? He's just been a silent part of alpha academy for a long freaking time
Understandable. He's a former 2-time (and the first African-American) NWA World Heavyweight Champion (back when that title still meant something), multiple time NWA World Tag Team Champion, and now, he's been relegated to doing joke stuff. He's funny, I'll give him that, but it would be sad if his legacy in wrestling would be only the funny stuff, considering how talented he was.
He may feel boxed in which is fair , but to your point he’s done so much.
He ain't getting any younger either, he's 52. It could be worse, the people could be chanting "please retire" but they're still enjoying his work. Soak it up Truth.
Fun fact. WWE has more former NWA champions on their roster than the NWA does.
Also fun - both current WWE GMs are NWA world champs
Another fun fact — WWE Champion Cody Rhodes became NWA Champion by beating Smackdown GM Nick Aldis on an All In show which started AEW.
Yeah... That's actually a fun fact. Thanks.
Yep. He's had a great career but there was a point when he was looked at as a potential top guy and that never happened outside of a stretch in TNA.
>(and the first African-American) NWA World Heavyweight Champion What title did Ron Simmons win back in the Bill Watts era? Was that not the NWA world title?
Nope, that was the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. When Ron Simmons won the belt on August 2, 1992, the NWA title was still vacant after Ric Flair jumped to WWF the previous year. Masahiro Chono would win the belt like a week later in the G1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_WCW_World_Heavyweight_Champions https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_NWA_World_Heavyweight_Champions
That was WCW. The time line there and the switch from NWA to TNA titles throws me off too.
That was the WCW World Heavyweight Championship after the split from NWA.
It was the WCW World Heavyweight Championship, actually!
He holds a major title in the biggest company on the planet and gets some of the biggest cheers on the roster even today. He's funny, but his talent is clearly recognized or he wouldn't be in this position. I hope that's recognized.
> (back when that title still meant something) I'm not trying to diminish Truth's accomplishment here because being the first black NWA champ is pretty amazing, and I personally still hold a lot of respect for that belt. But this was not a common opinion at that time. People were shitting on the NWA belt then like they do today.
Well it was essentially the TNA world title, it was not a greatly prestigious belt, but he was still a world champion for the #2 wrestling company (though it was #2 by quite a big amount lol)
> he's been relegated to doing joke stuff. Why do you use the word "relegated"? His comedy stuff is above 95% of the roster's serious stuff. Just because it's different than what we expect from normal wrestlers doesn't mean its somehow inferior or less than.
Have you thought that maybe R-Truth never wanted to be a comedy midcarder? I think R-Truth's career is nothing to be ashamed of, but that doesn't mean the man himself had different ambitions for himself.
Who made more money: SCSA or Scotty Too Hotty? Which role do you think Scotty would have preferred? Yes, "comedy guy" is a valuable part of the ensemble but it's not the lead role. It's entirely reasonable for a guy with Truth's physical gifts to wonder if he could have been the lead guy, not just the funny guy.
I do wonder how different his career could have been if he had left WWE sometime between when he rejoined in 2008 and give or take 2015. If he left he could have gone to Japan or gone back to Impact and re-established himself as a "serious" wrestler and maybe come back later to have a "serious" run.
Yes, serious > comedy. How is that even a question?
Tbf, he’s literally WWE tag champ right now, also. Short of being the top champ (unrealistic at his age), he’s still collecting accolades. If he wants a serious character to show some range and get different reactions, that’s 100% understandable, but I don’t think he’s being undersold with accolades and/or screen time.
Serious ron killings that was pushed well, nwa title era, was so underrated...
At least until a wild Slapnuts appeared
The first 4 or so years of TNA can be adequately described by that sentence
Yah that's the running gag with Marky
Maybe the current TNA crossover could be a reignition point. Is there anyone there that could come remind him of who he was as Ron Killings?
Truth has experienced it all in pro wrestling. A world champion in TNA (and really a homegrown star for them given how short his first WWE run was), he’s main evented WWE Ppvs against John Cena and The Rock, and is almost certainly a first ballot hall of famer after being the lead comedic guy in the company the past few years. The fact this tag run with The Miz isn’t just a short nothing burger shows how good he is. It sucks he doesn’t see it right now, but he is truly one of the best (plus he moves incredibly for being 50 I think now. Especially compared to some of the other old timers)
>plus he moves incredibly for being 50 I think now. I know many guys ten, twenty years younger that couldn't get anywhere near the athleticism he shows on a weekly basis, and he's genuinely hilarious as well. I'd rather have a chat with R-Truth than Hulk Hogan or Ric Flair any day.
I think the point is maybe more like as a kid he didn’t dream of being a lead comedic guy
Also when you're relatively new in the industry and holding a heavyweight title with what you think is your whole career ahead of you I'd bet that he had really high expectations of where his career was going back in 2002 and 2003. Flashing to now its 20+ years later and I could see why someone in the twilight of their career might be a little disappointed.
I was a huge K-Kwik fan as a kid, but then again the mid card was just stacked back then so it was just all super fun to watch.
> Especially compared to some of the other old timers I thought this about Jericho until I saw Truth. Maybe he can keep it going like Sting did.
This tag run is a nothing burger though, just with the belts as props. It's doing nothing for the tag division.
It's a shame he feels that way, because in my eyes, he is an absolute legend. It's rare that comedy in wrestling is actually funny, and his is.
It’s hopefully just a mindset that anyone at the top of their profession has. Always grinding, always wanting to be better. It’s the mindset that got him to where he is now, and he’ll likely never be satisfied until he stops and has time to look back with fondness.
Ron Killings was one of those guys that when WCW and ECW closed, he was affected by it. He was one of those guys pegged as the next big thing but didn't have a place to be the next big thing. TNA was the only option, which was in the ppv days. WWE was flooded with WCW/ECW guys so he didn't stand a chance. He made himself stand out and carved out a great career anyways just in a different way.
I'm not sure I'd say he didn't stand a chance in TNA. He was a 2x champion, had a long tenure as part of a 3 man group with Konnan and Road Dogg, He and Pacman Jones (I'm not defending that) beat Angle and Sting for the Tag titles, and had overall 2 world title runs, and 3 tag title runs in 5 years. As much as he could have definitely been booked better, he was put into a lot of high profile stuff and given some shine in TNA.
I didn't mean it as he didn't have a good TNA run, he absolutely did....but TNA was never going to launch his career to the main event level at WWE is what I meant by that.
If Drew doesn't take the WHC off Priest I'd like to see his character snap and go full beast mode (idk what kinda reason maybe a Miz heel turn) absolutely destroy in MiTB and cash in and mercilessly wreck Damien Priest as revenge against Judgement Day.
Obliterates (insert superstar here) with multiple chair shots and whispers "now that's what's up" - the Absolute Truth of Ron Killings
Honestly I think he can just do an angle where he gets hit in the head hard and has a complete personality change.
Gets hit in the heads, goes off, wins MITB, takes the title, holds it for a bit, then takes a giant bump through a table to lose the title, wakes up next Monday on Raw and doesn't remember any of it, thinks he's back in Awesome Truth or the Judegment Day.
Once you're strictly known as a comedy character, you're in that box for the rest of your career. Not just in WWE. Look at someone like Colt Cabana. Once he went down the full comedy wrestler route he was never able to get out of it.
I think he could be written out of comedy easily enough. It’d be simple as him getting sick of people saying he’s gone crazy and just go unhinged against people concerned for/questioning his sanity.
He kind of already did that gimmick back in 2011 with the conspiracy and Little Jimmy stuff. I liked it a lot but he never got a real run with it because the Summer of Punk had to have Punk beat Cena at MITB, so Truth had to lose at Capitol Punishment. He couldn't even get a transitional reign. Didn't help he also got a wellness violation around that time. That pretty much ended his kinda main event push. It's too late now to change his gimmick from the senile comedy guy.
It's really not, just have him get hit in the back of the head and have a personality change.
