10 Failed WWE Wrestlers Who Became Cult Classics

2. R-Truth

R-Truth 24/7 Championship
WWE

The launch of the 24/7 Championship was greeted with grim acceptance from a WWE audience beaten into submission by decades of belt mistreatment. As if to establish the strap as a punchline from the off, the company booked a literal chase to crown the first champion after Mick Foley simply left the title in the ring to be collected by the first taker.

What followed was a dangerously close comparison to TNA's catastrophic reverse battle royal. What followed that was R-Truth yet again getting something sh*t, and more importantly himself, over. He's been doing it for years, too.

An creative failure as a babyface following a 2008 re-emergence from the Impact Zone wilderness, Ron 'The Truth' Killings, his character wasn't, until he unlocked a caustic side following a bizarrely brilliant 2011 heel turn that forever transformed how he'd be used.

Propelled to the top of the card for a brief programme with John Cena', Truth's comedic side blossomed thanks to his own creative endeavour. He got a literal figment of his imagination over with 'Little Jimmy', carrying the craic enough to become a better comedy all-rounder than former steward Santino Marella.

Making himself teflon to WWE's atrocious scripting, Truth's actively bantered it off whilst becoming indispensable as a result. He is at this point not so much a credit to the process, but one in spite of it.

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Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett