R-Truth- Do you want more or less of him?

[MartialHorror]

Back when I watched wrestling during the attitude era, I remember him performing as K-Kwic, being Road Dogg's partner. He was very athletic, but I found him to be boring. When I started watching wrestling again in late 2013, he seemed to be in a midcard role and...was arguably even more boring than before thanks to limited mobility.

But I have seen a lot more of him in retrospect thanks to the network and I thought his crazy gimmick was pretty entertaining. It made me wonder why they took it away from him, as rapping in itself has never gotten anyone over in wrestling. Over time, Truth was pushed down to where he would be squashed a lot.

Every once in awhile he would tease a comeback, breaking Bo Dallas's streak and that old fire seemed to ignite, but it never generated any momentum. Recently, he is getting a lot more TV time and some of his kookiness is returning. The audience audibly laughed when he gave Ambrose back the belt on the last Smackdown. Nothing about his wrestling matches stand out as exceptional, but he does have a lot of personality.

So the question is, should WWE utilize him more? Rebuild his character? Turn him heel? I think he's good enough to have a secured spot on the midcard, even if he's talent enhancement. On the other hand, I don't want him to go beyond that. I thought Ryback deserved more during his jobber Rybaxel faze, but now I think I'm being fed too much of him.

 

[HurriKane]

Heel 2011 R-Truth was in my opinion must see TV, he was also at the top of his game early TNA and even when was part of the 3LK. I would love to see more of him. I use to complain about old timers taking up time in what not, but with Big Show, Goldust, Kane still around, and Sting making his big WWE debut at Wrestlemania, I don't mind it anymore.

R-Truth is very talented, and if he walked out of Wrestlemania, in spite of how much hate he has with the title, I wouldn't mind at all.

Also I just thought of how awesome a feud would be with a face Dean Ambrose and a heel R-Truth.

 

[blueskyy]

I like R-Truth, always have. Whenever people argued about wrestlers being buried, or under-utilizing talents, I would always bring up R-Truth.... but... it getting harder to argue that now since R-Truth is also getting older by the year... It the same with Big Show. I see great things in him... but... the IWC just doesn't seem to like them. No matter what roles were given to them, they always make the most out of it. That's why I'm always supportive of them.

 

[Navi]

I've always like R-Truth as well. Big strong guy, and tons of charisma. Great mic skills as well. Used to love his Little Jimmy routines. I wish they had done more with him, but he never seemed to break out for some reason. Friends of mine have met him in person, and apparently he's one of the nicest guys around. One friend absolutely hated him until he met him, now he's one of his favourites. Glad to see him getting more air time lately.

Sometimes securing a spot on the mid card isn't such a bad thing. Not everyone can be main event, and who would want to be right now with all the shit flying. The way I look at it is, he has a job, the WWE will always need mid card material, and as long as he can go in the ring, he should be fine. It's when they give you a bunch of people dressed as hot dogs and fairies you have to start to worry.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I respect Truth's abilities and I think there's a possibility that he could've been more than what he ultimately is. For instance, after he turned heel, I thought he was great as he seemed like a cross between someone with a huge chip on his shoulder and some deranged lunatic. Referring to Cena's fans as "Little Jimmy" and the way he delivered felt authentic. Truth's a born & bred southern guy and I thought just the way he delivered the stuff felt a lot more authentic than a lot of WWE's scripted promos. I felt Vince missed out on something interesting when he ultimately turned Truth's heel turn into something comedic, though I can't deny that I got some laughs out of it.

As of right now, Truth is essentially back to his original gimmick and I'm over it. It looks like he's going to be part of the ladder match at WrestleMania for the Intercontinental Championship, but I don't really mind. Truth's been a loyal and hard worker for WWE, so I don't mind him having a little reward sometimes, the reward in this case being part of a multi-man Intercontinental Championship match at the biggest show of the year. When WrestleMania is over, however, I think he ultimately goes back to being irrelevant and I don't see that changing. Truth turned 43 years old about a week before the Royal Rumble, so it's highly unlikely that he's gonna be elevated or used significantly going forward.

 

[Dave]

R-Truth is a solid mid card guy. That's all he is, unfortunately for him. He can be wrestling Sin Cara on Main Event one week and beating Barrett on Raw the next. The sad thing is that the WWE don't really know what to do with him. Ever.

I agree with the consensus on here, that Truth was much better and much more entertaining as a crazy heel. But that is gone now and Truth has found himself back in the shuffle. He's not unique enough to set him a pet from everyone else and he's not over enough to get himself up the card. At this point, he's a utility man for the WWE who will be comfortable up until the main event.

I have absolutely no problems with him being at WrestleMania and challenging for the Intercontinental Championship. But I think it would be a mistake to have him win it when other people in the match could do a bit more with it and have a great deal more potential at this stage.

 

[Mustang Sally]

I think his career as a featured performer has run it's course. The man is 43 and it's my belief that when he was picked up from TNA, he was told that he'd be given a prominent role after awhile (his evil turn & Little Jimmy) and then would be expected to soldier on as a midcarder who gets constant TV exposure but is more of an "opponent" (read: glorified jobber) than a guy fighting for championships.

At his age, I would think he'd be happy finishing his career as an enhancement talent....... making more money in this fashion than he would as a star in a lesser company.

 

[MINISTRYrising]

I was a Big fan of Ron's when he was in TNA and loved his Heel turn in 2011. I think the the guy is genuinely entertain and a far better wrestler then a lot of the guys currently on the roster and if this was 10/15 years ago I would be screaming at WWE to push the guy, But with Truth now being 43 you have to question how much longer it is going to be before he calls it a day and with a lot of great talent currently in NXT like Zayn, Owens and Balor. it does not make seance to me to have truth appear anymore then what he already does.

 

[The Samoan Heritage]

I've never been a fan of R-truth's, but I do enjoy him. There's several guys I would replace Truth with if possible, but to be honest none of them would bring the type of entertainment Truth does. Truth just seems so natural with his work. His In-ring skills is actually pretty good even with the (unneeded) dance moves mixed in. And he's very comfortable on the mic, Truth on commentary was hilarious, with him calling Saxton, "Coach" the entire time(did either commentator even try to correct him?) And when he called Smackdown historic because the title had changed hands twice in one night.
Give Truth and Ambrose a couple of backstage and even in-ring segments and they can build this 4(5-8) way IC laddar match with just the two of them.
To answer the question I wouldn't say I would want to see less of him because he can actually be entertaining. But I wouldnt want to see Truth more than he is being used now. Just a couple of title matches every now and again.(I wouldn't even mind if he won the IC/US title again)

 

[Soulblazed]

I've always liked R Truth/K Kwik, whether he was in TNA or WWE...One thing that strikes me is that he's always been a great heel, yet WWE never wanted to capitalize on that when they had a chance to..Damn shame because he deserves better..

If anything, a good option for R Truth could be to leave WWE and end up in Lucha Underground, NJPW, AAA, ROH, TNA, etc He could actually be pushed in other wrestling companies and hopefully as a heel, because his mic work has always impressed me.

Lastly, I always wanted to see Truth tag with MVP and Shelton Benjamin in Japan...I just always had a feeling they'd make a damn good trio.

 

[Dagger Dias]

Depends on the role Truth gets put in. The whole WHAT'S UP thing gets pretty annoying, has been for years. I liked the Truth we saw in late 2011 where he was acting crazy talking to Little Jimmy about spiders and all sorts of other nonsense. Sure he was NOT believable in defeating John Cena for a World Championship in the one random title shot he did get that year at Capitol Punishment.... but that was the most entertaining Truth has ever been. If that R-Truth comes back, I'd want to see more of him. His current persona? Eh, I'm neutral I guess. Could be worse. He could still be doing that "Time to get Crunk!" thing he briefly did in 2010, that made me immediately mute the TV anytime he showed up.

 

[JoeyJoeJoe]

I don't have an issue with R-Truth but WWE can't keep him off TV almost all year and expect me to care about him a month before Wrestlemania because they're hard up to fill out the card. Simple as that.