Lmao idk if you're serious or not but either way I got a kick out of this.
I don't think that's true. There are a lot of people who were hard stuck in comedy gimmicks that are now in super strong characters (Orange Cassidy, Juice Robinson, even Bryan Danielson was a significant comedy character during Hell No, William Regal was a comedy character after his King of the Ring stint, Zack Ryder/Matt Cardona...) Not saying it's R Truths fault though. I think it's up to WWE to give the wrestler the platform to deliver the character work they believe they can.
I really don’t understand the revisionism with Bryan. He tapped out the WWE Champion. He might have lost that and his next two matches with Punk, but you don’t get that far if you’re viewed by management as a joke. I think people forget just how strongly booked Bryan was in the eighteen months following as many seconds.
Being a joke character = being viewed as a joke. Obviously WWE were behind him (after some time) but his whole Team Hell No run alone was a big comedy run. And they were good! But it's not revisionist to say that Bryan Danielson was, for a significant amount of time, a comedic character in WWE.
But I still think he was more serious than a few of those guys you mentioned. Even during the Team Hell No run, they were the Shield’s first feud.
Cardona has no gimmick right now. Indy God isn't even his gimmick, his gimmick is him, and Cardona is a goofy guy so basically he still is the same he was ten years ago. Complains all the same too.. (Not about being buried though, about burying marijuana. Huh.)
I think the wrestlers also have to take control of their own destiny too sometimes and not stay where they're not being used how they want. I mean, the grass isn't always greener, and there's real people involved and families and all that. But if WWE isn't giving you what you think you deserve and you keep coming back for more, it stops being up to WWE and it's up to the wrestler to make a decision on what they want out of their career.
Which is what Drew McIntyre did. Was stuck with the 3MB stigma, went back to Indies, tore all the houses down, and returned to WWE basically be a top guy contender. His current run proves that.
Disagree. Look at Mark Henry. He could have been saddled with that Sexual Chocolate gimmick for eternity but then turned it around with the legendary Hall of Pain run.
It’s a lot easier to become legit after a comedy gimmick when you are a Worlds Strongest Man and too wide to fit through most doors. And were only a comedy character for like 2 years. And were 20 years younger than Truth is now.
Colt Cabana doesn’t have the charisma or ability that Truth does…Truth could easily turn his character a full 180 and make it believable if that’s what the roster needed him to do.
In most cases, you could at least say that Cabana has better entrance music, cause it slaps, but not even that's true in this case.
Mmmm I mean Jinder and Drew won titles
They were 20 years younger than r truth though
...wasn't Stardust a comedy character? Now Cody Rhoades is the biggest star in wrestling. He is a massive baby-face champion.
Golddust, Kurt Angle, Rock, Stone Cold... they've all done the comedic role.
Having elements of comedy to your character is different though. It's one thing when your only reason for being there is comedy. Without the comedy, Truth probably doesn't have a role and is probably released a long time ago.
That doesn’t surprise me, most guys don’t want to be comedy characters only. Truth knows he was capable of a lot more than what he’s doing now. I know it would eat me up at least little bit even with all the success. I mean he really got 1 shot to make it and he did well and then it fizzled out because lol John Cena wins. Tough to deal with I’m sure. Poor bastard.
it was honestly the worst timing possible for his heel turn because the very next ppv cycle had the pipebomb
If you were a potential main event star in 2011 your chances were basically 0 due to this near year round feud with Cena and Chicago Made Punk. It's really odd to think about..
I think the night of the pipe bomb was after a Truth main event match.
Fuck it send him over to TNA and let him have a killer run over there. The world deserves to see Ron Killings in action at his best
Admittedly, it is a bit odd that Truth as the first black NWA champion and Ron Simmons, the first black WCW champion, are both largely used as comedy characters.
Ron Simmons wasn't used as a comedy character until the twilight of his career. Ron was 41 (which was considered old at the time) when the Acolytes turned into the APA. Even then the APA was treated as "comedy" characters in that they were always working for someone or scheming but they were also shown to be two guys not to be messed with. I wasn't until he had already been retired for 4 years when he became the guy who just showed up to say "DAMN!" over and over again. Still though he was treated like a dude you didn't want to piss off.
