R-Truth: A Huge Missed Opportunity?

[AwesomeRko]

A year ago R-Truth was red-hot, he was one of the most over stars on the roster, with his whole crazy gimmick and in my view participated in some of the most entertaning promos of the year. The crowd were eating it up and he was proving his worth on the mic, he has always had the look and in-ring ability to boot.

In my view if he had been utilised correctly he could at least have been a tremendous asset in the main-event on Smackdown and a solid World Heavyweight Champion. The unpredictability and humour which the well-played craziness of Truth could have offered would in any case have been a welcome change. His character is unique in the WWE and would have been a breath of fresh air in the main-event.

Seeing his subsequent fall from grace, lack of promo-time and fall into the mid-card has genuinely irritated me. The squash match against Tensai last night on Raw puts an exclamation mark on how far he has fallen.

Does anyone else agree that WWE has really missed the boat with Truth?

 

[Adam Rush]

I gotta agree with you on this one. Truth was one of my favorites for a long time, but WWE has majorly misused him.

 

[Canadian Dragon]

Yes, I agree that Truth could have stayed in the main event scene. He can be convincing and very entertaining. That said, there are lots of younger guys (and returnees) just waiting to break into the main event: see Rhodes, Ziggler, Barrett, Lord Tensai, maybe Ryback and ADR (to name of few).
Truth ended up where he is because he is older, he seems willing to job and he is really good at it. Take his match with Tensai or his matches with Kane. Though he got squashed, Truth still managed to look like a fighter, making some counters and throwing flurries of punches. Truth can give a lot more momentum to somebody than a complete squash match with Yoshi Tatsu.
So basically, Truth is good enough for the main event but he is destined to job.

 

[The Gribbler]

I am sorry but Truth was over the hill before he returned to the WWE. The man is 40 years old, he is good on the mic yes, but it makes little sense for the WWE to be investing time in a man that at best probably has 5 good years left in him, two of those they would need to get him over.

Put him in the midcard and let him be entertaining but please try and build the midcard around people who will have some longevity.

Just My Opinion

 

[AwesomeRko]

Yes, I agree that Truth could have stayed in the main event scene. He can be convincing and very entertaining. That said, there are lots of younger guys (and returnees) just waiting to break into the main event: see Rhodes, Ziggler, Barrett, Lord Tensai, maybe Ryback and ADR (to name of few).
Truth ended up where he is because he is older, he seems willing to job and he is really good at it. Take his match with Tensai or his matches with Kane. Though he got squashed, Truth still managed to look like a fighter, making some counters and throwing flurries of punches. Truth can give a lot more momentum to somebody than a complete squash match with Yoshi Tatsu.
So basically, Truth is good enough for the main event but he is destined to job.

I agree Truth does job very well but that's an indication of his dynamic in-ring ability, which enables him to put on good matches with anyone in the same vein as Dolph Ziggler, surely this could be more effectively utilised in the main-event. His title match with cena last year was actually very good and one of the better smaller PPV WWE title bouts of the year, the farcical ending aside.

I realise there is a lot of tremendous young talent waiting for a push and believe me I am an asbolutely massive fan of Rhodes and Ziggler and enjoy Barrett as much as the next guy. Yet R-Truth could have been great as a main-event face, something which outside Punk,Orton, Cena and arguably Sheamus is sorely lacking.

I realise that his momentum really dropped when the WWE turned him face but that is because they did it all wrong, effectively ruining everything that was great about is heel build. The fans were cheering him already all they had to do was tweak it slighty and he could have been a big hit.

I'm not saying he should have had a lengthy position of prominence on Raw but surely he could have enhanced the upper-card on Smackdown.

 

[Nate DaMac]

Truth is hilarious, plays his character very well, and is extremely entertaining. He is a perfect guy for the mid card.

Truth is, he's just not a very good worker. He has a decent amount of athleticism, but he can't tell a story to save his life. His workrate is just very shoddy at best.

He's exactly where he should be. Well, maybe they could use him a bit more, but he's not main event worthy.

 

[SaveUsCMPunk]

I don't hate Lord Tensai. In fact, I was somewhat of a fan of his during his Albert and A-Train days. That said, I wish they would've picked someone other than Truth for him to squash last night. (Where's JTG when you need him?) Truth was the most entertaining heel a year ago and was one of the most entertaining personalities on the entire roster during his heel run last year. (He's still kind of interesting these days, but not as good as last year.) IMO, he should've been given a WWE title reign just based on how over he got his character. Really, he played his character to perfection. So yes, I do think WWE has dropped the ball with Truth. (Same could be said for a lot of Superstars though.)

 

[Shawn M. Mabee]

Canadian Dragon. Did you honestly just say Tensai is young? Are you ******ed? He's like 40. Been around for like 15 years.
Now to the topic.
I completely agree here. I think that Truth could have been great in the WHC picture, I think he could've had a fantastic fued with Orton if Truth was the Heel.

 

[KBeef]

I will say He did it to himself.
Failing a drug test as you are at your highest peak was a bad move and one I bet the company saw as him not being trustworthy.
He and Miz should've had a long reign as Tag champs, They were a good balanced team in my opinion and a ball was dropped.

 

[Fugazi]

Truth last year was on fire but then he got suspended. They could have squeezed out a push for him before mania but he derped. His fault.

 

[TommyTsunami]

Canadian Dragon. Did you honestly just say Tensai is young? Are you ******ed? He's like 40. Been around for like 15 years.
Now to the topic.
I completely agree here. I think that Truth could have been great in the WHC picture, I think he could've had a fantastic fued with Orton if Truth was the Heel.

He said "and returnees". Read the post c-a-r-e-f-u-l-l-y, before you run your mouth.

Anyways, I think R-Truth dropped the ball on R-Truth. He was on fire for a good amount of time. He destroyed Morrison on an episode of Raw, he had a feud with John Cena, and then aligned himself with The Miz. But he failed a drug test (which led to Miz using his finisher on Truth), being written off of Raw for a month. Truth did it to himself sadly. After his return was when it started to go downhill.

 

[drobs85]

I will say He did it to himself.
Failing a drug test as you are at your highest peak was a bad move and one I bet the company saw as him not being trustworthy.
He and Miz should've had a long reign as Tag champs, They were a good balanced team in my opinion and a ball was dropped.

Many people have failed them so what. He didn't cost WWE more money than they would have made off of him had they ran with the character. I'm talking about when his theme was silent and before he got buried by Cena and esp Orton. And even came close to the Miz.

 

[DirtyD79]

R Truth is, was, and always will be a midcarder in WWE. But that's fine because you need solid talent all through out the show. R Truth is comic relief. Characters like his are meant to give the audience a breather from the intense beatdowns and dramatic promos. It helps the audience digest what the just saw unfold.

 

[shooter_mcgavin]

Truth last year was on fire but then he got suspended. They could have squeezed out a push for him before mania but he derped. His fault.

I think that's a double standard if that's the case on the WWE part. Jeff Hardy, Randy Orton, Edge all still got pushed despite drug issues so why does Truth, who had a ton of momentum, get de-pushed for the same violation?

Bottom line is people make mistakes but the policies are in place that you have a fair share of chances to get your act together. Truth served his suspension and his push should have continued IMO.

As mentioned the guy had tremendous heat as a heel and heat is something the WWE can't manufacture no matter how many times they decide to push Jack Swagger or Drew McIntyre.

 

[Psyclone]

Many people have failed them so what. He didn't cost WWE more money than they would have made off of him had they ran with the character. I'm talking about when his theme was silent and before he got buried by Cena and esp Orton. And even came close to the Miz.

The thing is this... If your name is john Cena Randy Orton, HHH Undertaker and maybe even a big show or a kane... you can fail a drug test and still come back and retain main event status.... IF you're a midcarder who's finally getting a push to main event (like R-truth was) and you fail a drug test, you get punished for it when you get back... It's just what's going to happen...

Now as to the OP comments.. No I don't think that the WWE missed the opportunity... I think R-Truth missed it by failing that drug test... He was getting over heavily as the heel crazy guy... He was doing well with miz in the tag division... He ruined it by failing that drug test so they had to book a way out of it, and thus had to turn him face.... I bet had he not had that drug suspension he would've at least had another world championship match and maybe won it and held the title for a little while... (He was never going to be a long term champion, and never is going to be a long term champion....)

He's a solid mid carder, and someone I can see maybe holding the US or IC title once they go to a heel champion at some point... maybe he get's another run as a tag champ, but I don't see him being anything more than the "6th guy in the elimination chamber match" or "other guy in Money in the bank" due to his age and his lack of real "world title" potential

 

[LiamProbert]

DEFINATELY! You Can Tell He Has The Potential To Be A Great World Champion, Just Look At His TNA Record! That Combined With His Technical Ability Inside The Ring AND The Fact That He Is Incredibly Over With The Fans!

 

[Psyclone]

I think that's a double standard if that's the case on the WWE part. Jeff Hardy, Randy Orton, Edge all still got pushed despite drug issues so why does Truth, who had a ton of momentum, get de-pushed for the same violation?

Bottom line is people make mistakes but the policies are in place that you have a fair share of chances to get your act together. Truth served his suspension and his push should have continued IMO.

As mentioned the guy had tremendous heat as a heel and heat is something the WWE can't manufacture no matter how many times they decide to push Jack Swagger or Drew McIntyre.

again the people you mentioned were all already main eventers when they had problems.... When truth got his suspension the writers were forced to split miz and truth up thus de-facto turning truth face... I'm sure they did not want to do that (at least that early) but they had to do it quickly and because it was so sudden it kind of killed his crowd reaction (at least from what it was beforehand)...

When the 30 days were up he wasn't getting the same reaction he had before and thus he's stayed mid card....

 

[akrassikauda]

Let's look at that failed drug test for a second. Truth was the victim of a RAT. People forget his failed test came right after Evan Bournes 1st failed test, "but Evan wasn't the only one smoking weed WWE protects certain guys" that's what the dirt sheets where reporting some WWE insiders where saying then BAM! R-Truth suspended for smoking the chronic not performance enhancers weed,synthetic weed at that.

Not making excuses for him he knew the rule he violated it he put himself in position to get ratted on but at the same time he's been on his best behavior unlike Evan Borne. I think he needs to help put over a young heel like Ziggler,Barrett. His match last week on Superstars against Swagger was good that told me 2 things 1. He can work with the young guys 2. How much the younger generation of fans are missing these mid card battles on Superstars because it doesn't air on tv at an appropriate time for them to get hooked on up & coming talent thus building stars.

 

[Ryberg]

I liked Truth a lot even back in his TNA days! But facts are he had a nice run but the character was getting old. He's 40 years old now so what does he really have left in the tank compared to the younger guys? I really don't think that his drug suspension cost him a thing. Many others have failed and it hasn't cost them.

What can't I go to any topic on here and not see freaking Ziggler mentioned. WHO CARES ABOUT THE GUY? He's a jobber now and at least had a somewhat small run now he's back where he belongs a jobber (aka a guy who puts on a great show to put over others). He and Drew had their chance and NEVER GOT OVER let it go people.

 

[Ryberg]

R Truth is, was, and always will be a midcarder in WWE. But that's fine because you need solid talent all through out the show. R Truth is comic relief. Characters like his are meant to give the audience a breather from the intense beatdowns and dramatic promos. It helps the audience digest what the just saw unfold.

Well said and that's why they have R-Truth, Funkasaurus, Ryder, Santino, Otunga, the entire women's roster, and many others, COMIC RELIEF! WWE always had a great mid-card stable they just lost it for a bit. They need more stables like S.H.I.T. and J.O.B. Squad for the comic relief. People hate these guys but it's meant as you said to "give the audience a breather from the intense beatdowns and dramatic promos".

 

[Mustang Sally]

Truth is hilarious, plays his character very well, and is extremely entertaining. He is a perfect guy for the mid card.

That's about the size of it. His psycho gimmick was fun for awhile, but stuff like that doesn't have a very long shelf life; I thought it was getting a little tired after a few months. Even now, while he hasn't totally abandoned "little Jimmy," he's doing a toned-down version of it.

The gimmick didn't fail.....in fact, it succeeded. Truth wrestled at the top of the card for a time and acquitted himself well. The problem is, he's not really a main event performer. He's a decent singles wrestler and works well as a tag partner, but Ron Killings has never been star material. I believe his career has proceeded exactly as it should.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I enjoyed what they were doing with R-Truth but, in all honesty, I don't think I could see the guy as a main eventer, at least not in the long term. If I'm not mistaken, Truth did compete in a few WWE Championship matches here & there during his push last year. But as a consistent presence in the main event spot? Personally, I don't see it.

That's not to say that Truth wasn't doing a great job. I liked he how could instantly go from being goofily funny to threatening & menacing at the snap of a finger. At the same time though, I don't believe most people really took Truth all that seriously. I believe most people were enjoying what he was doing but, then again, it seems that most people also enjoy what Santino & Hornswoggle do, and neither of them have main eventer written on them either.

 

[shooter_mcgavin]

again the people you mentioned were all already main eventers when they had problems.... When truth got his suspension the writers were forced to split miz and truth up thus de-facto turning truth face... I'm sure they did not want to do that (at least that early) but they had to do it quickly and because it was so sudden it kind of killed his crowd reaction (at least from what it was beforehand)...

When the 30 days were up he wasn't getting the same reaction he had before and thus he's stayed mid card....

He wasn't getting the reaction because they turned him face. I mean with that gimmick it was almost like 1996/early 1997 Mankind. Turning him face probably halted the momentum.

I don't see why the suspension would force him to part with The Miz. It's not like an injury, when you belong to a stable, is going to change your face/heel affiliation. Just write them off for a month.

Also regarding the previous violators. Jeff Hardy was not a main eventer yet. He was an upper midcarder that was on the verge of breaking the class ceiling but not a main eventer.

Edit: also i don't see why the level of punishment should be different for people caught taking drugs. Especially at the time when mainstream reports were linking drugs with Wrestler's deaths. This was huge news imagine I live in a 3rd world country in South East Asia and this whole drug issues made it to our local papers. With this issue escalating in a world wide scale, deciding to have a lighter punishment (or in some cases no punishment) just feels wrong IMO.

 

[Negrodamus]

When he first started his Heel Gimmick when it had the subliminal angry black man feel he had the crowd.

Then they turned him just crazy which IMO was the beginning of the down slide. his character began to suck then the pairing with Miz and further made him look like a crazy idiot.

Then they wanted to make money off of the little jimmy t-shirts and made him a face they should have kept him heel and sold the same amount of shirts.

You always hear the same thing about them they are athletic, they can put on good matches but I dont know why they cant get over blah blah blah

For a black character to make it they have to become heel and use the race card to further their character or an over the top black stereotype and get known get some real heat they need to find a way to connect with the predominantly white crowd.

Then the one that can stand out can go face and make it if they have mic skills like the rock when he changes his ways.

Its nothing racist but to be over you have to have some kind of connection with the crowd something they can relate to something they understand and can root for or against.

 

[jeritroll94]

Yep, they did drop the ball with The Truth.

I wish they never broke up The Awesome Truth! The whole conspiracy storyline was very good up until Survivor Series against Cena and Rock because weeks leading up to it saw Cena get the better of them by himself! Awesome Truth was very entertaining and the crowd loved to boo them but also have a laugh with R-Truth's ridiculous comments (Miz I just had an epiphipanany).

R-Truth's heel turn came out of nowhere which is what was so good about it at first. In my opinion it was the one of the best heel turns since Jericho in 2008. We thought that he would finally get his chance until Jo-Mo got involved and beat him for his spot in the triple threat. Then he just went beserk and brought this new crazy mean streak which is what made him an upper card player.