 

[HBKistheHOF]

Eh, I guess I agree with Dagger for the most part. Truth was pretty entertaining in 2011 with all his craziness & little jimmy shtick but it really only got him one title match that no one really expected him to win anyways. & since then he pulled a Ryback & just went back to doing his old gimmick with all the 'What's Up?" that he's basically been doing since he returned to the WWE, which is WAY beyond old & annoying to me at this point.

So I'd say Truth is best used as a lower mid-carder/enhancement talent. & I just hope he doesn't effect Dean Ambrose walking out of WM 31 as IC Champion or take a spot in the IC Title Ladder Match from someone more deserving.

 

[MrTDG]

Yet another WWE screw up (Truth's heel run of 2011). I don't mind seeing R-Truth, but I wish he could kill the whole rapping thing. He can talk, has a personality, and the ability to get over without it. I'd love to see the return of crazy man R-Truth, but as more of a tweener or just a baby face with a serious edge to him. He can be a huge benefit to WWE's mid card scene.

 

[DCLXVI]

The consensus is that he is generally liked... and while I'll agree that he could have been used better in the past, he isn't in a bad position where he's at in the company for being one of the older guys on the roster. He's a staple of the live events and losses don't really effect him. As someone mentioned, he can lose to a low card guy one week or randomly beat a midcard guy or end someone's streak the next. I think he could have one more small run but the ship has probably sailed for R-Truth.

To answer the question, I don't mind seeing more of him or his commentary... it is organic and better than a lot of the scripted crap. He's also a very good wrestler in my opinion and you never really see a completely boring R-Truth match. He'd just have to be used correctly and not this jovial rapper guy to be viewed as a threat.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

I am just "meh" on R-Truth these days. It feels like he's been around that long that he feels like part of the furniture on Raw these days. He's just "there" without ever really doing much.

I was a fan of his in the early days of TNA when he was NWA Champion Ron "The Truth" Killings, and even today he is a fantastic athlete and very charismatic. But I just never liked all the "little Jimmy" stuff he was doing, it just didn't entertain me. I'm pretty bored by his whole rap gimmick as well these days, and wouldn't mind that much if he was on the list of Future Endevoured talent in the next WWE cull.

However, I don't dislike him and he'll probably add a few spots to the ladder match at WrestleMania. With the quality of the other talents in the match I would be surprise if Truth won (and disappointed) but I don't really mind him being here. Every roster needs a reliable veteran hand to put people over, which is where I see Truth these days.

 

[Planet_Velvet]

One of the worst decisions that WWE has made in the past few years was to abandon R-Truth's whole heel persona. That brand of craziness was TV gold. It was hilarious. You almost never knew what he was gonna do or say next. I think the amount of R-Truth we are seeing is just right. The guy is like 43 I think. He's not only wrestling sporadically, but doing work outside of the ring for WWE. His skills haven't really deteriorated and by now his offense is super predictable. Nonetheless, he's right where he needs to be.

 

[chuckmdubya]

Except for "Whoop there it is" I really like Truth. His wrestling skills are that of a solid and savvy veteran. His mic skills have always been pretty good. His dancing is probably the best that has ever been offered by a WWE talent. He engages the crowd well, with is entrance.
His gimmick is a borderline job gimmick though, is he a rapper like JJ was a country singer, or is he a wrestler that like to rap?

I say more R truth because when he comes on, I like to see him, unlike some other talents.

 

[JoeFromTomsRiver]

I like R-Truth because where else can you hear a 40 year old man rap about "poppin like a pimple".

Honestly though, other than a 3 week period a couple of years ago, I've never cared about R-Truth. When "little Jimmy" was born and he was blowing cigarette smoke in Morrison's face after laying him out, that was entertaining.

They pulled the plug way too quickly on his heel persona.

He's not remotely interesting now, he's enhancement talent who is being shoe-horned into an IC match at WM now, for reasons unknown.

 

[SoulTrain4]

The suntan superman, my boy Truth. He's a funny guy, charismatic, decent mic work, good worker, only issue is his age. Which shouldn't be an issue as long as he is in shape.

If they allow him to be a little more serious while still having fun and I'm all for it. I don't want any part of "whomp there it is" R-Truth though, he can GTFOH with that.