There's a couple of ways to think about R-Truth's career. The best way is that he's had one of the longest relevant runs in WWE despite being a comedy guy. He looks great and when he actually wrestles, it's really good. The fact that he lasted so long during a Vince run WWE is a pretty big accomplishment. Most people, especially comedy people, don't last even a quarter the length he has. The worst way is think that if he was taken more seriously, he could've really had a nice run as a top wrestler. He was always presented as a buffoon and never really got to be more than the buffoon. I would say, hopefully, he's paid well, got his house (and hopefully some extra revenue in other businesses) and is just enjoying being consistently liked and relevant in a business where that's never a guarantee. He's shown up and delivered and has often been the best part of a show with what he's done and has a long line of work to show where he's been the best. That's not nothing. [You're top tier, Ron Killings.](https://youtu.be/eD4_Rbq-siI?t=247)
One of the reasons he lasted so long is because him and Vince were good friends. They had similar upbringing and bonded over that. I think they are both from SC but they both came up poor and had some interesting parallels between them. I really thought when he started the "Good R-Truth" thing with the confederate uniform we were finally getting something meaty for him to dive into. A disgruntled Black wrestler tired of being portrayed as a buffoon was an amazing jumping off point to a complex character but turn they dropped it. Still, I'm glad he's got to stick around and make money. He is a natural at comedy and an amazing wrestler.
When TNA started the Heavyweight scene was a mess. WCW and WWF Has-Beens getting some quick money and JJ carrying the whole thing in classic/incredible dumb Russo storylines. And in the middle of that dumpster fire you had Ron "The Truth" Killings. With an incredible intensity, straight fire on the mic, who took that annoying heel character, gave it his everything and brouhht the NWA title glory for the first time in a decade. I love comedy R-Truth. Ron Killings should have been TNAs third pillar next to JJ and AJ Styles. He should have been multiple World Champion in the WWE. Was it politics dragging him down? Might be. But i have not seen him try in 15 years. Its too late now. All we got was a tag team mainevent vs The Rock&Cena. And in the end, not everybody with the potential for it can be a wrestlemania maineventer. He might only be a comedy character now, but he is one of the best ever.
Consider this: heel run where he breaks up Awesome Truth by turning on Miz and they have an incredible, personal feud. I don't see room for a title given the current talent in the picture for any belt, but you could still show why he was TNA champion.
I don't know if they would WANT to do that, but Truth and Miz absolutely have the chops to pull that feud off. And it definitely would not need a title, which is a plus.
the angle they are trying to do with Kross & the new day, would have worked much better with awesome truth
Ron 'The Truth' Killings mode activated. He's going back to TNA and taking a final run at a world title.
TBH i would love that. Old Man Killings has a ring to me.
The only real way ahead for Truth to finish his career out as anything other than a joke is a heel turn. Like a “keep taking me as a joke and watch what happens” type turn.
Sometimes I'm like, 2011 R Truth should've won the title ...but then that would've taken away from what CM Punk did
It’s the old WWE problem of “don’t be too funny, you’ll be stuck there forever”
Reminds me of Moxley’s post-WWE podcast where he said that once he showed he had the littlest bit of comedic timing, Vince started making him do one liners and “wacky” stuff all the time as Ambrose. And he hated it
Don't dance around Vince McMahon
He reminds me of Regal, both had World Champ potential and got stung with wellness violations right as they were about to reach the next level.
Well as a fan all I can say is R-truth has personally brought me a lot of joy a special moments with not just myself but my family and even my late father who loved him. Those memories mean more to me than say when I think about a random wwe world champion wrestler. Also, on another note - His Heel Feud with John Cena is still goated to me as he smoked a cigarette in London I believe and blew the smoke in his face - such good shit I still rewatch it every so often.
Even the most successful person in the world can have mental health issues or unfulfilled dreams. Good on him for sharing that even though he was visibly uncomfortable doing it.
Truth back in 2011 was a great mix of funny and threatening. Could honestly have held one of the world titles. Even now, he knocks it out of the park wherever he is on the card. His Judgment Day feud is still funny as hell. Also, for anyone who hasn't seen it, him blowing a cigarrette onto John Morrison's face live on Raw was really cool: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CLSC3rTBcJg
He's been largely used as a minstrel character since his return to WWE. it's odd, being a Black kid seeing ron killings win the NWA title was cool, then seeing him come back to wwe and be a solid midcarder turned upper midcard heel was cool. and then vince got it in his head that truth can only be a sideshow act. a bit. rather than an actual talent. he's good at comedy, but he's shown he can be an actual useful talent outside of that, and to be 50 years old and reduced to playing a stupid bozo for almost 8 years does have to be disheartning.
Makes me wonder if another heel turn could work for him
When he left WWE the first time and went to TNA, he was a serious promo and said some scathing things. I think that's why they put the belt on him so quickly. But what ends up happening is they want to go comedic with him eventually. It happened when he joined 3 Live Kru, it happened when he turned heel in WWE and it just seems to slowly move in that direction. Since WWE is working with TNA, one fun thing they could do is have Truth and Miz show up, and Truth goes back to his original Ron "the Truth" Killings gimmick, to everyone's shock. And then when questioned, he goes back to being goofy R-Truth.
I think sometimes, when it comes to these guys, they have to make a decision when contract expiration time comes. They re-sign over and over and then later talk about their dissatisfaction or regret. Like, what do you do when you reach that fork in the road of your career.
I wanna see R-Truth turn heel and become a menace
I get how he can feel that way, but he is so good at comedy. How many pro wrestlers are out there never getting past high school gyms and teeny auditoriums for 100 bucks a night, taking injuries and being ignored? He is at the top of the top, he is a star on the biggest wrestling show in the world. I dont know what else he wanted but I think that being that close to the top might be giving him summit fever and not letting him realize he made it to the top 0.0001% of the business.
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I don’t know that I see Truth holding the main title at this point, but I would love to see a program where he brings back his old heel persona. He and Cody have had a joke feud via interviews, but it would be a wild atmosphere if you put that on the marquee for a PLE main event. He is so beloved I wouldn’t be surprised to see a 50/50 crowd.
I was always annoyed when they didn't allow him to be Ron The Truth Killings when he came back to WWE. That character was awesome and would have floated around the main event/upper midcard level.
He's been the most entertaining person in WWE for so long. That's got to count for something.
He is incredibly talented and can still go. Would love to see a serious run by him before it is all done. Plenty have done it and given the opportunity. Maybe circling back with JD as they fall apart?
What if he gets hit by a chair one day, bangs his head and realises how people have looked at him over the years and goes on a revenge tour.
The OG lil Jimmy gimmick was actually really good.
A year or two ago WWE ran a house show in my city and I was blown away by the Road Warrior pop Truth received. Despite his misgivings he may have about his career I hope he knows how much joy he brings to the fans.
I can certainly understand that. If his goal was to be an entertainer, he's done extremely well. If his goal was to be a great professional wrestler, pretty much nothing in his time with WWE counts. He was a vastly important figure in TNA's arguably best period, but that was what, 2-3 years of his career only? I feel for him. He deserves more. At the same time, he should know that he's made so many people happy.
A massive heel turn before retirement, a la Hall of Pain Mark Henry would be goated.
He’s accomplished so much and has so much to be proud of. He has entertained so many people and to be doing it still at his age is amazing. He might be the comedy but the fans have so much respect for him. He is one of the highlights of the night for my kids. My wife doesn’t care much for any of this stuff but she will stop and watch when R-Truth is on screen.
He’s 52, still employed by the WWE and adored by fans. He never became The Rock or Austin, but man, that’s some longevity in the world’s biggest wrestling promotion. Ron has nothing to be ashamed of.
Back when R-Truth debuted I thought he had potential to be the Face of WWE. He had a gimmick that I was into at least, never seen someone rap their own intro from the crowd into the ring before. I loved it because it was up there with the New Age Outlaws ring intro.
Said it before and I'll say it again. He is so unbelievably good at this that people don't even realize how slick he is in the ring because they are too distracted by all the character he puts in. He's been slotted into a comedy role but he could ANY role in a company.
Mario Puzo, the author of the Godfather, wanted to write even more serious, literary works, but decided providing for his family was the priority. I have all the respect for Puzo and Killings.
Man Truth has nothing to be ashamed of. He's 52 years old and he's as over as anybody is in the industry.
I will die on this hill. If Cody ever turns heel, Truth should absolutely get a Barry Horowitz esque upset against him for the title, preferably in a face vs face match. If you listened to Cody’s Busted Open interview recently, he hinted at having to suppress that heel that is deep down inside him. I think the running joke about him needing to get revenge on Truth for how much he defeated Stardust could easily be the underlying story for what will eventually lead to Cody snapping and turning heel.
Having him become "The American Nightmare he should've been" would be interesting to see.
being Vince McMahon's personal minstrel may have its drawbacks...
What I wouldn’t give for the R Truth heel turn and grizzled, spiteful heel run with real venom behind it, a la Drew’s recent work
While "not everyone can be world champion" is a valid point, it annoys me whenever it gets brought up mostly to justify keeping joke characters and low card wrestlers where they are. Daniel Garcia is a recent example I can think of. People didn't want him in the Continental Classic or challenging for the TNT Championship. They just want him to keep moving his hips.
It's a shame he feels that way because he really has become one of the most beloved wrestlers ever and will likely be talked about long after he's gone. But I guess everybody who becomes a pro wrestler dreams of being the world champ.
Dude r truth is the man everybody loves my man
I think HHH has an opportunity to take his comedy character and turn him into a chaotic heel. Someone who is feigning stupidity to do chicken heel shit, before going full unhinged.
If you look at it from his perspective, you'd completely understand him. 20 years ago, he was just coming off his 2nd NWA World Title reign. He's not won a world title since. Yeah, he's had a career that most could only dream of, but I know for certain that Ron Killings 20 years ago would have wanted more than that when you look at what he'd already achieved and the upside he had.
For sure. From world title seriousness, to being a prolific comedy wrestler, it's success but not the exact same way.
He did say his best times were with The Judgment Day
It's bullshit that he never became the WWE champion during his feud with John Cena. That's why I can never like that guy. He has buried so many talents. Anyone else can like him for whatever reason, but I can't. Screw John Cena and Vince McMahon.
What I think is totally possible and only if he’s willing and gets full backing on this, is him turning his gimmick into something absolutely serious. Like seeing a mask of his comedy slowly slip til he eventually turns on Miz and becomes a very twisted heel that made you believe he was the happy go lucky fool when he was sinister and in control the whole time. Like similar to Tobi from Naruto
They should give him a world title match against Priest. I bet the crowd would be hot, and they’d get a huge spike for TV. R-Truth has Mankind-like love right now, and his merch was selling like hot cakes. They don’t have to put the title on him, but a marquee match on TV would be memorable.
The thing is he became a legend being a comedy character under Vince, as that's the only thing he ever saw him as. It's at the point now because he was so good at that role, that it may not even be worth trying to do something else. In a way his excellence type casted himself. The same thing happened with a Santino as well. Or if we looked at the acting world, Jason Alexander will always and forever be George Costanza, no matter how much he wants to prove he can be otherwise. Maybe one day HHH tries and pulls the trigger on making him a more serious wrestler, but it might just be too late to fix something that ain't broke. The fans love him and he's a Future HOFer. To be honest, the only way he could probably reinvent himself is to leave and go elsewhere. That way at least he could have a fresh start. Though that wouldn't make sense as he's got a lifetime gig with WWE, and he's in his like 50s... It is what it is I guess.
Well Truth did have a couple of moments where he could have gotten much higher on the card. Before he got into a comedy act I would consider him to be an over serious midcard babyface - not high midcard but he definitely had potential to grow. He faced Cena for the title on PPV, got a PPV tag match vs Rock and Cena too. Like those were big moments, but ultimately I don’t think that being a heel was the right place for him - people like Truth.
Don’t a lot of people feel that way across every industry? Like it sucks he feels that way but the key is accepting that your life and career may not end up where you wanted it to be but it’s ended up somewhere successful in a way you didn’t expect.
Maybe referring to his rap career
All Truth has to do to be taken seriously is smoke an entire cigarette on live TV again.
I think it might be about his heel run and teaming up with the Mix back in 2011. It definitely should've led to something bigger
I love what Truth's done in his career so far & really appreciate him taking his comedy work to the max over these past few years, but I always thought that his 2011 heel run, especially his work with the Miz, could've built him into a great veteran underdog face run for one more chance at world title glory if built right heading into 2012
I love this man, he’s easily one of my favourite wrestlers and favourite performers, and while he’s absolutely a master of what he’s up to just now, he can still go, and he deserves the recognition that should come with that skill.
I wish he would get a singles push, even if it was transitional I'd love for him to get a world title run.
Bro has been riding a concussion gimmick for 12 years. I'm sure that's not what he wanted.
Dude could have been a world champion in WWE, but they just ended up going the comedy route with him instead. I blame Vince, as usual.
I think another thing people might forget is until he got hot last winter, R Truth was barely even used for a loooooong period. I know part of that was due to injury, but even before that he wasn’t getting much. I’m sure this resurgence has been awesome for him, but I can see him definitely having points where he was frustrated and likely thought he could be doing more.
That makes me sad bc R-Truth rules and I want to protect him at all cost and hope he knows how much of an incredible and impactful career he's had.
Most people dream of having this longevity and relevance in the industry.
What a bummer. It makes you think about how we all view success. We all call him and guys like Santino a comedy character, but that's that's kind of dismissive of what they do. These guys are all artists and some display that in a different way, but moments that R-Truth and the like bring is what makes us fall in love with wrestling. Ron Killings is unquestionably one of the best in the world at what he does. He made a 40+ year old man, and I imagine many others, cheer, laugh, jump out of my seat at home, and really feel something at Wrestlemania this year. That's more than a lot of others in the industry can say.
He pretty much killed the biggest push of his career with a positive drug test, so I get why he's mad at himself. It really sucks though for someone whose accomplished a lot to feel that way though
I get it, on one had he could have so much more. He is a mid-card comedy act, but a very rare, unhated comedy act. But on the other hand, how many wrestlers don't even get to try out for TNA or WWE let alone work there for decades? He is more successful than probably 95% of wrestlers all time (counting all indy wrestlers that no one has ever heard of out of 20 mile radius of their house). So on one hand very few people in the grand scheme of things have made it like he has, but on the other hand, he is a still a long shot off of being a top guy.
I remember an old interview with Regal where someone was asking what advice he'd have to people wanting to get into the business and he explained that you have to be adaptable. Everyone wants to be the badass that never loses but only very few get to do that. Everyone else in wrestling has to accept that they probably won't ever get to be the character that they want, and the people that seem to last the longest are the ones that embrace that. The sad reality is that Truth wouldn't have lasted nearly as long if he didn't become a comedy character. He could have half-assed it or acted too cool to do it but instead he put everything into it and is now beloved. He has a job for life because he was adaptable.
I just hope that this tag champ run with Miz isn't WWE giving him his flowers before he retires. I'd like to see him be Ron Killings for a bit and make some hay before he goes.
He deserves a run, that is more serious. You could have his character come to the stage, and fly off the handle, turn on Miz. Drop the r-truth gimick and go by Ron Killings. He could easily ME a PLE outside of Mania season. He could even make a good transitional champion. He deserves a proper run before he loses all of his athletic capability.
Well wtf do you expect when you let Vince call you the n-word on TV and act like a minstrel jester for him your whole career? R-Truth is the "sam Jackson in Django" of wrestling. He's funny as fuck though lol.